On Thursday, there was a story on Slashdot on how Comcast had announced it was buying TechTV. There were some who joked this was in reaction to Comcast’s failed attempt to buy Disney, but in fact Comcast had announced their intentions back at Christmas time. Comcast says they will join TechTV with their own gaming network G4. No one is sure what changes this might cause, but I’m already suspicious TechTV (at least locally) will be moved from basic cable to the digital channels, which means I’ll lose the ability to watch the network on my desktop TV while I surf “The Online” (as an old boss used to call it).Concurrently, on March 22 it was announced Leo Laporte was leaving as host of my favorite TechTV show, The Screen Savers. I’m not sure why I should like him, since he and former cohost Kate Botello were responsible for talking me into seriously gorping up my computer on more than one occasion, but he has a zany sense of humor and an on-air poise which make his cohosts look like amateurs. Even though he will remain at the network, he will be greatly missed on The Screen Savers. The following is a clip from his final show, Thursday night…
As a bonus, here’s a clip from the previous night’s show, where Leo lets a cohost walk all over him.
Not much of a surprise, Leo Laporte has officially left TechTV. I just read this in an e-mail from him:
“As you may already know, TechTV was sold to Comcast late last month. Comcast plans to merge the TechTV with its channel for video gamers, G4. Coincidentally my contract ran out April 1 but I was unable to come to terms with the outgoing owners, Vulcan Ventures (you’ll find the details on my web blog http://leo.typepad.com). I do hope to find a place on G4, but we can’t talk until regulatory approval of the sale sometime late in April, so I’m on the beach until then.”