WSJ Says TechTV For Sale
August 27, 2003
Thanks to Cyrus for sending me this article from today’s Wall St. Journal…
Former Executive Of Microsoft Seeks Buyer for TechTV
By JOE FLINT
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen is trying to sell TechTV, his gadget-and-gizmo cable channel, according to people familiar with the situation.Companies approached about TechTV include Viacom Inc., parent of cable channels MTV and Nickelodeon, and Sony Corp., which co-owns the Game Show Network with Liberty Media Corp. Spokespeople for Viacom and Sony declined to comment.
The channel, which Mr. Allen’s investment arm Vulcan Ventures Inc. acquired from Ziff-Davis Inc. in 2000 for $320 million, is being valued at between $250 million and $300 million, people familiar with the situation said.
Even though TechTV is in almost 40 million homes, it has yet to turn a profit, though some analysts think that might happen this year. The channel, launched in 1998, is expected to take in about $36 million in ad revenue this year, according to consultants Kagan World Media.
This past May, TechTV said it was retaining investment bankers Greenbridge Partners LLC to look for strategic partners to invest in the channel. A spokeswoman for TechTV declined to comment on the possibility of the channel being sold outright. A spokesman for Vulcan also declined to comment.
Any suitor likely would want to change the channel’s programming, which garners very small ratings. Most of its shows are about technological advances and the implications of those advances, though as of late the channel has tried to get racier. Earlier this year, it launched “Wired for Sex,” a program about how technology is changing sex lives. It also has bought several Japanese animated series known as “anime.”
Sony Pictures Entertainment is giving the channel a hard look. People close to the company say it would like to start a Sony lifestyle network and could use that channel to promote its own electronic products as well as entertainment fare.
Viacom, which has often said it is looking to acquire cable networks and earlier this year acquired the 50% of Comedy Central it didn’t own from AOL Time Warner Inc., could try to convert TechTV into a science-fiction channel. Viacom has in the past indicated a desire to buy or create more niche channels, and science fiction is a niche the company thinks has strong potential. It has expressed interest in Vivendi Universal SA’s Sci Fi Channel, but isn’t now a contender in the auction for Vivendi’s entertainment assets.
Hoo boy.
Loading ...Sprint to the Finish
August 27, 2003
Lily Tomlin’s telephone operator character Ernestine used to say, “We’re the phone company. We don’t care. We don’t have to.” These days the cell phone companies have eclipsed Ma Bell as the masters of monopolistic indifference. “We don’t care. We’ve got your number,” seems to be their motto. When cell phone number portability becomes the law of the land on November 24, the chief reason people are reluctant to change carriers will evaporate. But I’m not waiting.
I’m finally dumping Sprint PCS. It seems that they have no record of the $400 I’ve paid them over the last four months, and the bank statements I’ve faxed over are insufficient proof that they have my money. Well I know I don’t have it, and Sprint seems to have accepted my electronic payments readily enough, but still I have to go into the bank tomorrow and get some sort of official document proving that the transfers aren’t a figment of my imagination. It only took me two months and 15 hours on hold to pry this information out of Sprint’s customer service reps. Sprint has disconnected and reconnected my service twice over this. It will give me great pleasure to disconnect them once and for all tomorrow. [Note: it turns out not to have been Sprint's fault, after all. Read my apology here. - Leo]
Meanwhile I’ve got to find a new carrier and phone. I was looking for a phone with a camera (so I can continue posting to my Mob) and Bluetooth so I can connect with my Mac. PDA functionality would be nice, too. After checking all the Bluetooth phones - there are only a handful to choose from - I’ve settled on the Nokia 3650. It runs the Symbian OS, a descendant of my beloved old Psion operating system, which means there’s lots of third-party software available for it, and it sports full PDA functionality that can synch over Bluetooth with my Mac. It also supports SD flash cards, so I can easily expand the memory. It takes pretty good VGA pictures and shoots video with sound. Best of all it’s GSM which sounds way better than Sprint’s CDMA and works overseas. I’m going to France in June and it will work just fine there. The phone is a little big and has a very odd dialpad, but I can live with that. Nearly everyone who has the 3650 seems to love it.
Two carriers offer the phone: AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile. AT&T has good coverage in the Bay Area, but they charge an arm and a meg for data service. T-Mobile’s coverage is a little spotty but it charges $20/month for unlimited data. That’s more like it. And I can get the phone for free after a $150 rebate from them. I admit I’ve heard bad things about both AT&T and T-Mobile. In fact the only carrier that seems to be universally beloved is Verizon, but they don’t have any phones I like. So T-Mobile it is. The phone should arrive Friday and the mob should be back in action soon after. I’ll keep you posted on my experiences with the phone and the service.
All’s Fair
August 24, 2003
Turn out was a little light yesterday. I suspect it had something to do with being at the State Fair. Not only was there an admission charge of $5 to get in, but traffic was heavy and parking tough. You’d have to be pretty determined to show up. Nevertheless Patrick and I signed autographs for 301 hardy souls. Including the guy on the right. He travels around the world doing IT for the FBI. He gave each of us an evil looking spiked wooden mace from the Ukraine called a “boliva.” Can’t wait to give that to the kids. We also met a guy who invents new packaging for M&Ms, a young couple who met and fell in love in line to meet us last year, and quite a few babies who fall asleep to us each night. I love doing these appearances!
After signing all those autographs and kissing all those babies, Patrick, Chris Leary, and I toured the fair. It was a true old fashioned state fair. Patrick kept gravitating toward the craft pavilions. He really seems to love old fashioned handicrafts. I’m not kidding. Chris and I gravitated toward Little Richard’s fried food stand. We ordered funnel cake, fried Oreos, and fried Twinkies. I think they’d fry my shoe for ten bucks.
At about six we headed back to the hotel. I went straight to bed, exhausted. I think everyone else went out to some Irish pub. Today it’s back to the fair for three hours then a six o’clock flight back home. There are lots of fair pictures on the mob, and I’ll post more today.
Moving to Typepad
August 24, 2003
You may notice a new look for the blog today. I’ve migrated from Movable Type hosted on leoville.com to TypePad, a Movable Type based program hosted at typepad.com.
TypePad offers me all sorts of additional features including the bookshelf at right and photo blogs. I’ll be moving the mobile phone blog over here as soon as they figure out how to support Sprint PCS phones.
The direct url for the blog is http://leo.typepad.com, or click the Blog link anywhere in Leoville. The RSS link has changed, too. Please update your aggregator to point to http://leo.typepad.com/tsn/index.rdf.
Bawlmar Bound
August 22, 2003
Patrick and I are off to Maryland today to make two appearances at the State Fair in Timonium. We’ll be in TechTV’s Digital Digs booth as part of the Comcast Pavilion in Entertainment Row Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3p. Stop by and say hi!
Close Your Eyes, It’ll Be Over Soon
August 14, 2003
I posted a bunch of pictures from our trip to Disneyland last week on the mob. (Keep pressing the left arrow to see the whole set of 75 shots from my camera phone.) Henry and his best buddy, Will, celebrated their 9th birthdays down there along with Will’s dad and me. Here’s one last picture.
Henry and Will’s dad love roller coasters. Will and I don’t. So it worked out pretty well. Until we got to Splash Mountain. I usually don’t mind water rides. For some reason they’re not as scary to me as roller coasters. Splash Mountain is different. The ride ends with a 50 foot drop that’s nearly vertical. I didn’t learn this until we passed over it halfway through the ride.
Disney considerately offers a picture from the moment of extremis to all riders. Henry is in front, looking forward to the stomach churning drop. I’m in back, trying to survive. The picture tells the story. Click on the thumbnail for a larger version suitable for photoshopping.
CNN Delayed Until Tomorrow
August 11, 2003
Oops. Charles Taylor took too long to resign (about 10 years too long actually) and my segment got bumped on CNN today. I taped it anyway with Daryn Kagan after the show. The producer tells me the segment will air tomorrow on American Morning. I don’t know what time, however. Sorry about that!
NY Media Tour
August 10, 2003
I‘m on the way to New York again for a round of appearances. Sunday night I tape two segments for ABC’s World News Now, one on the new wireless devices, another on home security. They typically air the segments around 3am on the first Tuesday of each month, but check your local listings.
Monday morning, August 11, I’m going to appear on CNN’s American Morning with my old Site-mate Soledad O’Brien. The segment on wireless networking should be on around 9:30a Eastern.
Tuesday morning, August 12, I’m scheduled to appear on Live with Regis and Kelly. The show usually airs between 9 and 10a local time, but check TV Guide. I’m usually live on this show, but they occasionally tape the segment for later airing. I’ll let you know when I know. As usual, I’ve got a bunch of wacky stuff to show Reeg and Kelly.
Here’s a list of all the products I’m bringing with me. I’ll show as many of them as time allows.
World News Now
Segment 1: PDA/SPOT Watch Segment
- Sony, Clie PEG-UX50
Available Now on Pre-Order, $699
New first-ever horizontally oriented Entertainment Communicator in a clamshell design with Built-in WiFi and Bluetooth! - Palm, Tungsten T2
Available Now, $399
New Palm with Built-in Bluetooth - Sony Ericsson, T616
Available Now, $200
New Tri-band Bluetooth Phone - Fossil, Wrist Net Watch
Available Fall, $tbdUsing Microsoft’s new Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT), get customized info delivered directly to your wrist!
Segment 2: Home Security
- X10, Protector Plus Voice Dialer Security System, Model DS7000
Available Now, $77.99 - RadioShack, Wireless Security System
Available Now, $149.99 - Seaview, Secure View (light bulb camera)
Available Now, $149.99 - D-Link, DCS-1000W
Available Now, $295.99 - D-Link, DCS-2000
Available Now, $265 - KJB Security Products, Lipstick Size Camera Detector (SH-005)
Available Now, $50 - KJB Security Products, Smart R.F. Counter (SC-1)
Available Now, $300
Live with Regis and Kelly
- Fossil, Wrist Net Watch
Available Early Fall
Using Microsoft’s new Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT), get customized info delivered directly to your wrist! - NEC, 515 HDM (High Definition Mobile) Phone
Available Now, $200-300
New High Definition Cell Phone made specifically for Gaming with simultaneous key-press function and vibration feedback. - Sony, Clie PEG-UX50 (Personal Entertainment Communicator)
Available Now on Pre-Order, $699
New first-ever horizontally oriented Entertainment Communicator in a clamshell design with Built-in WiFi and Bluetooth! - Danger, Sidekick Color
Available Now, $300
Cool Hybrid Color PDA/Cell Phone - XAct Communications, X-Linx
Available Now, $29.99-$34.99
Need to reach your friends on campus? These small new Personal 2-Way Communicators can help. - Olympus, DM-20 Digital Voice Recorder
Available Now, $299.99
45 Hours of Voice Recording with CD quality recording capability - Bodelin, The Proscope
Available Now, $229
Compact Digital Microscope we really liked. - Seiko Instruments, InkLink
Available Now, $99.95
Digital tool that instantly captures your handwriting or drawings directly to your handheld, laptop, or PC - Seaview, Secure View
Available Now, $149.99
Security Camera in a Light Bulb! - Revolutionary Cooling Systems, The Cooper Cooler
Available Now, $89
Cools your drinks in minutes! - Celestial Wristwatch, The Celestial Wristwatch
Available Now, $129
Astrological watch that tracks planets, gives advice, and tells time! - Hasbro, Poster Phone
Available Now, $24.99
A poster that’s a speakerphone. Activated by conductive ink technology. - Oregon Scientific, Watch N’ Learn
Available Now, $19.99
Talking watch that teaches children the alphabet and how to tell time - Spinmaster, Laser Lock
Available Now, $9.99
Metal Padlock with remote controlled “laser” locking mechanism for backpacks or lockers. - T-Ink, Color N Drive
Available in Sept, $20
ontrol and operate a toy car while you color on the coloring pad! - T-Ink, Airwaves
Available Now, $20
Inflatable Radio with “painted-on” controls to operate it. - WildPlanet, Waterball
Available Now, $15
Really cool watergun that shoots water “balls”.I also brought my camera phone with me so I’ll upload pictures to the Mob (might get a chance to demonstrate that on CNN). Expect lots of behind the scenes pictures from WNN, CNN, and Regis. The iSight will be on, too, as soon as I get a power adapter for my Powerbook. I left mine at home. Doh!
Wouldn’t You Like To Be A Widget, Too
August 1, 2003
Thanks to Arlo Rose you can now have a Leo Widget on your OS X desktop. You’ll need the wonderful shareware Konfabulator for Mac OS X to run this widget. It may be the silliest widget ever created, but at least it’s not the most useless. Click on my head to perform a search at TechTV.com.Konfabulator is an amazing Javascript runtime engine that lets you put little doohickeys on the desktop, some of them stunningly useful, others, like mine, completely superfluous. The gallery features over 300 user created widgets and there are more all the time. So far there’s no Windows version of Konfabulator, although I’m told that DeskBlox will do many of the same things.
Arlo created this widget live on the air on last night’s The Screen Savers. I know it was pretty hectic, Arlo, but it sure was fun. Nice job.
-
Radio Leo (press play)- Jumping Monkeys 45: Dr. Ruthann Russo
- Windows Weekly 58: Mission Accomplished
- Leo Laporte - The Tech Guy 453
- Daily Giz Wiz 565: Snappy Video Snapshot
- Security Now 143: YubiKey - Sponsored by Astaro Corp.
- Leo Laporte - The Tech Guy 452
- Daily Giz Wiz 564: The Socket Pocket
- MacBreak Weekly 88: Drobotized
- Leo Laporte - The Tech Guy 451
- Daily Giz Wiz 563: SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus
Flickr Photos
-
Swag
