TWiT.tv

Coordinates: 38°16′35″N 122°40′03″W / 38.2764301°N 122.6676119°W / 38.2764301; -122.6676119

TWiT.tv
Launched April 2005 (2005-04)
Owned by Leo Laporte
(TWiT LLC)
Country United States
Language English
Broadcast area Worldwide, via Internet
Headquarters Petaluma, California
Website TWiT.tv; wiki.twit.tv
Streaming media
Live Webcast twit.tv/live

TWiT.tv, which is the operating trade name of TWiT LLC, is a podcast network (although TWiT uses the term "netcast") founded by technology broadcaster and author Leo Laporte and run by his wife and company CEO Lisa Laporte. The network began operation in April 2005 with the launch of This Week in Tech. Security Now was the second podcast on the network, debuting in August of that year. Currently, the network hosts 18 podcasts and live streaming shows, including The Tech Guy, This Week in Tech, Security Now, FLOSS Weekly, MacBreak Weekly, and 13 other podcasts covering various topics including technology companies, computer security, social networking, Ham Radio and current technology news.[1]

TWiT founder and owner Laporte, in an October 2009 speech, stated that it grossed revenues of $1.5 million per year, while costs were around $350,000.[2] In November 2014, during an interview with American Public Media's Marketplace Leo Laporte stated that TWiT makes $6 million in ad revenue a year from 5 million TWiT podcasts downloaded each month, mostly in the form of audio, and that 3,000 to 4,000 people watch its live-streamed shows.[3] On March 18, 2015, prior to the filming of This Week in Google, Leo Laporte stated that TWiT expects to make $7 million in revenue in fiscal year 2015, and made "almost" $10 million in revenue in 2016.[4]

TWiT gets its name from its first and flagship podcast, This Week in Tech. The logo design originated from a traditional logic gate symbol of an "AND gate" turned on its side. Voiceovers are provided by Jim Cutler.[5]

Programming

TWiT's netcasts are centered around technology and technology news. Hosts of the shows are usually experts in certain fields, either by working in the field itself or by being a journalist covering the field. At the beginning of 2014, there were 27 podcasts produced by TWiT,[6] but that was cut to only 22 shows in 2015.[6] Giz Wiz, Marketing Mavericks and Padre's Corner were among the shows that were cancelled during the year.

The New Screen Savers was the only new show added to the network in 2015, a show based on The Screen Savers, an American TV show that aired on TechTV from 1998 to 2005.[7]

TWiT further cut their field of self-produced shows by nearly twenty percent in late 2015. Among the shows cut were Coding 101, which was replaced with a second weekly episode of Know How. iFive for the iPhone was cancelled, with some of that content being folded into iOS Today. Before You Buy was also dropped, with its last episode being produced on December 18, 2015. With the departure of news director Mike Elgan in December 2015, TWiT also cancelled Tech News 2Night. Hosts Megan Morrone and Jason Howell took over Tech News Today on a daily basis at 4PM each weekday, starting on January 4, 2016.[8] No new news director has been named.

Nathan Olivarez-Giles was brought in as a co-host and producer in March 2017[9], with the prospect of developing new shows including an automotive-related podcast[10]. By July, no new shows were developed, and Olivarez-Giles was unceremoniously dropped from the network. Editor Tony Wang, TD Kara Kohl, producer Tonya Hall[11] and on-air talent Bryan Burnett[12] were also let go over the summer of 2017. In May 2017, Android App Arena was also dropped.[13] In October 2017, Home Theater Geeks was canceled and Know How was changed to a weekly show. Tech News Today was renamed Tech News Weekly and was changed from a daily to a weekly show.[14]

Description

All the shows are available free to watch or download from the TWiT.tv website and are funded by cost per mille embedded sponsorship.[15] Most of the shows are livestreamed from the TWiT studio in Petaluma, California. TWiT's servers host the network's chat rooms using the Internet Relay Chat.[16]

Revenue

This Week in Tech Episode 561 on May 8, 2016 had extensive talk about podcast revenue. In the episode, Leo Laporte said a recent NY York Times article stated that podcasts ad revenue was $57 million per year and "If that's true, then I actually own 25% of all of the podcasting revenue in the world." This would put TWIT ad revenue around $13–14 million per year.[17]

On This Week in Google, Leo said that they almost had $10 million in revenue in 2016.[4]

Litigation

In May 2017, Twitter announced that it would deliver original video content on its platform. Lawyers from TWiT believed this violated a spoken agreement between Leo Laporte and Twitter co-founder Evan Williams made in 2009, and infringed on TWiT's trademark. TWiT tried to informally resolve the trademark issue, and in January 2018 filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Twitter.[18]

In March 2018 Twitter filed a motion to dismiss[19]. On May 30, 2018, US Magistrate Judge Jaqueline Scott Corley granted Twitters' motion to dismiss the case. The judge found that TWIT's discussions with Twitter "do not support a plausible inference that Twitter agreed to never offer audio or video content under the Twitter brand." [20]

Awards

  • This Week in Tech was the recipient of the 2005, 2008, and 2010 People's Choice Podcast Awards in the Technology category and Best Video Podcast in 2009 and 2011.[21]
  • Tech News Today was the recipient of the 2012 International Academy of Web Television award for Best News Web Series.[22] It also won the People's Choice Podcast Awards in the Technology category in 2011 and 2013.[21]
  • Security Now was the recipient of the 2007 People's Choice Podcast Awards in the Technology category.[21]
  • This Week in Computer Hardware, Home Theater Geeks, NSFW, This Week in Tech, MacBreak Weekly, TWiT Live Specials, iPad Today, Tech News Today, The Tech Guy, This Week in Google, and Windows Weekly were named "Best of 2010 in Podcasts" by iTunes Rewind.[23]
  • In 2011, This Week in Tech was named "Best Technology Podcast", and TWiT Photo was named "Best New Technology Podcast" by iTunes Rewind.[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Shows". TWiT.tv. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Leo Laporte Makes $1.5 Million Per Year from Podcasting [Video]". Mashable. October 3, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Podcasting's audience (and its profits) are growing". American Public Media. November 6, 2014.
  4. 1 2 "This Week in Google episode 414". TWiT.tv. July 19, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  5. ↑ "This Week in Tech episode 483". TWiT.tv. November 6, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Shows in 2014". TWiT.tv. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  7. ↑ Fost, Dan (May 17, 1999). A Day in the Life of ZDTV's `The Screen Savers', San Francisco Chronicle
  8. ↑ "2016 Programming Changes". Lisa Kentzell. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Twitter Announcement". Nate Olivarez-Giles. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Twit People". twit.tv. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  11. ↑ "The Firings Continue Like Clockwork". twiter. Retrieved August 22, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Had a great 6 years at TWiT". twiter. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  13. ↑ Laporte, Lisa (May 28, 2017). "Android App Arena Retires". TWiT.tv. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  14. ↑ Laporte, Lisa (October 1, 2017). "Changes to the TWiT Lineup- Fall 2017". TWiT.tv. Retrieved October 6, 2017.
  15. ↑ Andrew Keen interviewed on the TV show Triangulation on the TWiT.tv network
  16. ↑ Kalish, Jon (October 3, 2016). "Geek Squad? Nah, Try TWIT's Chat Rooms". PCMag. Retrieved March 31, 2018.
  17. ↑ "This Week in Tech episode 561". TWiT.tv. May 8, 2016. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  18. ↑ England, Rachel (January 17, 2018). "Twitter faces trademark infringement lawsuit from podcast network". Engadget. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Motion to Dismiss: TWiT LLC vs. Twitter Inc. Case: 3:18-cv-00341-JSC" (PDF). Retrieved March 20, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Case Dismissal: TWiT LLC vs. Twitter Inc. Case: 3:18-cv-00341-JSC". Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  21. 1 2 3 "Podcast Awards - Past Winners". Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Winners From The 2012 IAWTV Awards Held At CES In Las Vegas Jan. 12, 2012". International Academy of Web Television. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  23. ↑ "Geeks Among iTunes Best Podcasts of 2010". Sound & Vision. December 10, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  24. ↑ "The Year in Podcasts – best of 2011 from iTunes Rewind". 1x57.com. December 23, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
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