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; TWiT Wiki
Streaming media
Live Webcast TWiT Live, (Free, available in English)

TWiT.tv, which is the operating trade name of TWiT LLC, is a podcast (although TWiT uses the term "netcast") network 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 twenty-two podcasts and live streaming shows, including The Tech Guy, This Week in Tech, Security Now, FLOSS Weekly, MacBreak Weekly, Tech News Today, Tech News 2Night, and 15 other podcasts covering various topics including technology companies, computer security, social networking, 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, American Public Media's Marketplace reported 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 "just under" $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. Two other shows, including Android App Arena were also dropped by the middle of the year.


All the shows are available free to watch or download from the TWiT.tv website and are funded by cost per mille embedded sponsorship.[11] They are filmed in their studio in Petaluma, California of which the live aspect is based around a NewTek Tricaster production system. The shows have a history of making heavy-use of remote hosts and guests connecting in via Skype.

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.[12]

On This week in Google Leo said that they had $10 million in revenue in 2016.[13]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Shows in 2015". TWiT.tv. Retrieved August 21, 2015.
  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. ↑ TWiG 414: Never a Freshman, ~10 minutes
  5. ↑ http://twit.cachefly.net/audio/twit/twit0483/twit0483.mp3
  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. ↑ Andrew Keen interviewed on the TV show Triangulation on the TWiT.tv network
  12. ↑ https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/561?autostart=false
  13. ↑ "This Week in Google 414 Never a Freshman | TWiT.TV". TWiT.tv. Retrieved 2017-07-22.
  14. ↑ One Technologies, LLC. "PodCastAwards.com".
  15. ↑ "Winners From The 2012 IAWTV Awards Held At CES In Las Vegas Jan. 12, 2012.". International Academy of Web Television. Retrieved August 21, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Geeks Among iTunes Best Podcasts of 2010". Home Theater. December 10, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
  17. ↑ "The Year in Podcasts – best of 2011 from iTunes Rewind". 1x57.com. December 23, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.