Leo Laporte
Birth name	Léo Gordon Laporte
Born	(1956-11-29) November 29, 1956 (age 55) Manhattan, New York City
Show	Approx. 20 shows on the TWiT netcast network, also The Tech Guy through Premiere Radio Networks
Station(s)	TWiT TV LLC; Premiere Radio Networks
Time slot	Saturdays and Sundays live at 11:00AM PT (19:00 GMT/18:00 GMT during US DST), 3 hours
Website	http://www.leoville.com/ http://leoville.squarespace.com http://www.techguylabs.com http://www.twit.tv

Léo Gordon Laporte (/ləˈpɔrt/; born November 29, 1956 in Manhattan, New York City)^[1] is an Emmy Award winning, American technology broadcaster, author, and entrepreneur.

Background[link]

Laporte studied Chinese history at Yale University before dropping out in his junior year to pursue his career in radio broadcasting,^[2] where his early radio names were Dave Allen and Dan Hayes.^[3] He began his association with computers with his first home PC, an Atari 400.^[4] Laporte said he purchased his first Macintosh in 1984.^[5] He operated one of the first Macintosh-only bulletin board systems, MacQueue, from 1985 to 1988.

Television and radio[link]

Laporte has worked on technology-related broadcasting projects, including Dvorak On Computers in January 1991 (co-hosted with computer pundit John C. Dvorak), and Laporte On Computers on KGO Radio and KSFO in San Francisco. Laporte also hosted Internet! on PBS, and The Personal Computing Show on CNBC. In 1997, he earned an Emmy Award for his work on MSNBC's The Site, where he created the motion capture character Dev Null.

In 1998, he created and co-hosted The Screen Savers and the original version of Call for Help on the cable and satellite network ZDTV (later TechTV). Laporte left The Screen Savers in 2004, and later left the network after a dispute with Vulcan Ventures, over stock ownership and the cancellation of Call for Help. His contract ended on March 31, and his absence from The Screen Savers on April 1 was originally believed to be an April Fool's Day joke.

Laporte has also acted, playing Uncle Charlie in the movie Phoenix Rising.^[6]

Laporte was the host of the daily television show The Lab with Leo Laporte, recorded in Vancouver, Canada. The program had formerly been known as Call for Help when it was recorded in the U.S. and Toronto. The series aired on G4techTV Canada, on the HOW TO Channel in Australia, on several of Canada's Citytv affiliates, and on Google Video. On March 5, 2008, Laporte confirmed on net@nite^[7] that The Lab with Leo Laporte had been canceled by Rogers Communications. The HOW TO Channel refused to air the remaining episodes after it was announced the show had been canceled.^[8][9]

He hosts a weekend technology-oriented talk radio program show titled Leo Laporte: The Tech Guy. The show, started on KFI AM 640 (Los Angeles), is now syndicated through Premiere Radio Networks, and on XM Satellite Radio. Laporte appears semi-regularly on Showbiz Tonight,^[10] Live with Regis and Kelly,^[11] World News Now, and briefly with Bill Handel on Friday mornings on KFI. He has also been a guest technology expert on numerous talk radio programs in local markets across the U.S. and Canada.

Books[link]

Laporte has written technology-oriented books including 101 Computer Answers You Need to Know, Leo Laporte's 2005 Gadget Guide, Leo Laporte's Guide to TiVo, Leo Laporte's Guide to Mac OS X Tiger and Leo Laporte's PC Help Desk. He has published a yearly series of technology almanacs: Leo Laporte's Technology Almanac and Poor Leo's Computer Almanac. Laporte's latest and last book is Leo Laporte's 2006 Technology Almanac.

He has contributed to periodicals including BYTE, InfoWorld, and MacUser. Laporte announced in October 2006 that he will not renew his contract with Que Publishing and has retired from publishing his long series of books.

In 2008, Laporte did the voice narration for the fable The True History of Little Golden-hood by Andrew Lang which was made available through Audible.

Netcasting[link]

Leo Laporte and Amber MacArthur

Laporte owns and operates a netcast network, TWiT.tv. It is available on iTunes and other podcast subscription services.^{[12][13][14][15]} Before the expansion to new facilities in 2011, Laporte said TWiT earns $1.5 million annually on a production cost of only $350,000.^[16]

Laporte calls his audio and video shows "netcasts," saying "I've never liked the word podcast. It causes confusion … people have told me that they can't listen to my shows because they 'don't own an iPod' … I propose the word 'netcast.' It's a little clearer that these are broadcasts over the Internet. It's catchy and even kind of a pun."^[17]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leo Laporte

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Leo Laporte

• Official website

This Week in Tech–casually referred to as TWiT, and briefly known as Revenge of the Screen Savers–is the weekly flagship podcast of the TWiT.tv network. Hosted by Leo Laporte and many other former TechTV employees, it features roundtable discussions and debates surrounding current technology news and reviews, with a particular focus on consumer electronics and the Internet. TWiT now broadcasts from the TWiT 'brickhouse' studios, as of the 24th July 2011. The brickhouse is based in Petaluma, California, USA, a few blocks away from the 'TWiT cottage', which they broadcasted from for over 6 years.^[1]

Format[link]

Following the show's number, title, sponsors and theme tune, Leo Laporte typically begins an episode of TWiT by introducing the week's panelists one-by-one, allowing each panelist to discuss his or her recent projects or work. The main portion of the show consists of a round-table discussion and debate, pegged loosely to a selection of the week's major technology headlines. The format of the show encourages spontaneity and the conversation often diverges wildly from technology topics. This causes the length of each episode to vary, sometimes considerably, from show to show. Each episode typically features two or three commercial breaks, usually in the form of a "live read" from Leo that may include interaction with the panelists (e.g., Leo usually prompts guests for recommended audiobooks during spots for frequent advertiser Audible.com). The show closes with each panelist giving a personal "plug" for their affiliated website or Twitter account.

	"TWiT Theme" noicon Opening theme of TWiT since 2005
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Panelists[link]

The top ten most frequent recurring guests on TWiT include John C. Dvorak, Patrick Norton, Wil Harris, Kevin Rose, Robert Heron, David Prager, Tom Merritt, Roger Chang, Dwight Silverman and Jason Calacanis. Other guests include Becky Worley, Steve Gibson, Xeni Jardin, Alex Lindsay, Owen Stone, Veronica Belmont and Molly Wood.

The show has had a number of famous guests, including Steve Wozniak, Kevin Mitnick, John Hodgman, Lawrence Lessig, artist Roger McGuinn, and Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members LeVar Burton (Geordi LaForge) and Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher).

History[link]

The program began when Laporte recorded a one-off "roundtable" discussion between himself, Patrick Norton, Sarah Norton, Kevin Rose, David Prager, and Roger Chang at the 2005 Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Having published the show on his blog to an incredible public reception, Laporte decided to rename his original recording "episode 0" and turned the round table concept into a weekly downloadable audio file, or 'podcast', featuring more cast members from his former TechTV program The Screen Savers. The first episode was posted on Monday, April 18, 2005 as "Revenge of The Screen Savers", but was temporarily renamed "Return of the [BEEP]"^[2] in response to a cease and desist letter sent to Laporte by copyright-holder Comcast. In episode 2, Laporte announced a contest in which listeners could suggest a new name for the show. One listener suggested This Week in Geek, which inspired Laporte to create with the eventual name, This Week in Tech, or TWiT.

The weekly show was recorded with all of the hosts staying at their respective homes and talking via Voice over IP (mostly using Skype). Starting around episode 10, Norton began physically coming to Leo's Petaluma office during the taping. Upon Rose's announcement that he was moving to San Francisco, Laporte started to gather the panelists for public live tapings in the San Francisco area, most being videotaped and released as a video podcast download.

During the fall of 2005, several of the previously regular hosts started moving on to other projects, which changed the format of the show from being a show with a core group of hosts and occasional guests, into Laporte being the only regular host, inviting in a variety of different people from show to show. Around the same time, the people responsible for filming the shows, the Pixel Corps and their leader, Alex Lindsay became more involved with the show, many of whom also contributed.

At one point, TWiT was offered in the most formats of any podcast on the network. These included a standard 64 kbit/s MP3, low-bandwidth 16 kbit/s MP3, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), and Ogg Vorbis versions. However, Leo Laporte announced the ending of the Ogg Vorbis version in August 2009 and finally the AAC and low bandwidth versions in early November 2009. The reasoning was the time and energy it took to encode all the versions of TWiT wasn't justified by the number of people choosing to listen to the show in those alternative formats. The show is usually posted every Monday morning at 1 a.m. Eastern to minimize the impact on the hosting company's servers.

Awards[link]

As well as having been ranked #1 on Podcast Alley, Yahoo Podcasts, and the iTunes Podcast Directory (where it records around 315,000 downloads a week), it has also won two Podcast Awards, as both the "People's Choice" and as "Best Technology Podcast". This WEEK in TECH also made Time Magazine's Top 10 Podcasts of 2006, ranked 9th.^[3][4] It also won Podcast of the Year from the 2007 Weblog Awards.^[5]

Video[link]

TWiT began as an audio podcast, although several episodes were filmed in the first few years of the show. Starting in 2008, the show was made available for live streaming in both audio and video formats. Since episode 215 in October 2009, the show has been available weekly as both an audio and video download.

Distribution and licensing[link]

All episodes are licensed under the Creative Commons attribution share-alike noncommercial license, and are distributed via direct download from the TWiT.tv website, from Apple's iTunes Store, or as a subscription using the Zune software 2.0 or higher. There is no download charge from either source.

The show is typically available in four formats: 64 kbit/s MP3, 32 kbit/s MP3, 64 kbit/s AAC. Occasionally, other bitrates are used for episodes produced in stereo, however most episodes are monaural. The files are available as direct downloads, with bandwidth provided by AOL and Cachefly. The occasional video episodes are available from Libsyn.

The sponsorship deal with America Online was announced on July 4, 2005, following the server demand that resulted from the release of iTunes 4.9's built-in podcasting directory. Since the new TWiT website was launched, the TWiT Torrent server initially preferred by Laporte has ceased operation. In several episodes, Laporte has noted that the distributed nature of BitTorrent makes it impossible to accurately gauge the popularity of the show, decreasing the likelihood of attracting advertisers. As of episode 174, TWiT is being hosted from AOL Radio.^[6]

Funding[link]

Laporte stated in episode 3 that the show would always remain free and without advertising. However, due to ongoing costs as a result of TWiT.tv's constant expansion, a roadmap for the introduction of podcast and web-based advertising was announced during episode 45 of This WEEK in TECH. On 5 September 2006, TWiT.tv officially became one of the first major advertising-supported podcast networks, sponsored initially by both Visa and Dell. Listeners have always been invited to support the network by means of an automatic PayPal subscription or one-time payment, however this granted access to an exclusive TWiT forum from episode 40 onwards. Listener funding has been used for the operational costs of the network including improvements to Laporte's recording studio and to purchase radio-quality microphones and digital audio-recording devices for the hosts. Financial compensation for podcast contributors comes from the networks sponsors and not from listener funding. Starting from episode 99, Audible has offered a promotion on TWiT whereby listeners who sign up for the Audible service can choose one free audiobook. This promotion was initially open only to residents of the U.S but was later expanded, with some restrictions, to other countries.

Before recording started for this WEEK in TECH 268 on 3 October 2010, while discussing the sale of TechCrunch to AOL, Laporte mentioned that his network would “do three to four [million US$]” in advertising revenue for 2010.^[7]

See also[link]

• Diggnation
• TWiT.tv Network

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (August 2010)

• This Week in Tech on TWiT.tv
• 'Inside Twit' blog
• Leo Laporte's blog
• TWiT Book Picks
• TWiT Live
• TWiT Army Canteen
• TWiT Wiki

The TWiT Netcast Network, which is the operating trade name of TWiT LLC, is a podcast (although TWiT uses the term netcast) network run by technology broadcaster and author Leo 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 nineteen podcasts and several live streaming shows covering various topics including Apple, Microsoft, Google, computer security, social networking and current technology news.

TWiT founder and owner Leo Laporte, in an October 2009 speech, stated that it grosses revenues of $1.5 million per year, while costs are around $350,000.^[1] Later on October 24, 2009, Leo said during the TWiG (This Week in Google) show that revenues for the year would be closer to $2.5 million. Originally, the network started solely from his own funding as well as setting up a contribution system similar to the public radio model (but not tax-deductible). As the network has grown, a market for advertising in podcasts also developed, and most of the current shows carry advertising. On December 12, 2009, a message on the network's website stated that Leo was going to modify the company's funding: advertising would be used to run the company, and any contributions would go solely for his salary. However, this caused such a sudden increase in donations that he has unofficially stated he would limit how much he takes as income, and save the rest in a fund for future projects, such as a new studio.^{[citation needed]}

TWiT gets its name from its first and flagship podcast, the popular This Week in Tech and the logo design originated from a traditional logic gate symbol of an "AND gate" turned on its side.

	"TWiT Network Bumper" noicon Bumper played at the beginning of every netcast on the TWiT Network
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History[link]

The TWiT network was started by Leo Laporte in April 2005 after he posted a recording to his website, Leoville.com,^[2] of him and other friends from TechTV talking about technology. Within days, the recording had been downloaded by thousands of people all over the world, and TWiT was born. Today, the network has grown to nineteen shows, and now has millions of viewers from all over the world. They currently employ 17 people, with full and part time jobs. Their revenues currently exceed 2.5 million dollars per year.

Tom Merritt has joined the staff of TWiT LLC as of June 1, 2010. He currently broadcasts a 30–40 minute show, Tech News Today, Monday through Friday.^[3]

On July 24, 2011, the network moved from their former facility, the "TWiT Cottage", two blocks north, which had been in use since 2004, to a larger building known as the "TWiT Brick House", with the new studio facilities costing $1.2 million.^[4]

TWiT Live[link]

Starting on April 30, 2008 Leo Laporte began broadcasting live video from his studio in Petaluma, CA at live.TWiT.tv . The format at times is free flowing, however it mostly serves as a live video feed of TWiT Network podcast creation. Guests usually appear via Skype for their respective podcasts, occasionally appearing via telephone when the Skype network has been down. Guests may also appear live in the studio if they are in the area. Production was handled by Leo himself using a NewTek Tricaster Broadcast in the old TWiT Cottage studios, but is now handled by various specialist staff using a Tricaster 850 Extreme streaming to flash video sites BitGravity, Ustream.tv and Justin.tv for the main TWiT Live page. Viewers can interact with the show through either Ustream and Justin.tv's chat rooms or through an IRC chat room. There is an approximate time delay of 5 seconds on the live stream.

TWiT Live has been used to air live coverage of large tech events. Leo produced live coverage of the 2009 Apple WWDC complete with a live pirate video stream from the auditorium floor. The current record for coverage on TWiT Live is the "24 Hours of the iPhone" event in July 2008, tracking the launch of the iPhone 3G around the globe as it went on sale in every timezone at 8am local. Leo stayed on air for the full 24 hours with only a few quick breaks. Calls were taken from people in line around the world, TWiT regulars, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. Leo gave away 10 iPhone 3Gs during the broadcast complete with free audiobooks from Audible.com.

In January 2010, Leo Laporte and the TWiT team covered Consumer Electronics Show live from their stage in the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. They covered two parties, Digital Experience Press Event and ShowStoppers Press Event live though an in-house built wireless broadcasting rig using a tablet computer which connected a camera and two microphones together and was streamed though EVDO and 3G cards. The broadcasting rig was made by TWiT's former Vice President of Engineering, Colleen Kelly. The trip to Consumer Electronics Show was sponsored by Ford Sync, Audible.com. Audio and Video podcasts were made and published on iTunes and on the TWiT website. It was the first time in a six year gap that Leo Laporte visited Consumer Electronics Show after the take over of TechTV. Laporte also announced that he was hopefully going to be back at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2011 which he did.

In May 2010, Leo announced that TWiT would do more live coverage of major events and breaking news. Since then, they have covered events such as Google I/O, WWDC, E3, Maker Faire, Dragon Con, South By Southwest, Macworld Expo, and the Consumer Electronics Show. They have also covered breaking news such as Eric Schmidt stepping down as CEO of Google, Hewlett Packard's acquisition of Palm, Inc, Steve Jobs' resignation and death, and various press conferences and keynotes from companies such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook.

Leo Laporte has reported on The Weekly Daily Giz Wiz and Security Now! to have gotten an invitation to France, from President Sarkozy, to attend a G-8 summit on the Internet as well as such topics as security, use of the Internet, and how to protect yourself. This further shows the reach of Leo Laporte and TWiT.tv

Current netcasts[link]

TWiT Live shows[link]

Currently two regularly recorded shows air on TWiT Live, all externally produced shows that are released on their respective websites.

PC Perspective Podcast

A show with the staff of PC Perspective talking about hardware reviews, news and prizes. Airs Wednesdays at 7pm PT (USA) on TWiT Live, and is released in audio form at PC Perspective.

This Week in Science

Kirsten Sanford's Weekly Radio show on KDVS 90.3 FM.

The TWiT studio[link]

The TWiT cottage was the original studio where all of the TWiT shows were recorded and produced. The TWiT cottage was located at 8 Keller Street, Petaluma, California. The TWiT cottage accepted visitors from around 11AM until 4PM Pacific time, except for Mondays and Fridays, when they are closed to visitors.

The official move took place at 2 PM PDT on July 24, 2011. Dubbed, the TWiT Brick House, the name was conceived during a Daily Giz Wiz episode with Dick DeBartolo. This name derives from the fundraising bricks sold to defray part of the cost of building the new studio. The event garnered plenty of attention, and was live streamed via LiveU over 3G. CEO of TWiT, Lisa Kentzell took care of most of the arrangements. The 10,000-square-foot (930 m²) studio itself is only two blocks away from the original studio, the TWiT cottage at 140 Keller Street, Petaluma, California. The Brick House studio was designed by Roger C. Ambrose, and the building itself is the former home of BiAS Sound, as well as serving as a drug store, and was originally built as a furniture factory.

TWiT advertisers[link]

Currently there are eight advertisers on the TWiT network. These include AOL Music and Spinner.com, which provide bandwidth for the network's audio podcast downloads. Cachefly currently provides bandwidth for the delivery of the network's video podcast downloads. Winamp has also started to provide bandwidth for select shows. Advertisers during TWiT shows include Citrix, Audible.com, Drobo, Ford, Mailroute, Squarespace, Carbonite, Tucows's Hover, Sling Media, Stamps.com, and ESET (as of June 1, 2010 on Tech News Today). Past sponsors of the TWiT network include Dell, Visa, Google, and Astaro.

Former TWiT Network netcasts[link]

TummelVision

With Heather Gold, Deb Schultz & Kevin Marks. TummelVision promises to "explore the art of social engagement in culture, business and technology in the context of the social web, the Internet and the networked age." The show's website is TummelVision.tv.

Jumping Monkeys

Jumping Monkeys was a netcast that focused on parenting in the digital age with Megan Morrone and Leo. Each episode featured an interview with someone from the world of technology who is also a parent. The hosts discussed interesting web sites from the three categories "spend, save, give" and read listener feedback. The show was 'on hiatus' for a number of months until Morrone confirmed on her blog that she would not return to the show.

Inside the Net

Inside the Net was a weekly netcast with Amber MacArthur covering new and interesting aspects of the Internet. It has been superseded by net@nite (now The Social Hour) in the fall of 2006.

The Laporte Report

A feed of appearances by Laporte on other radio shows, such as Bill Handel on KFI and John Donabie on CFRB.

iLifeZone

iLifeZone focuses on the Apple iLife suite and other Mac similar applications. The podcast moved to the podcast network Podango before ceasing production.

TWiT Fit

A Fitness show in which personal trainer, Al Scardino showed geeks some fitness techniques which can be used behind the desk. Aired Thursday at 1pm PT (USA) on TWiT Live, but has been discontinued.

This WEEK in FUN

Hosted by Sarah Lane and Martin Sargent, TWiF discusses funny news stories from the world of technology, as well as within mainstream media. Currently the podcast is available in audio form, but there are plans to release it as a video podcast. Host Sarah Lane announced on her blog that it would be going on hiatus for an indefinite amount of time.^[6]

Roz Rows The Pacific

Interviews with rower Roz Savage's voyage as the first woman to row solo across the Pacific Ocean. It ended after she landed in Madang, Papua New Guinea, finishing her voyage.

Maxwell's House

An in-depth discussion with the former Lab with Leo Laporte segment host Ray Maxwell about how science applies to technology, with common subjects including aviation, color science, photography and how current and former technologies work. On June 24, 2010 it was announced that Maxwell's House 78 would be the final episode^[7] and had been canceled due to lack of advertising.

Current Geek Weekly

A show with TechTV alumnus Tom Merritt, former executive editor of CNET, and Scott Johnson at Frog Pants Studios, LLC, the show joined the TWiT Live network as a weekly show in addition to thrice-weekly short format show. The show discusses five to six geeky and nerdy topics of the week from video games, science and math. Airs Friday at 6pm PT on TWiT Live, and is released in audio form at currentgeek.com. It ended on January 14, 2011 as Scott and Tom decided to focus more on the Daily episodes instead, later morphing into segments on The Morning Stream.

Munchcast

A food focused netcast hosted by San Francisco radio personality Cammy Blackstone and Leo Laporte. Returned from hiatus because it won the 2009 People's Choice Podcast Award Food and Drink category. It is currently on hiatus due to scheduling issues.

The Gillmor Gang

The Gillmor Gang was more focused on technology reviews. TWiT ceased carrying the show when Mike Arrington, during the June 6, 2009 show, accused Leo of compromised journalistic integrity for receiving a Palm Pre 5 day review unit.

Pixel Corps Ventures[link]

The following podcasts were joint promotional ventures with Pixel Corps. They were co-listed on both TWiT.tv and the PixelCorps.tv websites, now only available on the PixelCorps website.

Inside the Black Box

Visual effects focused. Now hosted by Pixel Corps.

The VFX Show

Visual effects tips and tricks. Now hosted by Pixel Corps.

This Week in Media

A show focused on analyzing media and the change to New Media. Now hosted by Pixel Corps.

MacBreak

Mac focused video show. Filmed in 540p. The podcast is now hosted by Pixel Corps. This is the brother of MacBreak Weekly on the TWiT network.

References[link]

External links[link]

• TWiT Homepage
• TWiT Live
• TWiT IRC Chat