TWiT.tv
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.
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. 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. 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.
Leo Laporte
Leo Gordon Laporte (/ləˈpɔːrt/; born November 29, 1956) is an American technology broadcaster, author, and entrepreneur.
Background
Laporte, the son of a geologist, studied Chinese history at Yale University before dropping out in his junior year to pursue his career in radio broadcasting, where his early radio names were Dave Allen and Dan Hayes. He began his association with computers with his first home PC, an Atari 400.
Television and radio
Laporte has worked on technology-related broadcasting projects, including Dvorak on Computers in January 1991 (co-hosted with technology writer John C. Dvorak), and Laporte on Computers on KGO Radio and KSFO in San Francisco.
In 1998, Laporte 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 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 G4 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 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.
This Week in Tech
This Week in Tech–casually referred to as TWiT , and briefly known as Revenge of the Screen Savers–is the weekly flagship podcast and namesake of the TWiT.tv network. It is hosted by Leo Laporte and many other former TechTV employees and currently produced by Jason Howell. It features round-table discussions and debates surrounding current technology news and reviews, with a particular focus on consumer electronics and the Internet. TWiT is produced in the TWiT "brickhouse" studios in Petaluma, California, USA, as of 24 July 2011, a few blocks away from the former TWiT "cottage", where it was produced for over 6 years. The netcast is streamed live on Sundays at 3:00 P.M. PST.
Format
Following the show's number, title, sponsors and theme tune, Leo Laporte typically begins an episode of TWiT by introducing the week's panelists, allowing each of them 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, although most episodes run approximately two hours. Each episode typically features three or four commercial breaks, usually in the form of a "live read" from Laporte that may include interaction with the panelists (e.g., Laporte 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.
Daddy What If
[Daddy what if the sun stop shinin' what would happen then]
If the sun stopped shinin' why you'd be so surprised
You'd stare up at the heavens with those big blue eyes
And the wind would carry all of your light up to the skies
And the sun would start shinin' again (and the sun would start shinin' again)
[But daddy what if the wind stopped blowin' what would happen then]
If the wind stopped blowin' then the land would be dry
And your boat wouldn't sail and your kite wouldn't fly
And the grass would see all of your troubles and she'd tell the wind
And the wind would start blowin' again (and the wind would start blowin' again)
(But daddy what if the grass stopped growin' what would happen then)
If the grass stopped growin' why you'd probably cry
And the ground would be wathered by the tears from your eyes
And then like your love for me the grass would grow so high
Yes the grass would start growin' again (yes the grass would start growin' again)
[But daddy what if I stopped lovin' you what would happen then]
If you stopped lovin' me then the grass would stop growin'
The sun would stop shinin' and the wind would stop blowin'
So honey if you want to keep this old world a goin'
Well you better start lovin' me again [again]
You better start lovin' me again [but I love you daddy]
You do you mean you were just teasin' me [I was just teasin']