TWiT.tv, which is the operating
trade name
A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...
of TWiT LLC, is a
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
network that broadcasts many technology news podcasts, founded by technology broadcaster and author
Leo Laporte in 2005, 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
''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 emplo ...
''. ''
Security Now'' was the second podcast on the network, debuting in August of that year. The network hosts 28 podcasts (as of July, 2020)
though the number had fallen in half to only 14 regularly scheduled shows by January 2021.
Podcasts include ''
The Tech Guy
''The Tech Guy'' was a widely syndicated US radio show hosted by Leo Laporte, formerly of TechTV and later with TWiT.tv. The show, which was first exclusively broadcast on KFI 640 AM in Los Angeles, was picked up for syndication by Premiere Netw ...
'', ''This Week in Tech'', ''This Week in Enterprise Tech'', ''Security Now'', ''
FLOSS Weekly'', and ''
MacBreak Weekly
''MacBreak'' was an internet television show hosted by Leo Laporte, Kendra Arimoto, Alex Lindsay, iJustine and Emery Wells from TWiT.tv and the Pixel Corps. The podcast was dedicated to Apple's Macintosh computers and other Apple products such ...
''. In addition to shows on technology news, TWiT also has podcasts like ''Hands-On Photography".
TWiT founder and owner Leo 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, 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. 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.
TWiT gets its name from its first and flagship podcast, ''This Week in Tech''. The logo design originated from a traditional
logic gate
A logic gate is an idealized or physical device implementing a Boolean function, a logical operation performed on one or more binary inputs that produces a single binary output. Depending on the context, the term may refer to an ideal logic gate, ...
symbol of an "
AND gate" turned on its side.
Voiceovers are provided by Jim Cutler.
Programming
TWiT's podcasts 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.
As of August 2019, there are 17 podcasts produced by TWiT.
All the shows are available free to watch or download from the TWiT.tv website and are funded by
cost per mille embedded sponsorship. 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
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called ''channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat and ...
.
On April 18, 2021,
Leo Laporte announced a new paid tier called "Club TWiT" which allows access to member-only podcasts, ad-free podcast feeds, and a members-only Discord server.
Shows
The TWiT Network is host to the following shows
Retired Shows
The following are the shows that have been retired from the network:
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 Evan Williams may refer to:
__NOTOC__ People In sport
* Evan O. Williams (c. 1889–1946), American football and basketball coach
* Evan Williams (footballer) (born 1943), Scottish football goalkeeper
* Evan Williams (jockey) (1912–2001), horse ...
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.
In March 2018 Twitter filed a
motion to dismiss
In United States law, a motion is a procedural device to bring a limited, contested issue before a court for decision. It is a request to the judge (or judges) to make a decision about the case. Motions may be made at any point in administrativ ...
. 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."
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.
* ''Tech News Today'' was the recipient of the 2012
International Academy of Web Television award for Best News Web Series. It also won the People's Choice
Podcast Awards in the Technology category in 2011 and 2013.
* ''Security Now'' was the recipient of the 2007 People's Choice Podcast Awards in the Technology category.
* ''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.
* In 2011, ''This Week in Tech'' was named "Best Technology Podcast", and ''TWiT Photo'' was named "Best New Technology Podcast" by iTunes Rewind.
See also
*
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 emplo ...
References
External links
*
{{TWiT podcasts
*
2005 establishments in California
Internet properties established in 2005
Television channels and stations established in 2005
American broadcasters
Companies based in Sonoma County, California
Petaluma, California
Podcasting companies
Internet television channels
Computer television series