TechTV was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet.

[1] A focus on personality-driven product reviews and technical support made it a cultural hub for technology information worldwide, still existing today online through its former hosts' webcasts, most notably the TWiT Network.

[4][5] According to Ziff Davis spokesman Gregory Jarboe, The Personal Computing Show was unsuccessful due to its relegation to odd channels and timeslots.

Its first project was to develop The Site, a daily hour-long prime time news show co-hosted by Soledad O'Brien about the increasing social and economic effects of technology.

[10] According to Ziff Davis chief executive Larry Wangberg,[6] San Francisco was chosen as ZDTV's headquarters for its proximity to Silicon Valley and easy access to Multimedia Gulch-based talent.

[13] Wangberg, who would be made the network's CEO, proclaimed Ziff Davis' ambition of ZDTV becoming "to computing what CNN is to news, what ESPN is to sports".

[11] Although Ziff Davis intended to continue producing The Site for MSNBC following ZDTV's launch,[14] the show was canceled in September 1997 as a result of the network's shift toward an all-news format.

[17] In November 1998, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's holding company Vulcan Ventures invested $54 million in ZDTV, granting it a 33 percent stake in the network.

In an effort to sell company assets to reduce debt and boost its share price,[20] Ziff Davis put ZDTV up for sale on July 16, 1999.

[22][23] On March 15, 2001, TechTV announced that it had laid off an approximate of a dozen employees as part of a reorganization effort in the face of the waning dot-com bubble.

This, combined with the reduction of Tech Live and indifferent online reactions to TechTV's struggles, were interpreted by Wired News' Farhad Manjoo as a sign of declining cultural interest in technology.

This move became hugely controversial among loyal fans of TechTV and Leo Laporte, who, because of a contract dispute with Vulcan, left the channel.

On February 15, 2005, the TechTV brand was dropped from the United States G4techTV feed, leaving the network name as G4 – Video Game Television which also echoed the changes in programming made to the channel due to the merger for both G4's original offering and the greatly diminished TechTV originated shows; after that, G4 went through a rebranding and changed most of its programming to position itself as a male-oriented network.

[53] The personalities of TechTV include Leo Laporte, Kate Botello, Alison Strahan, Roger Chang, Yoshi DeHerrera, John C. Dvorak, Carmine Gallo, Ali Hossaini, James Kim, Kris Kosach, Pam Krueger, Chris Leary, Chi-Lan Lieu, Jim Louderback, Tom Merritt, Megan Morrone, Patrick Norton, SuChin Pak, Michaela Pereira, Bill Rafferty, Kevin Rose, Alison Strahan Martin Sargent, Catherine Schwartz, Adam Sessler, Laura Swisher, Morgan Webb, Tammy Cavadias and Liam Mayclem.

[55] Many of the founding staff of ZDTV had previously worked on MSNBC's The Site, which featured Dev Null, a virtual animated character voiced by Leo Laporte who interacted with host Soledad O'Brien.

Dash (voiced first by Paul McKinney and later by Patrick Flick and Chris Manners, with body performance by Jessa Brie Moreno and Slater Penney) and Tilde (voiced by Kate Botello and later by Laura LeBleu, with body performance by Jessa Brie Moreno and Slater Penney, in some support chat appearances Tilde was played by Theresa Quinn, Asst Production Manager) appeared in on-air and online promos for the network.