

Diggnation to End in December - ssclafani
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/business/media/diggnation-popular-web-talk-show-to-end-in-december.html

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kylec
The view count shocks me, as does the comparison to Oprah - I've personally
never found Kevin Rose to have said anything substantial, and watching two
middle-aged guys drink beer and talk about nothing holds absolutely no
interest for me. But I guess there is, or was, a market for that.

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baddox
I got hooked early on in the excitement of IPTV taking off. I've watched every
episode (I think) and I find it consistently entertaining. The hosts have good
chemistry, are very "comfortable in their own skin," and are consistently
funny.

The show is far from informative or even insightful, but that was never really
the point. It didn't take long for the show to diverge from its premise (top
stories from the social news website digg.com). It's really just about the
chemistry and personalities of the hosts, which I find very enjoyable. And
still, there have always been the occasional insights (albeit perhaps biased
and not "fair") on the start-up world, gadgets, internet media, etc.

Oh, and there are some completely ridiculous "best of" moments that are likely
to induce intense laughter. Like this:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71Zpl6tmUxs&feature=playe...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71Zpl6tmUxs&feature=player_detailpage#t=86s)

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mlinksva
That is the least funny thing I've experienced all day. No smile, not even a
cringe.

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eljaco
Was _not_ expecting a NYTimes article on this.

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jedberg
Digg was always good at getting press.

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powertower
I'm counting Revision3 is @ 27 shows right now.

If Diggnation gets 10% of the views and 10% of the revenue on the network,
they are one of the top shows on that network.

Sad to see it go. It was sometimes a good time killer.

I wonder if Kevin and Alex broke up, or one of them has unresonable
expectations.

250k viewers each week and 10% of network revenues is not reason of cancel a
show.

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reader5000
Kevin had tried to quit a few months ago, apparently without Alex's knowledge.
Not sure why he wants out so bad, I think he just wants to rebrand his
identity as more "serious" e.g. with Foundation, which is not nearly as
entertaining as Diggnation.

Personally I think if the show had introduced a guest-interview element it
could have gone big places.

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pacomerh
Agree, but Foundation is still a cool production, great video quality and
great guests. The only thing missing maybe better questions to the guests.

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fendmark
Sad to hear this. Would have liked to see them continue the show without the
Digg moniker and maybe change the format a bit. Diggnation was basically
Wayne's World for the tech set and I will definitely miss it. Any suggestions
on similar shows that are as good or better that I should watch instead?

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jordinl
_The weekly beta-testing and beer-guzzling show they have hosted for six
years, “Diggnation,”_

And

 _Their explanation for ending it: They’ve grown up, just like the Web has.
“We started this show as kids,” said Mr. Albrecht, now 35_

So at 29 he was still a kid...

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dpcan
Well, they acted like kids on the show, yes, but also note that Alex and Kevin
worked together for years before that on The Screensavers. These guys were
definitely kids together doing this stuff, and I can understand how they must
feel like they've outgrown it.

I'm about the same age as these guys too, and I stopped watching about 2 years
ago. I felt bad for them that they had to continue doing what they were doing
even though they must have felt their age catching up with their antics.

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lizardking
Alex was on The Screensavers for like 3 months, after Tech TV was bought by
Comcast and merged with G4. He was the replacement for Leo and Patrick, who
were far more knowledgeable and competent.

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WadeWilliams
Diggnation is completely awesome and Im extremely sad to see it go. Say it
ain't so! Alex & Kevin have produced an extremely entertaining and
enlightening show. I completely disagree that Kevin Rose has "never... said
anything substantial", quite the contrary. Each show is not only a friendly
conversation that is easy to pay attention whether you're a tech professional
or a complete layman, but the insights into Digg and it's struggles over time
as well as other interesting anecdotes about technology and its evolution have
taught me a lot.

Hope they change their minds on this.

They've got to be killing it on advertising but I would happily pay to watch
Diggnation instead of Foundation, although There's definitely value in the
later as well.

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Pyrodogg
"Hope they change their minds on this."

They won't.

Remember, this isn't the case of some suit or network executive not renewing
the show. This is the creative force of the show saying that they've made a
good run and that they are ready for other challenges.

Diggnation had a great run, I was an avid watcher for the first few years. If
Alex and Kevin think they can better apply the energy they're spending on
Diggnation, then more power to them.

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WadeWilliams
Yea, I know they wont :(

I hope they change their minds on this :)

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natch
The obvious lameness of the one episode of this that I did see was enough to
make me stop frequenting Digg. Won't miss it.

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channelmeter
That's too bad. Diggnation should've adopted or slowly added two other hosts.
With over 34 million total views on YouTube, they've achieved a healthy growth
of views with no signs of slowing down: <http://bit.ly/rmKFdH> Furthemore,
their brand online was huge!

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scottmcleod
Opens up for others to fill this possible void or niche in the industry. I
think a tech forward progressive weekly video would be great.

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sbirarda
I shed a tear today.

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justinsalsburey
This show has enabled me to pretend that I'm shooting the shit and drinking
beer with like minded individuals and not actually at work or at the gym for
years. This was the point of the show. At least for me.

