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- (8:56:04 PM) Leo [leolaporte@twit.tv] entered the room.
- (8:56:13 PM) Trex: Leo, run!
- (8:56:21 PM) Leo: Nah
- (8:56:35 PM) Leo: I'm sure people will want to vent. I don't blame them
- (8:56:56 PM) Leo: I do apologize to our mods for not giving them a heads up
- (8:57:24 PM) Leo: sorry Dan
- (8:57:50 PM) Leo: we didn't want it to leak out before all the details were worked out.
- (8:57:57 PM) trikiw: mike elgan used to live in NM didn't he?
- (8:58:01 PM) Trex: Leo: Is there a Part 3?
- (8:58:11 PM) Leo: Yeah Mike and his wife are looking for a house here
- (8:58:20 PM) Leo: No part 3
- (8:58:29 PM) Leo: at least not this year
- (8:58:51 PM) Leo: but you know change is inevitable in broadcasting - we do less of it than most
- (8:58:55 PM) JFree: Leo, What's going on with Frame Rate?
- (8:59:00 PM) Leo: Tom declined to continue Frame Rate
- (8:59:07 PM) Leo: I have to ask Brian what he wants to do
- (8:59:18 PM) Leo: We definitely want to do some kind of show for cord cutters
- (8:59:57 PM) richardya: Leo, he is going to end up on frogpants, are you worried you just started your own competition?
- (9:00:15 PM) Leo: Not at all - I want Tom to do great
- (9:00:30 PM) Leo: I Scott knows I think the world of both of them
- (9:00:35 PM) MikeN300: Leo: I think most of us understand (I do at least), we're just upset, we love tom, but it's a business at the end of the day. As upset as I am, I still love TWiT.
- (9:00:47 PM) Leo: Tom is continuing to do his other shows
- (9:00:57 PM) Leo: I'm upset too
- (9:01:02 PM) Leo: I was upset when tom moved
- (9:01:09 PM) Leo: but we tried really hard to make it work
- (9:01:18 PM) SpringRubber8: Leo: Did you guys see a decline in TNT's numbers since Tom moved to LA? The show seemed fine to me, but did the numbers bear that out?
- (9:01:31 PM) Leo: It's not just TNT - we need a full-time local news director
- (9:01:37 PM) Trex: Leo: I think you've been transparent about that everytime someone asks about Tom on InsideTWiT shows.
- (9:01:42 PM) Lazydog: Leo: were you getting negative feedback from viewers of TNT? Aside from late starts which was another cohosts fault?
- (9:01:45 PM) Leo: TNT was fine - I just needed a full-timer
- (9:01:50 PM) Raven: but did viewers complain Leo about Tom being at home ??
- (9:01:51 PM) Web4436: Did Tom's move hinder what you wanted to do with the news divsion?
- (9:02:00 PM) downclimb: Leo: I thought it worked beautifully for the part I actually saw on TNT, but I understand it's the off-the-air presence you're looking for.
- (9:02:14 PM) Leo: No raven - in fact, TNT worked pretty well even with tom in LA - this isn't about TNT
- (9:02:16 PM) cgw: Leo, will Mike continue doing his opinion pieces on other sites?
- (9:02:22 PM) Leo: this is about needing a full-time news director
- (9:02:41 PM) Leo: yes web4436
- (9:02:52 PM) dapix: and who is that, mike elgan?
- (9:02:53 PM) Leo: and tom knew that I was unhappy to lose him
- (9:03:10 PM) Leo: yeah Mike is taking over as News Driector and anchor of TNT and our evening news show
- (9:03:14 PM) nateth: ~Leo: Good Lord, they're nuking you on twitter. I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
- (9:03:27 PM) Trex: Leo: Does Tom get to keep the set?
- (9:03:33 PM) Leo: No I knew people would be unhappy. I'm unhappy too
- (9:03:43 PM) Leo: yes tom gets to keep everything in LA
- (9:03:48 PM) Keith512: could you just of hired a extra member of staff to be the News Director and kept Tom
- (9:04:10 PM) Leo: No tom was paid as a full-timer
- (9:04:16 PM) Leo: we couldn't have both
- (9:04:33 PM) LonnDawg: Leo, it is good to see you make some comments about Tom.. I'm a little disturbed to some extent about what I read, and I read it carefully.. To me when I watch Tom's news broadcasts there is something about his personality that really fits the position of being a news person he has authority and other positive aspects that greatly contribute it's hard to put into words about him not doing the new show but I will believe in you and your d
- (9:04:33 PM) LonnDawg: ecisions I guess that says it all..
- (9:04:53 PM) Web3891: Tom was the voice of TNT and his personality defined the character of the show from day 1. The show will feel very very different without him. For better or worse, it almost needs a new name.
- (9:05:01 PM) Leo: I agree - Tom is awesome. this reflects in NO way on his ability
- (9:05:08 PM) Leo: just on his location
- (9:05:23 PM) Leo: We're going to relaunch TNT - it won't be the same
- (9:05:47 PM) Web8143: What does the future hold for Frame rate?
- (9:05:53 PM) Leo: I was very very pleased that we could get Mike
- (9:05:57 PM) MaxPower9: Leo, when you first started TWiT, did you ever think you'd have a day like today?
- (9:06:14 PM) Leo: I've given Mike and his team the responsibility to re-make the show in their image
- (9:06:22 PM) Leo: it's not popping out tom and popping in Mike
- (9:06:30 PM) Leo: that's clearly not the way to do it
- (9:06:50 PM) Leo: MaxPower9, it's always like this. The best thing about twit is that the audience feels ownership
- (9:06:53 PM) Darthmalt: web8143: Tom declined to be involved in framerate. Leo said it depend on what brian wants to do.
- (9:07:02 PM) Leo: but ultimately I have to make the hard decisions and hope I'm doing the right thing
- (9:07:06 PM) burke: Tom will continue thru December
- (9:07:23 PM) Leo: we will definitely do some form of cord cutter show
- (9:07:35 PM) Leo: we offered to continue to pay tom to do it but he declined
- (9:07:37 PM) FurnitureGuy_: Leo - perhaps a silly question, but how is the TWiT staff taking the news?
- (9:08:14 PM) Leo: It's hard for the team, too. We all love tom. But remember, it seems like he's a part of the family, but he moved to LA a year ago. He's very rarely in studio.
- (9:08:19 PM) Trex: Leo: How long before the blog post was Tom told?
- (9:08:44 PM) LonnDawg: Leo.. To me Mike has a big job ahead of him, he needs to put together a team in the image that reflects what the news program should be about , and then also he has to gain audience acceptance which is just as difficult, a person's personality when coming across on a podcast is critical to the total acceptance of the broadcast. Kind of get what I'm saying it's not an easy task
- (9:08:51 PM) Leo: We've been takling with tom and his representation for a month
- (9:09:05 PM) WIguy: so whats is going on, someone break the news to me, havent been able to listen to twit or be in here all day?
- (9:09:08 PM) Leo: In other words, he was definitely not blindsided
- (9:09:17 PM) Leo: http://inside.twit.tv/blog/2013/12/5/changes-at-twit-part-2.html
- (9:09:48 PM) Leo: I don't think it will be at all difficult for Mike to gain acceptance. He's a premiere journalist with years in the business
- (9:09:56 PM) cheeto: Leo: Will the News Director help write rundowns for other shows like MBW and TWiG?
- (9:09:58 PM) Leo: and he has a unique voice and style
- (9:10:03 PM) Leo: you're going to love him, I promise
- (9:10:38 PM) Leo: No cheeto - that's me. The News Driector's job is to beef up news coverage on tWiT.
- (9:11:24 PM) cgw: I think it will take a while before I consider Mike a "journalist" and not an opinion columnist.
- (9:12:02 PM) Leo: He was editor in chief of Windows Magazine. He is a journalist. More than anyone else at TWiT
- (9:12:12 PM) LonnDawg: Leo that's good to hear and again I'm sure everything will work out... Sometimes it's really hard to convey some thoughts... When writing in the chat room, I'm sure as you've already conveyed that you were upset if that's the word about having to make these types of decisions, enough said because I don't want to lose confidence in my ability and reasoning, I'm going to rely on you and continue to participate and watch all your shows
- (9:12:32 PM) Leo: Hey I know it's a shock. I sympathize
- (9:12:53 PM) Leo: but we know that people want TWiT to be a reliable, authoritative source for tech news
- (9:13:02 PM) Leo: to do that we need a full-time news director.
- (9:13:08 PM) Houdini7: Leo, does this mean I have to update all the TWiTpad artwork again? :) lol
- (9:13:13 PM) Leo: I asked tom to do that but he didn't want to.
- (9:13:24 PM) Trex: Leo: Is Dvorak still dodging TWiT employment?
- (9:13:25 PM) JettaJoey: Leo where is the AP teletype going?
- (9:13:32 PM) Leo: um maybe Houdini7 . sorry
- (9:13:45 PM) Leo: yeah I can't get Dvorak to join us. Try as I might
- (9:13:59 PM) Leo: Actually I want TWiT to break news
- (9:14:03 PM) Leo: not just rehash it
- (9:14:13 PM) Leo: expect more hires in that driection
- (9:14:19 PM) Keith512: the main issue is people love twit because its different if you got down the same route as everyone else you loose you hook that brings people to the network
- (9:14:21 PM) Trex: Leo: That's easy to do. Everyone just watches Twitter anyway.
- (9:14:42 PM) Leo: Keith512, I understand that, but does that mean no one can ever leave?
- (9:15:07 PM) Leo: You get the first word from twitter, but where do you go to get the full story? CNN? NBC?
- (9:15:23 PM) SURGE: Leo - I'm much happier knowing you asked Tom to change to meet the needs, and he declined, rather than the alternative.
- (9:15:30 PM) cgw: I hope that Tech News 2Night (as early '00s as that sounds) will restore the relevancy of news coverage at TWiT. So much of TNT, recording so early in the day, is covering yesterday's news.
- (9:15:38 PM) Leo: Well I think we can do as good a job as AllThingsD, but in audio and video
- (9:15:40 PM) Leo: why not?
- (9:15:54 PM) forkless: I'm going to miss the community interaction from Tom, it's hard to imagine Mike filling that role quite the same
- (9:15:55 PM) Leo: That's exactly why we're launching an evening news show.
- (9:16:02 PM) Leo: Are you kidding formless?
- (9:16:07 PM) Darthmalt: ~Leo: I would love to see twit break news. Have to say you've built a great thing so far. Already As soon as tech news breaks or there is a apple keynote my first thought is to tune into twit to get expert commentary.
- (9:16:15 PM) Leo: formless - Mike is the most engaged poster I've ever seen
- (9:16:24 PM) Leo: google.com/+mikeelgan
- (9:16:59 PM) Leo: You're not alone darthmalt - and that's something I think is very important going forward
- (9:17:36 PM) Leo: Tom was less and less available to us, even for breaking news.
- (9:18:43 PM) SURGE: Leo I resepect your decision to stay on the course of advancing TWiT. The news department is important to that goal. If Tom is not available, you need someone who can be.
- (9:20:14 PM) Leo: yeah SURGE it wasn't an easy decision but I am committed to making twit better
- (9:20:34 PM) Leo: and I know it doesn't seem like a step forward to some right now - but it really is
- (9:20:45 PM) blip: Will Mike Elgan be in studio? (I came in late)
- (9:20:55 PM) Web3891: Leo, thanks for responding and being as transparent as you can be. It definitely helps. But I have to say, the whole situation just feels weird (a mixture is confusion and disappointment), and I wonder if that is what a lot of people are reacting to.
- (9:20:58 PM) Leo: Yes blip
- (9:21:11 PM) SpringRubber8: Leo: At least the main desk on the TNT set will be used for something other than you doing BYB. :P
- (9:21:17 PM) Leo: yeah and i hope people understand that it's just as painful to me
- (9:21:30 PM) Leo: exactly SpringRubber
- (9:22:15 PM) Web4607: My guess is Brian will not continue FR without Tom
- (9:22:23 PM) Leo: Unfortunately, due to the legal complications involved in employment stuff, and the fact that tom chose to use a lawyer to represent him, I feel like I can say very little about this
- (9:22:39 PM) nateth: This is a decision that's intended to grow TWiT as a whole, especially in regard to daily/breaking news coverage.
- (9:22:50 PM) Leo: but I feel you deserve a chance to hear from me
- (9:23:03 PM) Leo: exactly nateth
- (9:23:10 PM) trevor256: tom is using a lawyer?
- (9:23:21 PM) ZeroNeuro: Tom is very savvy, trevor
- (9:23:28 PM) Leo: tom hired one to re-negotiate his contract
- (9:23:28 PM) ZeroNeuro: He's been in the media game a long time
- (9:23:32 PM) AlwaysLimey: I'm still upset, but hearing you offered to let him stay on Frame Rate and he declined, softens the blow a bit
- (9:23:39 PM) Trex: Lol, Leo always going against lawyer wishes. (See the podcast troll discussions)
- (9:23:41 PM) Leo: normal business procedure but it means I have to mind my ps and qs
- (9:24:03 PM) Leo: we offered tom a very good deal to stay on frame rate
- (9:25:33 PM) TheatreMonkey: Leo: losing Tom is a hard pill for me to swallow.. I have always had faith in you and your vision of what TWiT can be. I just see this as a cross roads of TWiT becoming something bigger than any of us can imagine or imploding.
- (9:26:16 PM) Leo: it's not that dramatic TheatreMonkey - tom moved to LA. We were paying him as a full time employee. we need a full-time in studio presence. Tom didn't want to do that.
- (9:26:41 PM) Leo: We have hired a perfect person to be in studio
- (9:27:02 PM) AlwaysLimey: Leo - oh wow.. didn't know you were paying him as full time. That changes my view quite a bit. :)
- (9:27:07 PM) Leo: the job is a management job - we need that person to be in house
- (9:27:23 PM) ZeroNeuro: Tom wasn't cheap.
- (9:27:25 PM) Leo: tom is our highest paid employee
- (9:27:31 PM) Strengths: Leo: how much has the TWiT survey affected this?
- (9:27:40 PM) Leo: not at all strengths
- (9:28:11 PM) Web4607: Tom was who i thought would take over once you retired
- (9:28:14 PM) Leo: when tom moved to LA we said we'd give it a year to see how it worked. TNT is working great, but we're not getting any of the other things we needed.
- (9:28:23 PM) downclimb: There's some behind-the-scenes stuff we viewers don't understand. Like for me, Tim Russert was the guy on Meet the Press for an hour each Sunday. But to NBC, he was the Washington news bureau chief, which was anything but a 1-hour job.
- (9:28:26 PM) Leo: Me too web4607
- (9:28:50 PM) Trex: Plus, Leo needs someone who can sub for him. A Skype sub is bad.
- (9:28:55 PM) Leo: I even offered tom equity but he declined it. He did not want to be 100% at twit.
- (9:29:06 PM) Leo: Tom refused to sub for me too
- (9:29:12 PM) Leo: that used to be in his contract
- (9:29:14 PM) Web3207: Leo.. From a management / PR perspective, why not let Tom announce his departure? Wouldn't that have softened the blow to current TNT followers?
- (9:29:17 PM) dagimar: Leo but it worked great, why change
- (9:29:24 PM) nateth: Leo: Well it sounds as if you were more than fair.
- (9:29:29 PM) Leo: we offered that to tom web3207
- (9:29:34 PM) Leo: he declined
- (9:29:35 PM) Web2245: Leo, did Tom know about this before you wrote the blog post?
- (9:29:36 PM) Trex: dagimar: Because Tom was getting a lot for a little.
- (9:29:51 PM) Leo: he asked me to post first, and had full approval on the post
- (9:30:00 PM) Leo: he wanted it to be clear it was my decision not his
- (9:30:01 PM) dagimar: a little? really?
- (9:30:14 PM) Leo: of course web2245
- (9:30:19 PM) Leo: he's known about if for days
- (9:30:51 PM) cgw: Leo, it sounds like like the experience of remote hosting the show would be an interesting thing to discuss, albeit in a more abstract sense, that perhaps technology can't replace everything
- (9:30:57 PM) Leo: dagimar tnt worked great, but that that wasn't everything we needed from tom
- (9:31:03 PM) eyedesyn: is that why Tom was on NSFW? little send off there
- (9:31:06 PM) Leo: most of our hosts are remote
- (9:31:09 PM) Leo: that was not the problem
- (9:31:15 PM) sy: Tom's a great guy and he'll continue to do great stuff, on or off TWiT
- (9:31:21 PM) Leo: my news director needs to be in house, to lead to mentor
- (9:31:38 PM) Leo: exactly sy
- (9:31:58 PM) downclimb: If nothing else, I hope we can all conclude that Eileen's job with YouTube must be awesome.
- (9:32:08 PM) Strengths: Leo: will you let Tom get drunk in the 24-hour New Years Eve marathon?
- (9:32:10 PM) ClickTrack: Leo, so Mike is going to be in house?
- (9:32:18 PM) Leo: I can't speak as freely in public but I hope you guys understand
- (9:32:30 PM) Leo: yes ClickTrack he's buying a house in Sonoma \
- (9:32:55 PM) Leo: we invited tom but he didn't want to be part of the new years eve
- (9:33:05 PM) Leo: he felt it would be inappropriate
- (9:33:09 PM) Leo: OK guys I have to run
- (9:33:24 PM) LonnDawg: Leo.. I agree with MikeN300 I feel much better about this whole change.. Especially after hearing from you... I think for the most part everything has been said and understood, and as you can see there are a lot of people who enjoyed listening to Tom and yes he will be missed but Tom has something else in mind for his career.
- (9:33:41 PM) Leo: Tom is absolutely welcome on TWiT any time - we invited him to continue frame rare. but I think he's hurt and he said no. for the time being.
- (9:34:13 PM) Leo: thanks everyone. I really appreciate how much you care about twit!
- (9:34:16 PM) Leo left the room (quit: Quit: Leaving).
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