Diggnation to End in December | Hacker News Reader

Diggnation to End in December

nytimes.com

131 pointsssclafani38 comments

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.

Diggnation started when I was a freshman in college. Back then, what these guys were doing was truly new. They started the genre of long format internet video.

That's very true. It's hard to find many content creators who have a sustainable audience who want to stick with videos over 10 minutes long.

The market consists of people who arent constipated tightwads who enjoy light tech banter.

Since when is 34 middle-aged? :-)

It's pretty close to halfway between 0 and the expected lifespan, but that's not the common usage of "middle-aged." I always think of mid to late 40s.

I think you'll change that notion once you reach 40.

Isn't middle-aged always defined as "substantially older than me"?

Where are you living to be expecting to die at 68? The median global life expectancy is 73.5 years. I think you need to rethink how long you may live for so you can have a happy retirement.

Is the middle of a life less than 7 years wide?

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...

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

Come on, this doesn't shock you. In a country where a movie like "SAW" has a lotta popularity?. Diggnation was very popular because of many factors, but watching a couple of guys who have enough money to drink beer on TV and talk about a mix of tech and cats is enough for many.

I grew up with TechTV,so Rev3 was my next logical step.

Same here, and I'm pretty sure that's why they had a lotta viewers.

Was not expecting a NYTimes article on this.

Digg was always good at getting press.

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.

Six years of weekly shows (320+ episodes) probably is a reason. It would be a grind.

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.

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

I take that back...

I just went to digg.com and realized that its become a gimp of it's former self, with front-page stories only getting 2-4 comments.

It must suck for Kevin to promote a dead project he is no longer associated with.

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?

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...

A man child.

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.

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.

According to Business Week he is a "kid" http://images.businessweek.com/mz/06/33/0633covdc.gif

I'm 35, and I look back at my 29-year-old self as a kid.

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.

"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.

Yea, I know they wont :(

I hope they change their minds on this :)

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.

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!

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.

I shed a tear today.

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.

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