Leo Laporte: "Advertisers Hate a Smart Audience"

This is from a recent reddit AMA (ask me anything, which is a (usually promotional) candid interview done by anyone who wishes to participate) with Leo Laporte (formerly of TechTV fame):

Question: When did you know that TechTV wasn't going to survive?
Leo Laporte's Answer: About a year before it folded. I remember trying to tell the TechTV executives that we should target the 14 million computer programmers in the US with really smart programming. They told me that sponsors hate a smart audience and there was no future in smart programming. That's when I started polishing up my resume.

And there you have it, folks. Straight from someone in the business. Those "TV is dumbed down" people seem to have a point, and once again, it all leads back to money.

List of Things Wrong with Gaming.

I stated in a Previous Blog that I was going to blog about some things I really dislike about the current state of the video games' industry. Well, in that blog, entitled "Magazine writer fired after dustup with Rockstar PR and Capcom Milking Street Fighter IV even MORE!" I discussed the recent firing of a journalist who had published on his facebook page a letter from Rockstar games to his office. What exactly was in that letter? Well, read my previous blog to get the full details, but basically, the guys from Rockstar wanted this particular journalist known for his tough analyses to go easy on the game and treat it with reverence, basically.

Yes, Rockstar is telling journalists how to do their job. What to write and how to write it. What's the implication here? What are they saying, if you read between the lines? You better play ball, if you know what's good for you. You see, if they don't play ball (which they will, I am sure, now that Mr. Honesty has been canned.....is anyone else reminded of the Jeff Gerstmann Incident? ) they lose ad revenue. They lose ad revenue, they lose....well, revenue.

You get the point. Money talks, sister.