Leo Laporte
Leo Laporte (/ləˈpɔːrt/; born November 29, 1956)[1] is the former host of The Tech Guy weekly radio show[2] and a host on TWiT.tv, an Internet podcast network focusing on technology. He is also a former TechTV technology host (1998–2008) and a technology author. On November 19, 2022, actor, writer, musician, and comedian Steve Martin called in to Laporte's radio show to announce Leo's retirement from The Tech Guy radio show.[3] Laporte's last new radio show will be December 18, 2022 with reruns for the remainder of the year. Rich DeMuro later appeared on the show to announce that he will be taking over in January with a weekly show, recorded on Saturdays, called "Rich On Tech."[4]
Leo Laporte | |
|---|---|
Laporte pictured in 2007 | |
| Born | November 29, 1956 New York City, U.S. |
| Citizenship | American |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Founding TWiT.tv |
| Notable credits |
|
| Television | Internet! (PBS), The Site (MSNBC), Call for Help (ZDTV/TechTV), The Screen Savers (ZDTV/TechTV) |
| Spouses |
|
| Website | leo |
Background
Laporte was born in New York City,[5] the son of geologist Leo F. Laporte. He studied Chinese history at Yale University before dropping out in his junior year to pursue a career in radio broadcasting,[6] where his early on-air names were Dave Allen and Dan Hayes.[7] He began his association with computers with his first home computer, an Atari 400.[5] By 1984 he owned a Macintosh and wrote a software review for Byte magazine.[8]
Television and radio
Laporte has worked on technology-related broadcasting projects, including Dvorak on Computers in January 1991 (co-hosted with technology writer John C. Dvorak), and Laporte on Computers on KGO Radio and KSFO in San Francisco.[9]
In 1997, Laporte was awarded a Northern California Emmy for his role as Dev Null, a motion capture character on the MSNBC show The Site.
In 1998, Laporte created and co-hosted The Screen Savers,[10] and the original version of Call for Help on the cable and satellite network ZDTV (later TechTV).[11]
Laporte was the host of the daily television show The Lab with Leo Laporte, recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The program had formerly been known as Call for Help when it was recorded in the US and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The series aired on G4 Canada, on the HOW TO Channel in Australia, on several of Canada's Citytv affiliates, and on Google Video. On March 5, 2008, Laporte confirmed on net@nite that The Lab with Leo Laporte[12] had been canceled by Rogers Communications. The HOW TO Channel did not air the remaining episodes after it was announced the show had been canceled.[13][14]
He hosted, until December 2022, a weekend technology-oriented talk radio program show titled Leo Laporte: The Tech Guy. The show, started on KFI AM 640 (Los Angeles), was syndicated through Premiere Radio Networks. Laporte appeared on Friday mornings on KFI with Bill Handel, and previously on such shows as Showbiz Tonight,[15] Live with Kelly,[16] and World News Now.
He holds an amateur radio license, W6TWT.
Bibliography
Laporte has written technology-oriented books including:
- Smith, Gina; — (1 March 1995). 101 Computer Answers You Need To Know. Ziff-Davis Press. ISBN 978-1562763398. LCCN 95159818. OCLC 32516630. OL 873902M. Retrieved 31 December 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- —; Branwyn, Gareth (1 October 2004). Leo Laporte's Guide to TiVo. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing. ISBN 978-0789731951. LCCN 2004107054. OCLC 57086528. OL 3314839M. Retrieved 1 January 2022 – via Internet Archive.
- —; Stauffer, Todd (8 November 2004). Leo Laporte's 2005 Mac Gadget Guide. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing. ISBN 978-0789731746. LCCN 2004107074. OCLC 56658424. OL 3314849M. Retrieved 31 December 2021 – via Internet Archive.
- —; Stauffer, Todd (1 August 2005). Leo Laporte's Guide to Mac OS X Tiger. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing. ISBN 978-0789733931. LCCN 2005922649. OCLC 60320459. OL 8157794M. Retrieved 1 January 2022 – via Internet Archive.
- —; Soper, Mark Edward (September 1, 2005). Leo Laporte's PC Help Desk. Indianapolis, IN: Que Publishing. ISBN 978-0789733948. LCCN 2005924991. OCLC 62382528. OL 8157795M. Retrieved January 1, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
- Bacon, Jono (27 August 2009). "Foreword from the First Edition". The Art of Community: Building the New Age of Participation (Theory in Practice). Foreword by Leo Laporte (Second ed.). O'Reilly Media. pp. ix–x. ISBN 978-0596156718. LCCN 2010277242. OCLC 804515247. OL 24194264M – via Internet Archive.
He has published a yearly series of technology almanacs:
- Leo Laporte's Technology Almanac
- Poor Leo's Computer Almanac ISBN 0768654920
- Leo Laporte's 2006 Technology Almanac ISBN 0789733978
Laporte announced in October 2006 that he would not renew his contract with Que Publishing, and had retired from publishing books.
In 2008, Laporte did a voice narration of Andrew Lang's fable The True History of Little Golden-hood[17] from Audible (Amazon), a sponsor.[18]
Podcasting
Laporte owns and operates a podcast network, TWiT.tv with his wife[19] Lisa Laporte. Before the expansion to new facilities in 2011, Laporte said TWiT earned US$1.5 million (equivalent to $1,810,000 in 2021) annually on a production cost of US$350,000 (equivalent to $422,000 in 2021).[20] In a 2012 Reddit posting, he commented that revenue was approaching US$4 million (equivalent to $4,820,000 in 2021).[21] The TWiT studios are located in Petaluma, California,[10] where Laporte lives.[22]
References
- ^ — (December 4, 2021). "The Tech Guy #1849". TWiT.tv (Podcast). Event occurs at 17:37. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
- ^ . Premiere Networks. n.d. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
- ^ Laporte, Lisa. "The Secret Is Out!". TWiT.tv. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
- ^ "Rich on Tech | Premiere Networks". www.premierenetworks.com. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ a b . G4. n.d. Archived from the original on September 26, 2006. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
- ^ Schwartzman, Eric (1 September 2005). "How to Pitch Leo Laporte of TWiT". On the Record Online Podcast (Podcast). Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ TwitLive Broadcast, after hours, 9 December 2008
- ^ Laporte, Leo (1 December 1984). "Habadex on Apple's Macintosh". Byte. Vol. 9, no. 13. pp. A102–A105. ISSN 0360-5280. Retrieved 29 October 2022 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Friess, Steve (October 3, 2006). "Podcasting's Reluctant Evangelist". WIRED. eISSN 1078-3148. ISSN 1059-1028. OCLC 24479723. from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
- ^ a b Hiner, Jason (April 19, 2015). "The New Screen Savers: TWiT resurrects the show that launched tech video into the stratosphere". ZDNet. from the original on November 23, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
- ^ Marriott, Michael (December 21, 2003). "COVER STORY; Plug In, Boot Up, Feel Free to Melt Down". The New York Times. eISSN 1553-8095. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
- ^ "The Lab with Leo Laporte". Internet Archive. n.d. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
- ^ Vapor, Matt (March 27, 2008). . Matt Vapor's Blog | Advocating Technology for Everyone. Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
- ^ Vapor, Matt (March 27, 2008). . Matt Vapor's Blog | Advocating Technology for Everyone. Archived from the original on August 4, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
- ^ Bryant, Karyn; Hammer, A.J. (July 25, 2005). "Man Convicted for Cameron Diaz Nude Photo Scam; Clay Aiken Answers Questions About Charity; iPod Nation: Why Are They So Popular?". Showbiz Tonight. Season 1. Episode 76. CNN. RUSH TRANSCRIPT.
- ^ . January 22, 2007. Archived from the original on March 12, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
- ^ . Archived from the original on January 21, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
- ^ . TWiT.tv. 21 July 2008. Archived from the original (XML) on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
- ^ Danae Ringelmann interviewed on the TV show Triangulation on the TWiT.tv network
- ^ Cashmore, Pete (October 3, 2009). "Leo Laporte Makes $1.5 Million Per Year from Podcasting". Mashable. from the original on April 19, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
- ^ — (2012). "Reddit - /r/IAmA | I am Leo Laporte, Chief TWiT. AMA!". Reddit. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
- ^ "TWiT Eastside Studio FAQ". The Official TWiT Wiki.