launch ZDTV. The new channel was devoted to digital technology, and it was substantially an extension of the themes presented by The Site. The channel gained in popularity and was rebranded to TechTV in 2001. Key contributors and on-air regulars Cliff Stoll, Denise Caruso, Leo Laporte, John C. Dvorak, Matthew Hawn, John Gilles, Ali Hossaini, Shauna Sampson David Bohrman and animated character Dev Null. Broadcast designers Victoria Webb, Susan Roderick and Executive Producer Nancy Juliber were integral to the on-air team, winning several BDA awards for work. Richard Stutting was Art Director for the award-winning website. Victoria Webb enlisted 3RingCircus to provide the network package for ZDTV. A nightly five-minute segment in which O'Brien engaged in spontaneous tech talk with a virtual reality cartoon character, Dev Null, was animated in real time on Silicon Graphics computers. The character was in fact ZDTV journalist Leo Laporte, who did the voice and actions while wearing a motion capture suit. When O'Brien sat at an espresso bar to read email from viewers, Dev Null flirted with her while answering her computer questions. She recalled, "One of the reasons that segment of the show worked is that I could not see him as I was talking to him, and the segment was unscripted. He was funny, and his jokes were not gags." Producers on The Site, many of whom got their start in television there, eventually became executives at other innovative channels, including LinkTV, Oxygen Media, G4 and LAB HD. Regular writers and columnists Richard Kadrey, Kevin Poulsen; Joel Deane, John Gilles, Ali Hossaini, Matthew Hawn, Kevin Kennis (Kevin the Kid Tester) and Shauna Sampson Executive producers Kathy Moore, Suzanne Stefanac External links American non-fiction television series MSNBC original programming 1990s American television news shows 1996 American television series debuts 1997 American television series endings English-language television shows