hi i'm robbie ferguson you've seen me as
the host of category 5 technology tv
since 2007
but i'm also the owner of the business
that runs it the category 5 tv network
one year ago i stood before you from
studio d to announce that our landlord
was sending us packing from our studio
space
to repurpose it for his own use and we
needed our viewers help in order to
survive
by moving to a new studio space by the
end of the month
you saw us through that frightening
hurdle and kept category 5 strong
we arrived safely in our new space just
as the seriousness of the covid 19
pandemic was beginning to set in
worldwide
none of us saw this coming and none of
us understood how difficult of a year
this would become
we thought it was something that might
last throughout the spring
and then we could get back to business
as usual from our new home
with me jeff and sasha immediately
fulfilling the perks to our supporters
none of us ever contemplated that a
global pandemic would delay us for more
than a year with no clear end in sight
to allow us to plan for those special
features
believe me we still do plan to do all
that we promised but like you were left
wondering when this might be
i'll be sure to let you know as soon as
i learn more
throughout the lockdown i watched as
other businesses closed their doors for
good
the mall which now houses our studio
which was a bustling community as i
shopped around for a new location
is now hallways of locked doors leading
to empty offices
my heart aches for the business owners
who tried so hard to survive throughout
this time but ultimately failed
but one thing i have noted is that those
businesses who continue to survive
and even thrive are those whose business
owners
made firm decisive changes to the way
they operate
as i continue to watch the numbers and
see the shift
in how viewers consume our content i
can't hold to the old way of doing
things only to find that i can no longer
stay
open i want to see category 5 through
this difficult time
and then as we build our strength
following the pandemic
we can again look at where we are and
what works
in the new broadcast landscape as the
year progressed since
last march i carefully monitored the
potential impact of the pandemic on the
business
and as our home province of ontario
canada entered a full state of emergency
lockdown
in december it became clear that we were
not going to survive
if we didn't quickly make changes hard
changes
the long-form video format of our show
that we had done for the past
14 years was no longer viable either
logistically or financially the only way
i'd be able to sustain things
if at all is to quickly shift our focus
to short form video i had to make this
decision
suddenly and unexpectedly at the
beginning of february 2021
when the cost to produce the previous
two episodes of our show
far exceeded the revenue brought in by
the business
we would quickly go broke to carry on
like that as a business who gives away
its product for free
we have to be very cautious when expense
exceeds revenue
when our government reopened the
province just two weeks ago
my team and i began exploring the new
broadcast format
in an effort to figure all this out and
see how we could make it work
it's been tough because we're still
trying to figure it out
and at the same time we're
simultaneously having viewers asking us
what was happening we didn't quite know
the answer to that yet
i think we've done a good job of keeping
our patrons informed while
simultaneously ensuring the
general public still receives regular
video content
albeit not live however here we are
just two weeks after the province
reopened
and our government has again announced
that they are moving us to
a state of emergency lockdown
as i said it's been 14 years since i
founded category 5 technology tv
it breaks my heart to see some of the
changes that are necessary but my
motivation
is that of the business owner who wants
to see the company survive
i have to look to the future and ensure
category 5
is as strong as it can be both now and
in the future
i want the company to survive through
this and then be able to circle back to
the kickstarter campaign that took place
last march and say let's do this
you got us into our new studio now it's
time to put
jeff through simulated labor and shoot
him with paintballs
it is for these reasons that i must
report our public one-hour live
broadcast has now been discontinued our
production methodology
has shifted to that of produced content
all videos produced by the category 5 tv
network
will be published on our youtube channel
youtube.com
slash linux tech show our community
programming will be published to the old
channel
and while it is our hope that it will
one day return
robert will be putting a hold on all new
crypto corner features for the time
being
of course all of the public content that
we produce such as the newsroom
and tech features can be viewed on our
official website
category 5 dot tv and we will continue
to provide
new videos every week as is possible
throughout this lockdown
if you have previously been watching us
on cable tv
sadly i'm confident that this will come
to an end
we have for years provided our content
to syndicates at no cost to them
with our shift to short form video
however while i still welcome them to
broadcast our content which we license
under creative commons attribution
i'm afraid it's unlikely to suit their
format as it will no longer fill
an hour slot our live
sessions are now exclusively available
to patrons
this is reminiscent to the early days of
category 5 with a laid-back
social atmosphere as patrons participate
in our live
recording sessions for the upcoming
features that we'll be producing
it is raw and it is unedited and it is
therefore not appropriate for the
general public
which is why only patrons receive this
in addition to the live sessions patrons
receive
early access to our produced content
before public release
this gives our supporters a chance to
view like
and comment on our videos before the
influx
of public views if you have supported us
in another way than patreon
sadly they do not allow me to grant
access to this exclusive content
unless you become a patron on their
platform
i contacted the patreon support team
about this
and they assure me there is no way so it
is for this reason
i revamped the patreon tears including
the creation of
the supporting elsewhere tier
at just one dollar per month this
is there only for those of you who have
supported us by way of a different
platform
but wish to still receive some of the
extra content
exclusively available on patreon if
by contrast you wish to support the show
ongoing please be mindful that by the
time
fees are deducted and the transaction is
transferred to us
in canadian dollars this one dollar
contribution is just
pennies in our account so please
consider one of the higher tiers
if that's you it is my job
and my commitment to see category 5
survive
through this again
from the entire staff of the category 5
tv network
i want to wish you and your family good
health and safety
as this difficult year enters its second
thank you for your understanding as we
make these hard
but necessary changes and thank you so
much
for your support
you