BUTV10 to showcase student, faculty, and alumni work
Broadcasts begin next semester
The technical equipment is in place, the student management board is nearly complete, and the most important part of Boston University’s new television station — the name — has finally been decided. Starting next semester, the BU community can find news, events, and entertainment on BUTV10, also known as Terriervision.
After years as an independent student-operated production company, BUTV is becoming the University’s official channel, operated at the College of Communication and broadcast on channel 10 of the BU cable network.
“This is something students have wanted for a number of years,” says BUTV10 faculty advisor Chris Cavalieri, an assistant professor of television at COM. “Now, with the opportunity, we’re setting them up for the task.”
Until last year, BUTV was the name of the student organization that produced a variety of programs — among them the soap opera Bay State and the sci-fi show Shadows — but when cable television was installed in the dormitories last winter, the University reclaimed the name and began the process of launching a new television station from the ground up.
At the start of this semester, Cavalieri began working with students and faculty to put together a student management board and begin training the volunteers. Jason Marcus (COM’07) was named general manager, and five other students were appointed to the board. Now the group is working on things ranging from program planning to marketing strategies, frequently learning how the process works as they go.
“It’s a lab environment for students to gain experience in all facets of managing and operating a channel,” says Cavalieri. “The idea is to start small and build out.”
The channel’s programming, which will start next semester, should be varied. New options include news and information about campus events, and existing student shows such as Bay State will continue, under the direction of the renamed student group Growling Dog Productions. BUTV10 will also feature content from the annual Redstone Film Festival and the ongoing COM Distinguished Lecture Series, and the management board is discussing ways to showcase student, faculty, and alumni work. “It’s a resource for the University,” Marcus says.
Currently there are approximately 20 students with production experience working for the channel, and 80 others in weekly training sessions. Most of them are COM students, but Marcus says there’s room for other students.
“It’s not just a COM organization,” he says. “There are so many elements to putting this together that students who have any number of skill sets can get involved.”
“That’s really what we want this entity to grow up to be: inclusionary,” adds Cavalieri. “I think it brings the campus community closer together, and that’s a good thing.”