Volume 96, Issue 29
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
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Eight spankings for TV Western
By Shawn MacPherson
Gazette Staff
 |
Ian
Howes/Gazette |
| IF I CAN'T BE AN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER, I WANT TO BE A VJ. TV Western celebrated eight years of existence on Monday in the UCC atrium. |
Despite a lack of
strippers and clowns, TV Western is celebrating its eighth birthday this
week in the University Community Centre.
In order to increase public awareness, the station is taping live shows
in the UCC atrium, while maintaining a booth yesterday and today.
"TV Western went online Oct. 30th, 1994," said TV Western director
Kimberly Mills, noting the station is holding celebrations early to coincide
with this year's program launch.
TV Western broadcasts on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through a network
of closed-circuit televisions located in the UCC and provides original
programs created by student volunteers, Mills said.
The station also provides on-campus video production. Numerous groups
at Western have hired the channel to produce videos of plays, culture
shows, guest speakers and Orientation Week, Mills said.
According to Mills, TV Western has recently expanded their reach by providing
video on demand from their Web site, allowing them to expand their audience
base outside of the UCC.
Mario Circelli, general manager of TV Western and CHRW 94.7FM, said he
felt TV Western is a tremendous student service. "It permits 85 to
120 students to gain experience in television broadcasting," he said.
"The future of TV is huge. TV Western has phenomenal potential because
of the medium in which it operates. TV is easily married to Web technology.
You have this link to the visual aspect, the audio aspect," Circelli
explained.
"The future of TV Western depends on what direction the students
want it to go," Circelli added.
According to Circelli, the station has made huge advances in the last
four years. When TV Western streamed the Homecoming football game on their
Web site, they had audiences as far away as Hong Kong, Australia and Los
Angeles, he said. Video work has also been done for King's College, for
the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel and for the law school, he added.
Julian Marra, a first-year social science student, said TV Western does
not advertise nearly enough. "The only time I heard about it was
Frosh Week," he said.
Alisa McBride, a third-year arts student, said she enjoyed TV Western
programming. "I really like The Erich and Dave show – it's really
entertaining," McBride said.
Mills said TV Western is always looking for new volunteers to participate
in its programming initiatives.