This is in response to: http://www.marquettetribune.org/index.php?story=mutv_needs_the_public
First off, I’d like to say, I wish I knew who was the viewpoint person this year at the Tribune because I commend them for actually writing a viewpoint in support of MUTV. In 4 years @ Marquette, there were a great many viewpoint editors who would have written a column condemning MUTV (and for the record, the same hatred from the print media was expressed to Marquette Radio as well).
Unfortunately, some of the cries of the column have been going on for years.
The site also claims that the station serves “Marquette’s 12,000 students and approximately 200,000 Milwaukee area homes.” Trying to determine if the above statement is true or not seems nearly impossible
I remember being in staff meetings where we talked about the possibility of being added off-campus. Hell, I even remember when Marquette started offering the cable/internet Time-Warner deal that anyone who was on that package was supposed to get MUTV. A friend had it, but was never able to get MUTV. In fact, my friends in Campus Town couldn’t even get MUTV (or MUR or the Campus Movie Channel). Sadly, that 200,000 Milwaukee homes deal either never happened or is an old number from when MUTV *was* available on Saturdays via what is now WMKE-CA (low power channel 7, transmitter is on the Hilton).
Marquette University Television needs to expand its viewership to all Marquette students, and non-students for that matter, by joining a public access channel.
We did, but it was not though joining with a public access channel. Student Media Advisor Barb Fleming, former GM Ryan Bigney, myself and my assistant Online Director, Steve Gagner, were able to get streaming video up on MUTV’s website. Even though it was not the preferred off-campus distribution mechanism at the time , it was better than nothing. (Though as an aside, it seems to be down at the moment). Never the less, it opened up the possibility that off-campus students, alumni and yes even parents at home were able to watch news packages, entertainment programming and even some select sports programming. Not only that, in 2003 we began broadcasting the annual MUSG election special LIVE on the internet.
Start exposing MUTV on a public access channel and it will do justice to its 50th anniversary.
Unfortunately, this is the part where I have to disagree. While a public access channel would allow MUTV to be show in many more homes across Milwaukee, don’t forget that the target market of the station, is Marquette students and alumni. The Internet, therefore, is a much better distribution method than a public access channel. Why? Not only does it reach the students and alumni living in Milwaukee but it has the potential to reach alumni who are living in other parts of the state, country or even world.
While I’m not sure where things stand now, when I left in 2004, MUTV was more accessible to more people than ever before and the Internet, not a public access channel, was the key to achieving that.
-A
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