By Hailey Heinz
It’s been a long time in the making, but NUTV has finally arrived at a web portal near you.
After several years of unsuccessfully trying to set up a station through Comcast, the executive board of NUTV decided to try webstreaming instead, making their content available through myNEU. The launch this summer is a victory for the organization, although Vice President of Programming Jonathan Cohn said it’s just the beginning.
“The clips online are nothing special. They’re just kind of pilot episodes that we thought would be funny,” Cohn said.
The group faced numerous setbacks while trying to get their videos online over the past year. Cohn said the main problem was the cost of the technology, which is cutting-edge.
“Video and audio equipment is probably the most expensive equipment the school can purchase,” said Cohn, who estimated the cost of NUTV’s new equipment to be at least $20,000, not including the cost of a video server for the myNEU site.
The money for the equipment came from the Media Board, which allocates funds to student media groups. Now that they have funds, Cohn said the group will be able to provide aspiring movie-makers with everything they need.
“It’s a great learning experience because you rarely get to work with this equipment,” Cohn said.
The NUTV portal currently offers four video clips to browsing students. The first is a video montage of life around campus, and the second is a more artistic piece following a student’s surreal search for his roommate, which turns out to be a dream.
The third offering, NaUghty Bits, is the longest show on the site. Hosted by middler Bobby Hankinson, a member of the News staff, the show includes man-on-the-street interviews about students’ sexual habits and preferences, pros and cons of “going steady” and other tidbits.
The final clip is NUI, or “Northeastern Under the Influence.” This video is the pilot for what Cohn hopes will be an ongoing feature. The idea is to re-enact Crime Log entries, adding a comical twist.
“We have a couple episodes already written out. Once we get into the swing of things, hopefully this should only take a week to get it shot, edited and online,” Cohn said.
Another one of Cohn’s goals is to start producing a news show.
“I think one of the most important shows that I want to focus on is going to be a news program … I think people want to see what’s going on around campus,” Cohn said.
Sophomore psychology major Meghan Ryan said a news show would draw her into NUTV.
“I feel like a lot of times we don’t find out about things until too late,” Ryan said.
Ryan, like many students around campus, was unaware that NUTV had content posted on myNEU. Cohn said he knows there hasn’t been much publicity, and for now, that’s OK with him.
“I don’t know if a lot of students know it’s there. It think that’s a good thing; there isn’t so much content, and we don’t want to go advertising it too much,” Cohn said.
Although the group has ambitions for specific shows, Cohn said his ultimate goal is to get students involved in producing content. NUTV will start holding monthly meetings, and Cohn said he wants to see the group work as a conduit for student ideas. His vision is for a group of students to create their own video, but NUTV will help them out with equipment and guidance to get their work shot and edited and get their final product online.
In the meantime, the next addition to NUTV will be an interview with President Richard Freeland about his recent resignation announcement, which Cohn said he expects to be online sometime this week.
“I don’t know if anyone’s actually seen him talk about it … It’s going to be a real Barbara Walters, one-on-one kind of thing,” Cohn said.
