Student Media Revamps TV36

By Daniel C. Stevenson

Associate Night Editor

After three years of planning, the Student Media Group plans to begin its
production schedule for MIT Cable channel TV36 over the Independent
Activities Period. SMG will incorporate the functions of the current MIT
student cable group "to provide an organized method for student
communication through visual and interactive media," according to SMG
founder Ronald D. Peters II '94.

"The main purpose of SMG is to encourage MIT students to pick up a camera
and make some videos," Peters said. "Our membership is open to anyone in
the MIT community. We have positions for people of all majors."

"Our short term goal is to provide an entertainment service, just like any
other TV channel," Peters said. SMG will be "a source for MIT students and
anyone in the MIT community who has an idea to be able to communicate that
idea to the entire campus," he said.

By the end of the IAP, "our production facilities will be up and ready to
go," Peters said. Currently, two shows are slated for production. "One is
our flagship show, a comedy show called MIT Students Using Comedy to Keep
their Sanity," said Peters.  The other show is a talk show which is still
unnamed.

Peters is working on "striking deals with surrounding schools to
rebroadcast their student produced material." SMG will also add lecture and
test review broadcasts, and hopes to eventually produce news programming
specifically geared towards MIT events, Peters said.

In the future, "MIT could be a site for testing some of the information
superhighway."  SMG would be able to "promote MIT as a test site for new
and emerging technologies," Peters said.

Project backed by UA

Peters and UA President Hans C. Godfrey '93 proposed a bill at the Nov. 17
UA Council meeting to create SMG as an affiliated group of the UA. Not
enough members were present to constitute a quorum to vote on the bill, but
the UA Executive Committee of the passed the measure at a meeting on Nov.
28.

"I think it's a great opportunity for MIT students," Godfrey said. "I'm
glad I was able to be a part of it."

SMG was first conceived when "about three years ago Hans and I were
watching the student cable channel, TV36," Peters said. "At that time there
were three or four shows on the channel weekly and they were all pretty
much the same. ... MIT cable has a lot more potential than that."

Recent technological developments have helped the development of SMG,
according to Peters. Avid Desktop Video Group, a subsidiary of Avid Inc.,
produced the editing equipment used by SMG.

"Just this year has the technology come down to a level where it's
affordable to us," said Peters. "It [the editing equipment] is very
inexpensive. It's just as good if not better than the traditional system."

Eric L. McDonald G of the student cable group absorbed by SMG said, "SMG is
good because we're going to be able to pool our resources." Student
productions were limited in the past by the lack of editing equipment and
portability, according to McDonald. With the help of SMG, "now we can do
both," he said.

Eventually self sufficient

Startup funding for the SMG came primarily from within the MIT
administration.  Dean for Undergraduate Education and Student Affairs
Arthur C. Smith, Associate Provost for Institute Life Samuel J. Keyser, and
Vice President for Information Systems James D. Bruce Sc D '60 contributed
a total of over $10,000, according to Peters. The MIT Council for the Arts
provided over $4,000 as part of a grant.

To meet operating costs, Peters says that SMG "plans to sell advertising to
student groups. Ideally, we would make all of our money through advertising
revenues."

Until advertising income meets costs, Peters said Bruce had made a
tentative agreement "to fund the continuing operations of the group once it
demonstrated active student participation."

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Copyright 1993 by The Tech. All rights reserved.
This story was published on  Tuesday,  December 7, 1993.
Volume  113, Number 63
The story began on page  1
and jumped to page  14.

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