UVMtv has grown a lot over the past few years. When Sean Dempsey, a senior and current president of the on campus television station, got involved as a sophomore there were only two channels, both of which played movies on a continuous loop.
Dempsey and two friends got the station off the ground and brought it to new heights, although he says “it would be nothing without the people that are in it,” and that the students “who have gotten involved have taken it to where it is today.”
With Dempsey as president, and with the help of 75 active members, UVMtv has grown to five channels: 2, 12, 13, 23, and 65.
Channels 2, 13 and 65 air movies and student run shows. It costs the club about $25,000 a year to show movies, thanks to a contract with Swank Inc., and they have the rights to each movie for two weeks, according to Dempsey. Movies are all requested by students, and cover a vast spectrum, ranging from “American Pie” to “The Last Temptation of Christ”.
The 11 student-run shows also cover a great range. With shows like “The Sex Show”, “Deep Space Trav”, and “UVM Weekly” (a live news broadcast), there is something for everyone.
Channel 12 is for show and movie schedules, along with advertisements for both on campus events and local businesses.
Channel 23 shows video clips that are submitted by students or found on the internet.
“We air whatever students submit to us,” says Dempsey, “but nothing that shows drinking or drug use in the dorms.” There are very few restrictions as it is closed circuit television.
The station tries to reach out to what the students will want to watch. The website states that UVMtv is “student run television, by students, for students.”
The station’s please all attitude makes it very popular on campus. In a poll conducted last semester it was found that UVMtv is watched by approximately 5,000 people, and that the average student will watch four hours of it each week.
All funding for UVMtv is provided by SGA and through its various advertisers.
Dempsey says it is easy to become a part of UVMtv, as “any student can get involved.”
Meetings are on Wednesdays at 6 p.m. in the basement of Coolidge, and there is free pizza for all who come.
