Marquette University Television (MUTV) is an Student television station at the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University. MUTV is considered a co-curricular activity of the Broadcast and Electronic Communication Department and is advised by full-time faculty member Barbara Fleming Volbrecht. The students produce three shows a night (Monday - Thursday), one from each department: Entertainment, Sports, and News. The station is seen as a valuable learning tool for students to find what they enjoy and hone their skills within the context of a television station.
About
Marquette University Television was chartered by Marquette University in 1976 and is a registered student organization with the Marquette University Student Government and Office of Student Development. MUTV was formed through the diligent work of Bob Turner, former head of the Instructional Media Center, students Steve Olson and George Wensel, and other students and Marquette faculty and staff. Kenneth Shuler, a former engineer, is legend for making MUTV possible by running the campus cable system. As the story goes, during the night Ken would go to work running cables through offices and in tunnels under Wisconsin Avenue. Many of the original engineers died in a plane crash in the 70's that nearly crippled the program's success. George Wensel, who later went on to be a major force in sports telecasts and has a Sports Emmy Award named in his honor, died in a drowning accident in 1995. Ken, Bob, and George live on through the annual scholarships awarded to creative and innovative broadcasting students.
Awards
2008 Chicago/Midwest Emmy for Student Commitment in the Advanced Media Feature, Hard News category
Student Commitment is an initiative by WISN-TV to capture the college student perspective on the 2008 political elections by college students. Students from UWM's PantherVision also participate in the project.
2008 Bronze Telly Award for Shake Well Before Serving in the TV Programs, Student category
2008 Bronze Telly Award for Here Comes Your Man in the TV Programs, Student category
2008 Bronze Telly Award for Here Comes Your Man in the TV Programs, Use of Humor category
2008 Bronze Telly Award for MUTV News in the TV Programs, Use of Graphics category
2008 Best Newscast for MUTV News by the Milwaukee Press Club
2008 Best Newscast for MUTV News by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association
2008 Best News Story for Nicole Gates's package Student Votes Count? by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association
Mascot
MUTV's mascot is Cornelius the Armadillo. A former general manager of MUTV had a pet armadillo whose name was Cornelius. When Cornelius died he had it stuffed and gave it to the station. Cornelius still lives in the MUTV office, though he has suffered some abuse over the years. Cornelius can occasionally be seen on the air in MUTV entertainment shows.
Specials
MUTV occasionally runs special programs during the year.
Marquette University Student Government Election Show - The day of the annual MUSG election, MUTV produces a one hour newscast featuring packages and live interviews with the President and EVP candidates.
Marquette Madness - MUTV, in conjunction with the Marquette University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics and Tri-Marq Communications, broadcasts the annual Marquette Madness event to Channel 99 and GoMarquette.com.
Marquette Women's Volleyball - MUTV broadcasts select Marquette Women's Volleyball games from the Al McGuire Center to Channel 99 and GoMarquette.com.
Marquette Women's Basketball - MUTV broadcasts select Marquette Women's Basketball games from the Al McGuire Center to Channel 99 and GoMarquette.com.
Marquette Men's Basketball - MUTV broadcasts select Marquette Men's Basketball games from the Bradley Center exclusively to GoMarquette.com.
MUTV Production News - MUTV's News and Production crews switch places for the night. The news team performs all production duties, and the production crew prepares and presents the evening's newscast.
Production
Students utilize the newly renovated facilities of the Instructional Media Center for nearly all aspects of show production. The IMC features two large video production studios (Studio 6 and Studio 7) with complementing control rooms. Control 7 is utilized for show taping and has direct access to all gear (including cameras and graphics) in Studio 6. All shows are recorded live-to-tape on the MiniDV format, as well as digitally on the M-Series iVDR. In 2006 the entire facility was upgraded and renovated for all brand new, state-of-the-art broadcasting equipment, making Marquette HD capable.
Studio 7
Studio 7 is a 2-story, 30' x 45' sound stage with fifteen mobile lighting grids for easy light placement and focusing. The room once served as the university library.
Equipment list (Studio 7 and Control 7):
Ross Video Synergy MD 2.5 MLE Video Switcher
3x Grass Valley Group LDK-300 16:9 SD Video Cameras (2 with teleprompters)
2x Miranda Kaleido-Alto-HD Multi-Image Display Processors
2x Sony 50 inch plasma displays (Control Room)
Panasonic 37 inch plasma display (Studio)
Sony 20 inch CRT Display (Studio)
Chyron Duet Hyper-X Character generator
Grass Valley Group M-Series iVDR (Video Disc Recorder)
Panasonic AJ-SD255 DVCPro Deck
JVC Professional MiniDV Deck
Panasonic VHS Deck
Wheastone Audioarts R-55e Sound Board
Sound Byte Digital Cart Computer
Marantz PMD-320 Compact Disc Player
4x Shure SLX Wireless Lavalier Microphones
Digital RTS Zeus Intercom
4x Wireless IFBs
Studio 6
Studio 6 is a single-story, 20' x 25' studio with a stationary lighting grid.
Equipment list (Studio 6 and Control 6):
Ross Video Synergy 100 MD 1 MLE Video Switcher
2x Ikegami HA-400 16:9 SD Video Cameras with teleprompters
Miranda Kaleido-Alto-HD Multi-Image Display Processor
Sony 50 inch plasma display (Control Room)
Panasonic 46 inch Rear Projection Display (Studio)
Sony 20 inch CRT Display (Studio)
Chyron Duet Micro-X Character generator
Grass Valley Group M-Series iVDR (Video Disc Recorder)
Panasonic AJ-SD255 DVCPro Deck
JVC Professional MiniDV Deck
Panasonic VHS Deck
Wheastone Audioarts R-55e Sound Board
4x Shure SLX Wireless Lavalier Microphones
Digital RTS Zeus Intercom
4x Wireless IFBs
Audio Studios 2 and 4
Audio studios 2 and 4 are two full audio studios. Audio 4 is set up like a classroom and Audio 2 is smaller and features a separate recording room.
Equipment list (both studios are exactly the same):
Wheastone Audioarts R-55e Sound Board
Marantz PMD-570 Solid State Recorder (Compact Flash Recorder)
2x Marantz PMD-320 Compact Disc Player
Marantz Professional Cassette Deck
Shure SM-7B Vocal Microphone
Windows PC
Adobe Audition
Sony ACID Pro
Media Lab
The IMC's Media Lab features nine Apple Inc. Mac Pro video editing workstations that have both Avid Media Composer and Apple Final Cut Studio. Seven stations are in the media lab and two are in adjacent, private edit bays.
PC Workroom
The PC lab features seven Microsoft Windows computers loaded with the Adobe Creative Suite, Adobe Audition, and Chyron Lyric. The computers are networked to the Chyron character generators, enabling offline graphics work to be done in the lab while the control rooms are in use.
Remote Kit
MUTV's remote kit travels to the Al McGuire Center, Alumni Memorial Union, Weasler Auditorium and any other location a live multi-camera event needs to be broadcast from.
Equipment list:
Grass Valley Group 100 1 MLE Video Switcher
Ikegami HA-200 Camera w/ Studio Kit
Sony DXC-3000 Cameras w/ Studio Kit (up to three)
JVC GY-DV500 Hand-held Cameras (up to three)
Canon GL-2 Cameras (up to three)
5x Hotronic AP-41 Frame Stores
Panasonic Ramsa 8-Channel Audio Console
EV 635 Stick Microphones (up to eight)
Shure SM-57 Microphones (up to two)
EV Shotgun Microphones (up to two)
Clear-Com Intercom and IFB System w/ Telephone Hybrid
Client Productions
The Client Productions Department is a full-service production house within the station that is available to record events or produce works for hire. Commonly requested to document speakers and concerts on the Marquette campus, the department also utilizes a Polycom Video Conference box to act as a remote interview site for PBS affiliates. The Client Productions Department also travels to area events, providing live video support and/or taping services.
Their rate card is available on the MUTV website.
Remotes
In the early days of MUTV, Big Fred and Little Fred were the remote trucks that enabled MUTV to go off and shoot events like Marquette Men's Basketball. The trucks were hand-built by the engineers and students and Big Fred, specifically, was a used bread truck. MUTV broadcasted Men's Basketball on a tape delay since a microwave transmitter was not available. 3/4" tape was driven from the Bradley Center to Johnston Hall. A microwave transmitter was eventually purchased, but it was almost immediately struck by lightning and rendered useless. The trucks were valuable assets to the program, though, were difficult to maintain. One day Big Fred and Little Fred were driven away and were never returned.
A remote fly-pack was built at the start of the 2006-2007 school year, utilizing equipment replaced during that summer's digital upgrade. The kit, see equipment list and description above, is a valuable tool for MUTV, allowing them to do remotes once again. The kit has traveled to the Al McGuire Center, Bradley Center, Weasler Auditorium, Varsity Theater, and Alumni Memorial Union to broadcast sporting events, political debates, and other events. The students utilize both the equipment in the fly-pack and equipment in the Johnston Hall control rooms (video and CG support) to make the broadcasts successful. Video is sent to Johnston Hall over a network of fiber optic converters placed in key buildings on the Marquette campus. A telephone link between intercom systems allows seamless communication between the remote and Johnston Hall.
Programming/Distribution
MUTV utilizes Public-access television cable TV channel 99 on the Time Warner Cable feed to the Marquette campus. MUTV operates on channel 99 Monday through Thursday, 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM. mtvU is aired on the channel during off-air hours.
MUTV launched their first Video-on-Demand service in fall of 2003. Shortly after, the project was suspended due to workflow inefficiencies. The service was revived in spring of 2007, taking the form of a UFO-based Flash Video player. In February 2008, MUTV acquired access to one of the University's QuickTime Streaming Servers and thus converted their Video on Demand Service to Quicktime. An on-going initiative to have all MUTV shows available in Video-on-Demand is continued by the Programming/Distribution Department. In 2008, MUTV purchased a Mac Pro to handle the duties of putting content online on the MUTV Website and YouTube.
For sporting events, a live stream of MUTV is available in the All-Access player at GoMarquette.com.