UCTV is a student television station run entirely by undergraduate students on the Storrs campus at the University of Connecticut's "Huskyvision" cable system. UCTV can be seen on channel 14 on the UConn campus. UCTV offers its members hands on experience in the broadcast and entertainment industry, including practical experience in broadcast news, finance, music, sports, marketing, and studio operations.
History
UCTV first launched back in 1991 as the only student-run television station on the Storrs campus of the University of Connecticut. Later that year, puppetry majors Mark Gale, Tim Lagasse, Dave Regan and English Major Andy Heidel launched UCTV's first-ever show, a puppet comedy known as "Egghead and Shively." With Gale playing Egghead, a one-eyed puppet with a smoking addiction, and Lagase portraying Shively, a caffeine-addicted puppet with a receding hairline, the show's four episodes were a hit on the UConn campus and quickly launched UCTV into campus-wide prominence. In the 18 years that have followed, UCTV has generated many well-known productions spanning a wide variety of genres, from news and sports, to music and sketch comedy among others. In the 2008-2009 academic year, UCTV reached the height of its production capabilities, rolling out a comprehensive 24-hour schedule featuring 20 student-made programs, including four sports shows, two talk shows, and even its own reality show. The station has also reached the height of its on-campus popularity and involvement, with over 100 students volunteering at UCTV as of 2009.
UCTV's studio is currently located in suite 409 of the University of Connecticut Student Union building. When it first began back in 1991, UCTV was located in the basement of the Wilbur Cross Library. The station then moved to a small house on King Hill Road next to Ted's Restaurant and Bar. It later moved to the ground floor of the Vinton Dormitory in the Towers Quadrangle student housing complex. When UConn completed construction and renovation on its new Student Union, there was a spot for UCTV, complete with a studio, master control room, editing suite, lobby and small office for Board Members. The station can still be found here, in room 409 next to WHUS-FM, the campus radio station.
The UCTV T-Shirt
UCTV is known for its quality productions, but that is not the only thing that makes them a popular entity across the UConn campus. Over the past few years, UCTV has developed a massive campus following with regards to their now-famous UCTV T-Shirts, which are given free to students on-campus every semester. The current T-Shirt format, which consists of the station's mascot, TV Head, in one of his/her trademark poses along with their motto "for your viewing pleasure" written on the back, has been distributed to thousands of UConn students. In 2009, Marketing Director Austin Keneshea released the station's first-ever multicolored t-shirts, a move that furthered the popularity of UCTV's famed promotional item and resulted in long lines of UConn students eager to get their hands on one.
The Website
UCTV launched its own website in 2003 at uctv.uconn.edu. Since then, the site has undergone a number of transformations in order to expand the site and make it more interactive for viewers. In 2008, the new uctv.uconn.edu website was launched, offering staff profiles, picture galleries and full episodes of all UCTV shows. The site was further improved in the spring of 2010. Plans are currently in the works to offer live streaming video of UCTV-14 on the website.