The University's longtime student-run television station, BTV65, began this year with a new, entirely digital broadcasting system and several new shows, according to the channel's president.
These moves come after technological difficulties plagued BTV65 last year, resulting in sporadic programming.
"We're on the air all the time," said President of BTV65 Nate Westheimer '05. He said that there are "more people watching now than ever."
According to Westheimer, show times are now random and repeat themselves on loop- part of the innovative method of using digital technology to broadcast as BTV65 has started to do this summer.
Westheimer also said that several new programs will be broadcasted this season.
One of these is called The Beat, which, according to Westheimer, will be a weekly magazine style show about news, arts and culture.
Another show called BTV Cribs will showcase the best decorated Brandeis dorms and suits. Resident Strife, a satirical program will return after being off the air for a year, according to Westheimer
He also said that Bamboozled by Brandeis, a show about the history of Brandeis will be featured.
According to Evan List '08, several other programs will be developed and will air soon, including political game shows like Political Suicide and Strictly Politics as well as dating shows such as Room Raiders and Blind Date.
Westheimer said that the station's goals for this year are having higher quality, more reliable programming, increasing quantity, and creating a healthy system that promoted new leaders in the organization.
"There were serious problems last year between the University and the contractor that installed cable lines at the school that restricted BTV65's ability to broadcast effectively and caused the burst of static," Westheimer said. "The problems are now fixed."
According to former BTV65 board member Seth Bernstein '06, the station experienced a picture often filled with static since the founding but "last year, the problems were crippling." He said that the problem, which turned out being the expensive fiber optic cable between Shapiro and Feldberg, took months for the administration and Comcast-the cable company-to fix.
Westheimer said that BTV65 is a secure allocation club that receives about $17,000 annually from the Student Union, a number lower than received by other media organizations on campus, such as the Justice and WBRS.
According to station manager Ari Schnitzer '07, the new all digital system allows BTV to provide a higher, more reliable picture quality, prevents screen freezing and gives them the ability to control the television broadcasting computer remotely from any where on campus. In addition, this digital system is the first step to allowing BTV65 broadcasting live from all around campus according to Schnitzer.
Schnitzer said that BTV65 is developing a campaign to raise funds for a piece of equipment called V-Brick that will allow the station to broadcast live from anywhere on campus.
According to Schnitzer, a set programming schedule will be created in one or two weeks, once all of the programs and commercials from both Waltham and campus groups are put together into a 12 hour loop. This implies that each program will repeat daily.
Schnitzer said that there currently exists a seven hour loop that does not allow for a set schedule.
"I'm pleased that they have good programming," Matt Schuman '05 said. "But I'd prefer if they had a regular schedule of stuff."
Several other students said that they have heard of BTV65 but have never watched it.
"I've seen [BTV65], but there's nothing in it. It needs to be more exciting, even if it's not all from this school, "Xizi Gu '08 said. "It would be nice to see different Brandeis group performances, like improv shows, on the channel."
The BTV65 channel also shows movies, reruns of last year's shows, and tapes of events on campus such as the speech of Thomas Friedman '75 and sporting events, according to Westheimer.