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ISSUE 853 NOVEMBER 05 2007 CARDIFF’S STUDENT WEEKLY free word - EST. 1972
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After 9 months in the making, CUTV finally launches William Taylor News Editor After almost one year of hard work and planning Cardiff Students’ Union’s premier TV station launches on Monday. Under the name of CUTV, the new student TV station is set to change the face of Cardiff University’s student media. Students will now be able to view programmes on screens inside the Union, and on demand from their computers at home. Oz Thakkar, Head of Production at
the station, told gair rhydd: “CUTV creates a great opportunity for Cardiff students to make a visual impact on the media scene.” The launch of the station comes after an extended period of lobbying the Students’ Union into funding for the station. The station’s Controller, Huw Thomas, explained how the initial stages of setting up were considerably stressful. He said: “This year has started off with a heavy workload, as I have actually had to get the TV station up and running. “This involved negotiating with
the Students’ Union to buy new equipment, innumerable meetings and further negotiating about using Union resources to help CUTV get started.” But budget problems seem to be faced by many student TV stations across the UK. Andrea Vassallo, Controller of Nottingham Trent University’s TV station during 2006-07, described her experiences of setting up Trent TV from a ‘very limited budget’. She said: “A crucial factor in making Trent TV a success was having the dedicated support of another full time member of staff who was an endless fountain of knowledge for all things to
do with student TV.” Vassallo continued to praise student media and the opportunities it provides to students. She said: “Student radio and TV stations offer the chance to report on live events as they happen and are able to convey messages to audiences in a way that is much faster, more accessible, and often easier to take in.” CUTV currently outputs a range of programs from news and sport coverage, to music documentaries and dating shows, with pre-production on a feature film currently underway. Huw Thomas told gair rhydd he had high hopes for CUTV.
He said: “We are currently working from a very small space on the 4th floor, and hope to expand as we prove ourselves to be a valuable asset to the Union’s student media portfolio. “A year ago this project was a dream, but thanks to the enthusiasm of the Students’ Union and the unquestionable talent of Cardiff’s students, we’re ready to go on air.”
• Check out the website: www. cardiffunion.tv • Inside: Meet the CUTV Exec Team
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