By Jesse Cataldo
The movie you’re watching is nearly 90 minutes in, and the climax draws near. The plot approaches its dramatic conclusion, the characters prepare for the film’s emotional peak, and the background music swells to an intolerable high. Then it stops. The screen cuts to black, and then back to the DVD menu, where you’re greeted by scenes from a movie, the ending of which you were just robbed of seeing. This screen then remains affixed on your television screen, taunting you, for the next two hours. If this sounds familiar, you’ve probably been a victim of the University’s movie channel.
“It’s frustrating watching a movie on the Hofstra channel, it always cuts off before it’s finished,” Kevin Conzelman, a junior, said.
The channel, which exists as a 24-hour movie service for the University, is plagued by constant technical problems. While providing students with free access to popular and newly released movies, the channel is far from consistent in its presentation. Besides the fact that movies frequently cut off just before the ending, there are extended periods of time where the DVD menu, or in some cases a simple blue screen, remain on the television.
According to Peter Gershon, the chairman of the AVF Department in the School of Communication, “Hofstra has no TV station,” but rather a “closed circuit campus station.” Within the campus, students receive two University-produced channels, The Movie Channel, found at Channel 34, and Hofstra TV, found at Channel 35. Unlike the radio station, whose range extends far beyond the campus gates, the two channels are viewable only on campus.
Channel 35 infrequently airs original programming produced by Hofstra students. Most of this programming is created by HEAT (Hofstra Entertainment Access Television). HEAT provides news and sports coverage, as well as the Thursday Night Live sketch comedy program. On Sunday, May 1, Channel 35 hosted the fourth annual Friends of Max Kolb telethon. The telethon, which allowed viewers to call in and donate, aired to raise money for AVF student projects and preserve the memory of Kolb, a University student who was murdered in April of 2001.
The channel broadcasts from Dempster Hall, and is inactive for a good portion of the day. During these times the stand off-air test screen is broadcast, overlaid with audio from the Hofstra radio station, WRHU.
The University also provides students with access to MTV U, a MTV network that shows regular MTV programming, as well as videos supposedly geared towards college students. It also hosts live video countdown on college campuses nationwide. MTV U can be found on channel 32 on the University channel lineup.
As for the Movie Channel, many students have formed a cynical disappreciation of it, despite the fact that it provides movies that interest many students.
“The problem with the Hofstra Movie Channel is that you never know when a movie is going to start, and it cuts off before it finishes,” Kamal Williams, a University student, said.
Last week, the channel alternated between screenings of Starsky and Hutch, Shark Tale, Exorcist: The Beginning, Surviving Christmas and Without A Paddle. During this time, there were periods of up to four hours where no movie was showing. The movies stop and start at random intervals and it’s not unusual to find a movie playing at 3 a.m. when the screen had been blank at 3 p.m. The constant preview screens and abrupt cut-offs of films in progress ensure little interest in the channel, when DVDs are easily accessible off campus and can be viewed without the long wait times or instability of the movie channel.
Williams summed up what he sees as the student sentiment , “I feel like I’m watching a preview screen more than the actual movie,” Williams said.
Due to these failings, the channel draws little attention from students.
“I’ve never been interested in watching the Hofstra Channel, I only stumble across it when I see a movie I like,” said sophomore Melissa Orlando.
Students can hardly be blamed for this lack of interest, especially when they have little idea of what will be airing and when. Channel 35 shares this same problem. In the days leading up to the telethon, a looping schedule of the following weeks programs appeared, giving students an idea of when to tune in. Generally, this screen is not available, forcing students to rely on guesswork.
Besides eliminating the constant wait times for films and ensuring that they do not cut out before they finish, what else could be done to promote student interest in the channel? New York University, whose main campus is located in Manhattan, has a movie channel similar to that of the University. Unlike the University, however, theirs includes a daily schedule on the school’s Web site, providing students with a coherent list of the movies they will be airing. A step like this is simple to institute, and could greatly increase student interest in the channel. If University students knew what was being shown, and knew that it would be shown to completion, they’d be more likely to watch.