Sidelines Pub will be airing a new TV channel in the upcoming months. The channel, entitled mtvU , short for mtv University, will contain content ranging from music videos to news.
According to director of Driscoll Student Center John Nicols, who could not give an exact air date, the channel is set to air within the next couple of months exclusively at Sidelines Pub and Driscoll Underground.
Bringing mtvU here was the effort of former USG senator, and now senior class council president, Sam White.
“I saw it on the ASU campus, and I thought it would be a great idea,” said White. “I mentioned it to Jon Nichols and we got the ball rolling.”
MTV will pay to bring in the two monitors which will air the programming, as well as the costs for content development and production of the mtvU channel. The university will pay the cost of electricity and outlets for the monitors according to assistant director of Driscoll Student Center Francisco Chacon.
The costs to supply electricity and outlets for the programming have not yet been established, Chacon said.
The channel, a product of MTV, has its entertainment purposes but also, according to Nichols, airs content geared towards college students. mtvU handles hot topics on many college campuses, such as race, gender and especially this year, politics.
According to Chacon, the channel will offer opportunities in programming specifically applicable to students at DU, as well as provide the university an option to highlight the campus across the nation.
“They produce content really unique to students,” said Chacon.
While it will not air all day long, the programming is scheduled to broadcast around “peak” parts of the college day.
The airing date of the programming had originally been postponed due to legal issues surrounding the location, when MTV eliminated two of three locations originally proposed by DU to ensure their programming was not in conflict with other programs.
The monitors, which the university had originally planned to have placed in Driscoll Underground, were determined to be too close to the university radio station KVDU. One will now be placed on the north wall of Driscoll Underground, and another inside Sideline Pub.
Despite the delay, mtvU is expected to air within a couple of months.
MtvU acts as a vehicle for students to make their voices heard and motivate their peers to have an impact on social issues. It has aired award-winning campaigns addressing issues such as HIV/AIDS awareness and human trafficking crises.
MtvU currently airs on more than 750 college campuses, including CU Boulder, and reaches more than 8 million students. Their programming, in which they show nearly 35 minutes of music every hour, is geared to fit hectic student schedules by containing short, 5 to 8 minute episodes of original programming.
The channel also serves as a platform for new artists and airs music not available on any other MTV channel.
Shows featuring actual students are also prominent on the channel, with “Dean’s List” (in which students host the show for an hour and share their own dean’s list) and “The Freshmen” (a show which features five upcoming music artists from any genre each week) being a few examples.
Every year mtvU hosts hundreds of events on campuses, such as back to school events and campus invasion music festivals.
Frequent news breaks are included into the programming, with ABC news coming on hourly with seven minute reports to keep students informed about the news, both national and international.
