PSTV (SUNY Plattsburgh)

Plattsburgh State Television, known as PSTV, is a Student television station on the campus of SUNY Plattsburgh in Plattsburgh, New York. The station is completely student run and features only student-produced programming. PSTV is broadcast throughout the campus of SUNY Plattsburgh via CATV on campus channel 10.1 and on local Charter Communications cable TV channel 194. Plattsburgh State Television features a management team of more than 20 students, a production crew consisting of over 60 students, and an air schedule of over a dozen student-produced shows.

History

Student-produced television at SUNY Plattsburgh dates back many years earlier, however Plattsburgh State Television officially went on-air in 1978. WCFE, the local PBS station, had been founded just one year earlier and was already operating out of Yokum Hall's large Studio B, Control Room B, and Master Control. PSTV began its operations with only the smaller Studio A and Control Room A, with Anne Pliscoff as Faculty Advisor and Frank Sorrell as studio manager. Phil Reines and Al Montanaro were also essential in the program's early development.

To supplement the original broadcasting equipment, second hand equipment was donated from WPTZ in Plattsburgh and New York Network in Albany. Then in the early 1980s, State Senator Ronald B. Stafford helped PSUC secure a grant of $800,000 from New York State. This was a tremendous boost which drastically improved the program and allowed the department to fully refurbish the entire television facility.

In 1987, WCFE relocated to new broadcast facilities off-campus, allowing PSTV to acquire the larger studio, control room, and master control. This expansion more than doubled PSTV's broadcast facilities.

In 2003, SUNY Plattsburgh approved an arrangement in which Cardinal Hockey games produced by PSTV students would be broadcast on WCFE. This marked the first over-air broadcasting of PSTV-produced programming. With WCFE's strong signal, PSTV production could be seen by over four million households in New York, Vermont, Quebec, and Ontario.

In 2005, SUNY Plattsburgh allocated a $600,000 grant for a long overdue renovation of the television facilities. Immediately after, the university approved plans to merge the Mass Communication and Speech Communication departments into a new Center of Communication. Plattsburgh would now offer four distinct majors for communication students to specialize in, which was the first program of its kind in New York. Later in the year, Court TV donated more than $100,000 worth of additional equipment to PSTV and the newly formed Center of Communication.

In 2006, PSTV began repurposing its programming on the internet via Google Video, moving to Google-owned YouTube in 2014.^[1]

Since May 2014, the entire station has been undergoing further renovations, and are rumored to include converting the television facilities to a digital platform, a redesigning of both recording studios, and an installation of a larger and accessible network for the station's editing bays. A temporary studio built in the basement of Hawkins Hall, a SUNY Plattsburgh academic building, is being used until the renovations are completed in the fall of 2015.

Alumni

The majority of PSTV students go on to a career behind the scenes, but many become anchors, reporters, meteorologists, and sportscasters.

Some famous alumni include:

• Dave Annable - Television actor (Class of 2003)
• Owen Benjamin - Comedian and actor (Class of 2003)^[2][3]
• Stacy Clark - Singer/Songwriter (Class of 2002)
• Dawn Fratangelo - NBC News Correspondent (Class of 1982)
• Tim Singer - Network sports announcer (Class of 1982)

Current lineup

See also

• WQKE, A student-run FM radio station at SUNY Plattsburgh

References

External links

• PSTV
• SUNY Plattsburgh
• PSTV Alumni