SBU TV, standing for Stony Brook University Television, is a Student television station at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
History
Founded in 2001, SBU TV was created as a means for Stony Brook University Students to inform the Stony Brook University community of current issues. It was also created to provide entertainment programming, and to give students the opportunity for hands-on access to professional television equipment. Students who have worked at SBU TV have gone on to be employed by various television stations including MTV, Lime (TV), News 12, TV55 and Fox 5. SBU TV is an agency of Stony Brook University's Undergraduate Student Government.
SBTV was a short-lived project of the University in 1992 as a way for students to get hands on involvement in television and television production. In the fall of '92, the Student Polity Association (student government) tried to relaunch the project. Commuters opposed the proposal because they wouldn't be able to view the closed-circuit station. By the spring of 1993, the station was broadcasting on Channel 3 as SPA-TV or "Student Polity Association TV." The station was renamed to 3TV in February 1995. The station operated until the 1999, when it was abruptly shut down by the University due to programming violations. In 2000, the University offered a Television production class, taught by Dini Diskin-Zimmerman, who was the first female director at ABC News, CNN and the Food Network, and was part of the then upstart News 12 Long Island on Cablevision. A group of students in her class, with guidance from former Student Media Advisor, Norm Prusslin, spoke with the student government, and the University to re-start the station. Part of the agreement was that a professional be hired to oversee operations of the station, and that it adhere to both FCC and University rules and regulations, even if the students still controlled the station, since it was funded by student activity fees. In early 2001, Steve Kreitzer was hired as Operations Manager. The students had already formed the first Executive Board of the newly re-named SBU-TV. The Executive Board was: David Seader - Program Director/President, Leo Borovskiy - Production Manager/Vice President, Adeel Rahman - Treasurer/Secretary, and Tania Gomez - Promotions/Marketing/Vice Secretary. The summer of 2001 was spent re-building the infrastructure of the station, creating a new constitution, and acquiring new equipment, allowing it to start broadcasting once the Fall semester began. One of the early programs, that the station produced, was coverage of the University's "9/11 Candlelight Vigil", which involved taping the event, and running the tapes back to the station for air. Before this, they covered different events including a special on the "2001 Seawolves Basketball Teams Midnight Madness," concerts, and plays. David Seader resigned his position in the Spring of 2002, after disagreements about the future of the station, with Leo Borovskiy succeeding him. The station continued to grow, bringing in more staff, and producing more programming. Since then the station continues to grow and evolve, with new and original programming. With the creation of a Journalism Department at Stony Brook University in 2006, and its television broadcast related curriculum, the influx of new staff has led to better and more productions.
Current Original Programs
SBU-TV News - Monthly news show covering campus news and events including sports
Broken Radio - Past and Present Music Videos
Film Stripped- Cinema students critique current films in theatres
USG Senate Meetings- Coverage of the Undergraduate Student Government Senate meetings
Past Original Programs
The Beverly Bryan Show- A sketch comedy about a talk show
The Curb - Original sketch comedy about current events and life on campus
It's About Damn Time - Variety/call in talk show (live)
SBent- An entertainment news program
SBSB (Stony Brook Sketch Comedy) - Original Sketch Comedy
Stony Brook Spotlight - Coverage of Campus Events and Happenings
Smart Ass- A social experiment