With 28 additional channels added to campus cable this semester, UB students have 28 more reasons this fall to sit back with the remote and live it up as couch potatoes.
Falls Earth Station, UB's programming provider, installed additional channels over the summer. There are now 80 channels on the campus cable network.
According to Preston Niland, assistant director for University Residence Halls, the new channels were added in response to student requests.
"I get e-mails and feedback from students and pass them on to Residence Halls Association," said Niland. "I look at what students are interested in, and send ideas over to URH&A."
Niland said he is constantly getting student input via e-mail requesting certain channels to be added to the network. "Some students will request a channel so they can watch a soccer game in Bolivia," Niland said. "You wouldn't believe it."
One of the most requested channels, according to Niland, has been the New York Yankees' YES Network. "You get the die-hard, relentless Yankees fans begging for the channel," he said.
A few other popular requests were The Learning Channel, the History Channel, and Buffalo's Empire Sports Network, Niland said.
"We did a survey a few years ago, and Cartoon Network proved to be pretty popular as well," Niland added. "It's just a bit of a budget issue what we can get, and what we can't."
Shelia E. Pinckney, staff associate for the University Residence Halls and URH&A advisor, said a committee was in charge of putting together the cable plan, and accomplished its goal in a timely fashion.
"It was planned by the URH&A committee and they took a look at the current campus cable and compiled feedback from a campus vote," Pinckney said. "It was really just based on popularity, and what was most frequently requested."
The committee spent the past year getting the new channels added to the cable lineup.
"The committee became active in the fall of last year, and the additional cable was implemented this summer," Pinckney said.
UB spent an additional $13,000 to get the 28 new channels, according to Marian Tetreault, senior staff associate for URH&A.
"Students don't pay anything additional. It's absorbed in with the regular room rates," Tetreault said. "We were very excited when they came up with this."
Jessica Lumb, a junior nursing major, was thrilled to see a better channel selection when she came back to UB this fall.
Lumb, who began watching the new series "Nip/Tuck" on F/X over the summer, came back to a pleasant surprise when she found out F/X was added to the campus network.
"It's dramatic, and it's fun to watch," Lumb said. "I am so happy that I can continue watching it throughout the school year."
Lumb was also pleased to see the History Channel added to the UB lineup, because she was considering purchasing an alternate television system in order to get the channels she wanted. "It's great now because it gives us more options, and you don't feel like you have to get digital cable."
Sarah Cuddeback, a sophomore biotechnology major, was also pleased with the progress campus television is making.
"It's a good call, I'd say," she said. "My roommate and I haven't really watched the new ones, but we don't watch much TV to begin with."
Alison Bellina, a sophomore psychology major, hasn't had enough time with settling in to watch the new channels.
"I haven't really noticed, because I haven't had time to watch TV, what with school starting," Bellina said. "But the more channels the better."
A full list of the channels is available at http://www.fallsearth.com/campus/14260.
