Starting next month, students will be able to tune into SATV and watch student-generated shows, rather than only radio and requested movies.
According to Tyler Bennett, the student director of SATV, the new programming will premiere in the first week of November on Channel 46.
Open casting calls have already been put out and callbacks are currently underway to find actors for the new shows, Bennett said.
"This station is for the students and run by the students," he said, emphasizing the shows will use student talent both in front of and behind the cameras.
Bennett said the station's programming will fall under three categories: open submissions, club events and original programming.
The open submissions category covers anything students create and submit for approval to SATV. Bennett said he wanted to stress the importance of these kinds of shows.
"It's an avenue for the students to broadcast work to a larger audience," he said.
Bennett added there are many slots in the TV schedule to fill, so he hopes to foster a good relationship with the student body that will lead to more open submissions.
"It's all about networking and collaborating," he said.
According to Bennett, the club events genre refers to any university-sponsored activity, including UB football games, club events, or even "specialty" offerings like the annual drag show.
Bennett said original programming will come from the SATV members themselves, with UB students starring.
"I didn't really know what to expect," Bennett said of the TV stars to be. "We're finding some talented individuals with a lot to offer."
One planned show is a late night talk show similar to Comedy Central's "Insomniac," except featuring Buffalo hot spots like Main Street or Chippewa, Bennett said. Another is "Will UB Mine?" - a dating show, similar in format to the syndicated series "Blind Date."
"We're really trying to establish SATV this year," Bennett said.
Other students working for SATV said they were glad the recent changes have meant some progress for the station.
"It's hard enough to get together one show," said Mike Arisohn, a senior who will be editor of "The Ray Show." "It's great that there's some other creative force that takes the initiative."
"The Ray Show," which had several episodes air last year, started as a talk show but in its new season its creator, student Ray Hui, has turned it into a comedy with improv sketch stylings.
Arisohn said the show had no budget, but that particular challenge worked as a positive. "Sometimes you limit yourself and it comes out better," Arisohn said.
Arisohn added that the key to this show's production was the collaboration of everyone involved to get the job done, which event meant Arisohn himself appearing on screen occasionally.
"Without all the elements to the show, it would just fall apart," he said.
Arisohn said he hopes new students coming to work on SATV would share the passion of those already trying to turn the station around.
"We weren't doing it just so we could get on TV," he said.
