Buckeye TV - Station History

Station History

For most of its first year, the station held weekly planning meetings, Sundays at 9 p.m. in Stecker Lounge. Four undergraduate students were initially involved in the station's planning process, including Frank Sasso, who served as the first General Manager; Dave Plantz, first vice president of programming; Jarrod Weiss, vice president of marketing; and Paul C. Forsgren, chief engineer. Support for the station was initially provided by William H. Hall, then-vice president of Student Affairs at Ohio State; UNITS, the university's telecommunications department; and RHAC, the university's Residence Halls Advisory Council. These individuals and organizations provided facilities, equipment, and funding for the station. The station's first productions included a morning talk show pilot called "Wake the Buck Up", an interview program called "Campus Close Up", and a USG presidential debate aired Wednesday, April 17, 2002, as preview of what to expect from the station. That would be the only programming to air on the channel that year.

Due to logistical difficulties, the station delayed its autumn 2002 launch until the new year. "BUCK-iTV" launched on-air on February 3, 2003, on UNITS cable channel 19. Launch shows included: "Buckeye News Update", "The Collin and Joe Show" (sketch comedy), "Kollege" (soap opera, now sitcom), "P.W.C. Explosion" (Local Wrestling), "Music On Campus" and "Straight Talk Live" (political / talk). The station has rebranded and changed its channel spelling twice since launch, switching to "BUCKITV" in winter quarter 2004 and settling on "Buckeye TV" in 2005.

Once a student organization funded by OSU's student activity fee, the station began with initial academic support from the Department of Theatre and Daniel Boord, then a professor of video arts in the department. The station offered various independent study credits through the Theatre Department, and was eventually integrated into the department as a student laboratory in winter quarter 2006. This also allowed for the appointment of the first full-time program coordinator, Dave Fisher, who eventually took over the daily operation of the station for the student general managers.

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