Cable 13 is making a comeback.
Throughout the semester, Station Chair Lawrence Gan, a senior, and his production board have been working to revamp the network and restore it to its former glory.
"Cable 13 was the first student-run TV station in the country and the largest at one point," said sophomore Justin Mahood, Cable 13 co-production manager.
The station used to air several popular, student-produced shows.
Since the mid-1990s, however, the station has fallen by the wayside.
"Most people I speak with don't even realize that Duke has its own broadcasting station," Gan said.
Former prestige is something the current board members are looking to recapture.
Two men's basketball exhibition games have already been broadcast on Cable 13, and a top ten music video show airs Thursday nights.
"We probably have the most active board since 1995," Gan said.
The current board recently discovered that Cable 13 is already licensed to play music videos, a contract for which they thought they would have to pay.
The license is from BMI, an American performing rights organization.
Gan said Duke's radio station WXDU bought the license, and Cable 13 learned only this year that they were able to use the music videos offered through the license.
Also in production is a quiz show featuring pop-culture type questions.
"It's sort of a mix of Jeopardy! and Double Dare," Mahood said. "We're also looking to have a faculty guest for the final round of each show."
Some of the other projects Cable 13 hopes to get off the ground include a news show, movie broadcasts and the resurrection of a once popular sports show called "Cameron Corner," Gan said.
For sports-crazed viewers, "Cameron Corner" offered full coverage of the basketball program in the mid-1990s.
More dramatically inclined individuals could turn to "Ivy Tower," which was set at fictional Randolph University and followed the lives of eight students. For one episode of the show, producers transformed Epworth Dormitory into a fraternity house for a night in order to shoot party scenes.
Marissa Weiss, program coordinator for the Office of Student Affairs, has been guiding the current production board in its efforts to regain its former status on campus.
"I'm for anything that helps the students improve their production skills and gain visibility on campus," Weiss said.
She also said she makes sure the station does not exceed its Union-funded budget.
Currently, however, the greatest challenge for the station and its personnel is not monetary but organizational.
"We're getting one thing off the ground at a time," Mahood said.
Transforming the defunct studio into a fully-functioning station has required the board members to stretch their capabilities. "We've all been wearing different hats," Mahood added.
The board has high hopes that their efforts at Cable 13 will pay off.
"We'd like to make it as prominent as The Chronicle as far as a medium for entertainment and news," Gan said.
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