Cable might be gone, but a student group is filling that void by offering free movie streaming online.
Duke Student Broadcasting, which is part of Duke University Union, has expanded its offerings to include free movies streaming from its website. This continues DSB’s transition from Cable 13—DSB’s exclusively cable-based former incarnation—to an online multimedia hub. DSB officials hope that the addition, which went live Oct. 14, will work to meet Duke students’ broader demands for entertainment.
“[We wanted] to highlight the fact that we’ve moved from our cable network to [the website]… to create a more cohesive site for entertainment for Duke students,” said DSB President Dominik Davalos, a senior. “We don’t want to be known as the Netflix or Hulu of Duke. We just want to let people know that wherever you are on campus, you can have free movies—completely legal—at your fingertips.”
Housing, Dining and Residence Life announced in April that individual students no longer have the ability to purchase cable services for their rooms on campus. HDRL decided to downsize because of the high expenses required to update the existing cable systems. Televisions in common rooms have retained cable and been upgraded to high-definition services.
The move to online streaming reflects DSB’s desire to accommodate a culture shift by adjusting its contents to fit students online-viewing habits—especially since cable is no longer available in individual dorm rooms, Davalos said.
“We made the switch last year mostly because... people aren’t watching TV like they used to,” he said. “We just wanted to make sure we were following the trend.”
DSB members said the group had been planning to offer online movie streaming before HDRL canceled cable but noted that they are glad to be meeting a demand.
More than 60 percent of respondents to a DSB survey sent out last year indicated that they would like to see movies available on the DSB website, said junior Brandon Putnam, DSB vice president of marketing.
“We thought it would be a great idea, just to capitalize on that, by saying, ‘We’ve got the numbers. Let’s see if people actually respond with their actions,’” he said.
For some students, the transition is a very welcome one.
Freshman Josh Laveman said he is much more likely to watch DSB’s movies now that they are online instead of on TV.
“[Now I can] watch at my own speed and on my own time schedule,” Laveman said.
Laveman also praised the movie selection, though added that he had already seen most of the films in this month’s lineup.
DSB will seek student movie requests in the future, though the lineups for the next two months have already been determined by DSB’s executive board. Films currently available include “Bridesmaids,” “Saw” and “The Soloist.” December will feature “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” “It’s a Wonderful Life”and “The Polar Express,” among others.
This is the last year of DSB’s contract with Swank Motion Pictures, Inc., which contracts movies for campus entertainment, Davalos said, noting that the contract originated Cable 13. DSB will monitor traffic to the web service as well as solicit student feedback through the Spring to see if recontracting with Swank is worthwhile, he added.
Putnam said he would like to see the service continue. The ultimate decision, however, depends on the response of the student body.
“[The movie streaming service] is there for students,” Davalos said. “If they show that they want it, we’ll keep it.”
The online streaming can be accessed through dukestudentbroadcasting.com.
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