Titan TV

For the seventh time in the last few weeks, channel five is not working the way it should. The error that we see when we go to fix it is very technical, but suffice it to say that we are waiting for a software update from our media provider. If/when that happens, we should be fully operational once again.

As with any problems you may have with Titan TV, please email us at titantv {at} iwu(.)edu or call us at x2639 if you notice this issue (which usually presents itself as a frozen picture on screen, either black or whatever else was showing at the time of the error). As we cannot monitor the stations 24×7, we often need to rely on notices from you, the audience.

Again, we apologize for these issues and hope our media provider can update their software quickly, as there is nothing we can do without the program’s source code (which they did not give us).

Hey all. This morning, we got a phone line set up for us. This is something we have wanted for quite a while, so we are really excited about this.

If at any time you see something wrong with Titan TV, you have a movie request, you want an event filmed, or anything else you might have emailed us about before, you now have the choice to email us (titantv {at} iwu(.)edu) or call us (x2639 on campus or 309-556-2639 anywhere), whichever is easier for you.

Well, we are finally on an all-DMP programming system. Woo-hoo! But what does that mean for the average campus community member?

First and foremost, it means a much more reliable Titan TV. No longer should we have DVD menu screens showing up all the time or PowerPoint slides freezing on screen for long stretches of time.

Next, it means that the movie schedule should be switched around more frequently (we’re planning to have a new schedule every week starting on Mondays at 12:00am), so you won’t have to see the same movies over and over again, simply because of your schedule. This is something we’ve wanted to do for quite a while, but it never really got done because of how difficult our old programming system was to update (which is also why you’d see DVD menu screens).

Finally for the average viewer, it means a higher-quality video experience. We used to have to run all of our video through a device that, for all I know, was probably built in the 1980s. Now, we go directly out from the two Digital Media Players (DMPs) to the campus cable network.

What does this mean for the non-average campus community member?

For starters, we’re now much more able to do video advertisements (which are just as cost-free as PowerPoint slides). If you’d like to record one (it usually takes less than half an hour to record a spot), email us (titantv {at} iwu(.)edu) and we’ll work it all out with you.

Also in relation to advertising, we’re no longer using PowerPoint on our programming system. Yes, you can still send us slides if you’d like to. But feel no obligation to send them in such a limited format. We’ve gotten a lot of complaints about slides not appearing the way they were sent (which is the fault of Microsoft) when they’re on TV. Now, you have the opportunity to send us advertisements in basically any format (preferably in a standard 4:3 resolution, such as 640×480 or 1024×768) and we’ll be able to put them directly on the air, exactly as you sent them to us. Example formats include wmv, avi, mov, jpeg, tiff, png, gif, pdf, psd, xcf, ppt, pptx, and indd. But don’t feel limited to those formats; if you’d like to send it in another format, just email us that file and we’ll let you know if we can read it.

Finally, and probably most importantly, if you EVER see something saying what the next movie to play will be and what time it is scheduled to play, we request that you take ten to fifteen seconds to send us an email (titantv {at} iwu(.)edu) and let us know of the problem. All we need to know is the time and date of the sighting, the channel (4 or 5), and, if possible, the name and time of the next showing. As we’ve said before, we can’t watch the station 24-7, so we need your help to make sure it’s working. With the new programming system, it should work a lot better, but if you do ever see anything like that, we need to know the problem exists in order to fix it.

Hey all.

Something went wrong with our movie provider and we still have yet to receive the movies for March. You may notice that channel four still works (as much as it ever has) and channel five does not. That, as the avid reader would recall, is because channel five works on an all-digital format that stops letting us show movies the moment our license expires (as it did at the end of February).

According to the Media Commissioner, Scott, he has placed the order for this month several times, but has yet to even receive a confirmation from the provider. He is working diligently trying to resolve this issue and in the mean time please excuse the annoyance.

On a slightly different note, we received the second digital media player from our provider a couple of weeks ago. The reason channel four isn’t digital yet? The hard drive bay is too small to fit the hard drives our provider sends us. Scott says that he contacted them about this issue and they don’t believe us (they think we’re making a mistake). On the plus side, when we get the March movies, we’ll be able to call them as soon as we find that the new hard drive doesn’t fit, either, and they said they can be here within three hours, any day of the week, to help us fix the problem. We’ll see.

If you see channel four misbehaving, as always, PLEASE email us (titantv {at} iwu(.)edu) so we know to fix the problem. As you know, we can’t watch 24/7, so adding your eyes and ears to our own is really, really useful.

Michael

Hey all. Early in January, Rae wrote this post for the blog, but when she published it, it disappeared until a few minutes ago when I came back to write another post. So here it is, albeit a bit late.

-Michael

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1. Career Center Success!
   On January 22nd, Titan TV, in accordance with the Career Center, debuted “Crash Course Towards Your Future” a 7-and-a-half minute video in which 9 alumni offered advice for current students. To put it mildly, the Career Center liked our work and the movie was a success at the expo. We will be showing it on Titan TV soon.
2. New Schedule Every Sunday!
   Don’t forget to check the Schedule tab up on top every Sunday for a new movie schedule.
3. Channel 4
   You might have noticed that Channel 4 is only showing slides right now. That is because we expected our new programming equipment after Christmas break. On that information, we ordered all our movies in digital format. Unfortunately, the new system has not yet arrived. Thus, we had no VHS or DVD movies to play this month. Hopefully we’ll get our equipment soon; in the meantime, please keep patient. Thanks.
4. Wesleyan Gladiators!!!
   First year students, prepare yourselves: Titan TV and ORL present Wesleyan Gladiators, a “Beat the Clock” game show played on your very own floor. Every first year residence hall will have a champion team, and those four will play in the ultimate showdown of ability! Needless to say, it will all be very exciting. We hope for a lot of good-natured competition, and to spur that forward, we’re offering a prize to the winning team’s floor. What is it, you ask? We would tell you, but then that’d ruin all the fun! Check with your RAs to see when your floor is competing. Hope to see you there!

That’s it for me. If you have any questions, comments, etc, email us at titantv {at} iwu(.)edu.

Rae Rein

Tags: Update