In Search of Viewers, HRTV Dumps Soap Opera, Adds News

With a spate of fresh programming and a re-energized attempt to place their content on the Internet by the end of the calendar year, Harvard-Radcliffe Television (HRTV) continues its uphill battle to attract a larger audience from a student body largely unaware of their presence.

Without a cable network in place in Harvard dorms, it is impossible for HRTV to broadcast into students' rooms.

This fall's leadership has turned away from weekly re-run screenings in Loker Commons--HRTV has produced only one broadcast this fall--and is instead focusing on new shows and new projects in hopes of generating interest.

Several weeks ago, HRTV began "Harvard Television News," a program aiming to cover campus events, such as protests and speeches. The news format has not been used by HRTV since 1997, when their last episode of "Crimson Edition" aired.

HRTV has also retooled "Ivory Tower," its long-running soap opera, into a new format. The newly christened "Tales from the Ivory Tower" will consist of short stories in a loosely organized framework.

"The soap opera format got kind of old," said Vice President and Financial Manager Jonathan M. Vatner '00. "It just didn't come out that well. We've done it for eight years, and it's just time to move on."

The only finished product shown this fall has been an episode of the sitcom "The Asylum," which was shown in Loker two weeks ago.

"A finished product is a lot of work," Vatner says. "Usually many projects start at the beginning of the year and finish at the end."

As a result, HRTV is moving away from its Loker screenings and focusing its efforts on Internet multi-casting, which they say will allow multiple computers to view the same Real Video file at the same time. Last year's leadership hoped to establish multi-casting by the end of the spring, but says they ran into logistical difficulties.

Episode premieres, however, will continue to play in Loker, according to Vatner.

"We used to show reruns a lot and not too many people would come," he said. "Not too many people seem to be interested in watching back-episodes."