Oslo Student-TV wants to meet the students where they are at. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter is therefore used to tempt potential viewers of the new and online-based TV channel.

– We want to make an entertainment channel with an obvious culture profile. If people want news they will have to listen to Radio Nova or read Universitas. We are not focusing on news journalism in Oslo Student-TV, says leader of the new channel Siv Heimdal.
The net-based channel was kick-started last Thursday with a release party where the red carpet was rolled out at Chateau Neuf. The some 200 guests who showed up got an insight into the things the channel can show during spring.

Challenging limits

– We have ambitions of experimenting with genres and challenging limits. Therefore we have tried to remove the reporter from the interview setting and instead replace him with a bowl of questions the interviewee has to pick from. This makes the setting for the interview much more unrestrained, says Heimdal. The channel is supposed to cover the cultural arrangements done for all students in Oslo. “Kunsten å tenke kollektivt”, a sitcom about life in a student commune; an entertainment show with a hidden camera and stunt reporters; three weekly cultural issues – these are the programs that Heimdal thinks will make the channel a success. In addition the channel has a documentary group working on a project that will be on screens towards the end of the semester.

TV-hurricane

When the project with the channel first started, there were eight volunteers. Now, five months later, they count forty-three. The staff hopes to grow, and will therefore announce available positions once a semester. – There are many experienced journalists in our editorial staff. We have people from media studies, journalist schools and Westerdals School of Communication. Some of them are experienced from student-TV in Trondheim, but for many this is the first encounter with TV-production, says editor Siri Nerbø, who has worked for Bergensavisen earlier. What with the competent journalists they have access to, Nerbø sees no reason that the channel won´t grow with time. – We want to be a fresh breeze that increases into a hurricane. Right now we are in the beginner phase, but we hope to become a channel people talk about and are involved in, says Siri Nerbø.

Voluntary work

The Norwegian Students´ Society supports the channel with 60 000 Norwegian kroner, while the Culture Board in the Foundation for Student Life in Oslo gave them 15 000 in production equipment support. – We started in October with 10 000 kroner, bought a camera and started making small programs. We got some more support, but we are still dependent on voluntary work to survive. We see Oslo Student-TV as a poor student, and we will go for running it without money, says Siri Nerbø.
Previous attempts at making student-TV in Oslo have failed due to bad financial conditions. Heimdal is of the opinion that the channel will survive because it is based on voluntary work and online shows. – Earlier, people have gone in with too much ambition and applied for millions of kroner to pay for salaries. We are now 43 workers, all working on a voluntary level. Since the shows are sent online there are less costs for us than for the ones who tried before us, says Nerbø. As a net-based TV-channel Oslo Student-TV knows that social media like Twitter and Facebook are important for reaching out to potential viewers. The channel has therefore made a group on Facebook and a profile on Twitter, which is where new shows will be announced.