Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Hoyanet Proposes Expanded Channel Lineup for GU Cable

Hoyanet Proposes Expanded Channel Lineup for GU Cable

By Jean Weinberg Hoya Staff Writer

Georgetown University Information Services is working on enhancing the cable television system and will most likely add 10 to 16 channels to its current service by the end of the school year, according to Chris Peabody, associate director for Network and Computing Systems.

In an e-mail Thursday Peabody wrote that UIS would maintain the $28 per month cable fee and not increase rates for next fall.

The new channels would be added from 42 through 50.

The potential additions, according to Peabody, are: HBO 2, ESPN 2, The Learning Channel, the Family Channel, Nickelodeon, American ovie Channel, The Weather Channel, The Nashville Network, and the Science Fiction Network, the History Channel and an Italian-language channel.

Hoyanet’s informational channel, the channel that broadcasts school cancellations and major campus events, will move to channel four. TV 5, the new French channel on five which was added in the fall of 1998, will remain in its current position.

According to Barry Catelinet, manager of Video Services, the price of programming equipment per channel is approximately $1,500. The estimated total cost for the channel additions is $20,000, Peabody said.

Peabody said Georgetown has contacted various vendors, who sell packages of cable channels, with information on the size and nature of Georgetown’s cable market. The vendors have subsequently given Georgetown pricing proposals based on that information.

Peabody said UIS is still evaluating bids and that decisions have not been finalized as to which vender the school will use or what the exact programming and costs will be.

According to Catelinet, Hoyanet will leave a blank spot around 19 or 20 for GUTV, Georgetown’s student cable channel which is currently under development.

Valerie Bennett, communications coordinator for the Office of Information Services and UIS, said that GUTV’s presence on Hoyanet cable would depend on whether or not GUTV is recognized officially by the university as a student organization.

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