MCTV provides students with station experience
Nadiia Petryk
This year Maricopa Community Colleges Television, MCTV, celebrates its 10 year anniversary. Over the years, it has been through a lot of changes starting as instructional programming and now becoming more and more of a traditional 24/7 television station.
Located at the Scottsdale Community College, MCTV is broadcasted via Cox Communication Cable on a channel 115 or city channel 11 for a number of Valley cities.
MCTV is a station for and about students. Their most popular shows are “Maricopa Now” and “In the District”.
Both of these shows are award winners, not just locally, but nationally and internationally, including several Prominent Telly Awards.
MCTV covers two events per semester for every Maricopa Community College. Also the station is working on a wide variety of projects, from specialty training videos to commercials.
“We can become the one stop shopper. Whatever you need, contact the MCTV first and we might be able to answer the call,” said the director of the station Rene Blatte.
The secret of popularity of MCTV is in their close attention to the local events. It is well known fact that the most interesting news is about what has happened next door.
Covering events from all community colleges throughout the Valley, MCTV meets informational needs of their main target audience – students.
MCTV is not just making programs for the college crowd, but also trying to incorporate students work experience at the station.
Julie Esquer, a student at SCC, is working at the station as a public relations assistant and writes for the show “In the District.”
“I like working at the MCTV, because there is so much variety here and I’m constantly learning,” Esquer said.
The majority of student workers at the station are from the Motion Picture/Television Program at SCC.
Students can work as journalists, editors, camera operators and other positions.
Along with the regular employment there are several types of internships being provided by MCTV to Maricopa Colleges students.
A potential intern can try to work out cooperative or special internships, hands -on experience or a student work program.
Blatte is being very enthusiastic and encouraging about the internship opportunities. “You can contact me directly,” he said.
MCTV’s plans for future look very ambitious.
The crew has hopes and dreams of occupying a new television facility with the sound stage, bringing about a lot of new exciting opportunities.
“If you build it, they will come” Rene Blatte said as he quoted the movie “Field of Dreams”
He hopes that with the new facility and the sound stage his crew will be able to handle talk shows and student campuses games and competitions, which will help to promote Maricopa Colleges.
More information about the program schedules, employment or internship opportunities can be seen at the official MCTV website: http://www.maricopa.edu/mctv.
