Campus TV & Radio Stations

About PSTV

• How To Get Involved

  Pre-Requisites

  • CMM229 — Basic Video Production and Planning
  • CMM232 — Basic Audio Production

  Production

  At PSTV, students are responsible for creating the content that is broadcasted. Students do it all — producing, directing, acting, writing, editing and camera operation. PSTV creates a true work environment, giving you valuable experiences that can translate into a professional career.

  Plattsburgh State Television also prides itself in its ability to adapt to changes in technology and trends to give students the most genuine and up-to-date experience possible.

  Crew

  CMM233, also known as PSTV Crew, introduces you to PSTV and television production as a whole. You will rotate through every position found in a TV studio, on both live and scripted productions, gaining an authentic experience of working at a TV station, working in live production and working as a team.

  Management

  CMM433, also known as PSTV Management, offers a number of different management positions. Some of these positions include show producers, news director and marketing director, among others. In order to get involved with the management team you must have taken CMM233, CMM288 and ENG101 as well as have junior standing.

  Management gives you the opportunity to take a significantly more active role in production. Managers are expected to contribute to the station by creating a show, making promotional material, managing the social media or other ways. Management gives you the opportunity to take a leadership role in PSTV while sharing responsibility for the programming and direction of the station. Management gives you the opportunity to enhance your strengths while giving you valuable experience towards work in the TV industry.

  Talent

  All of the talent at PSTV are students that attend SUNY Plattsburgh. There is no experience needed to try out for any of our shows. Talent auditions are held at the beginning of each semester for a variety of styles and interests — comedy, pop culture, news, sports, etc. The opportunities are endless and all majors are welcome to become a part of the PSTV family.
• Our Story

  Plattsburgh State Television officially went on-air in 1978. WCFE, the local PBS station, had been founded just one year earlier and was already operating out of Yokum Hall’s large Studio B, Control Room B, and Master Control. PSTV began its operations with only the smaller Studio A and Control Room A, with Anne Pliscoff as faculty advisor and Frank Sorrell as studio manager. Phil Reines and Al Montanaro were also essential in the program’s early development.

  To supplement the original broadcasting equipment, secondhand equipment was donated from WPTZ in Plattsburgh and New York Network in Albany. Then in the early 1980s, State Senator Ronald B. Stafford helped SUNY Plattsburgh secure a grant of $800,000 from New York state. This was a tremendous boost which drastically improved the program and allowed the department to fully refurbish the entire television facility.

  In 1987, WCFE relocated to new broadcast facilities off-campus, allowing PSTV to acquire the larger studio, control room, and master control. This expansion more than doubled PSTV’s broadcast facilities. In 2003, SUNY Plattsburgh approved an arrangement in which Cardinal hockey games produced by PSTV students would be broadcast on WCFE. This marked the first over-air broadcasting of PSTV-produced programming. With WCFE’s strong signal, PSTV production could be seen by over four million households in New York, Vermont, Quebec and Ontario.

  In 2005, SUNY Plattsburgh allocated a $600,000 grant for a long overdue renovation of the television facilities. Immediately after, the university approved plans to merge the mass communication and speech communication departments into a new Center of Communication. SUNY Plattsburgh would now offer four distinct majors for communication students to specialize in, which was the first program of its kind in New York. Later in the year, Court TV donated more than $100,000 worth of additional equipment to PSTV and the newly formed Center of Communication.

  In 2006, PSTV began repurposing its programming on the internet via Google Video, moving to Google-owned YouTube in 2014. Recently, Yokum Hall underwent a $1.5 million upgrade adding new audio labs, editing suites and digital studios. 

  Recently, PSTV has begun live streaming to YouTube in addition to broadcasting on cable. This change has allowed PSTV to grow its presence in a changing landscape while remaining true to its values of education and giving a genuine professional experience.