log in or create account

For the current incarnation of AGTV, see AggieTV.

ASUCD's AGTV is UC Davis' student television program. The concept was created by ASUCD Senator and first Executive Producer Lee Weissmann as a UNITE campaign promise in 2002, the goal of AggieTV is to give students an opportunity to develop career broadcast skills, provide information to campus, and innovate campus media at UC Davis ASUCD. Weissmann hired the first Producer Mike Lee in 2002 to execute the pilot. The pilot was filmed at KDVS and was comprised of 30 or so students. Upon seeing the pilot the ASUCD Senate funded the first purchase of video equipment. The first funds for digital screens in the Memorial Union were obtained by Weissmann through his role on the CURB Committee. AGTV then broadcasted throughout Davis via DCTV and began streaming episodes online in late 2004. AGTV is a sub-unit of Creative Media.

You can currently catch AGTV on their website, DCTV, and occasionally you can see promos on the telescreen in the MU (this screen is owned by The University Network and is provided at no cost to the University in exchange for showing commercials and movie trailers. Student organizations can run 20 second ads on the screen for free. Ask the MU Information Center for details.). A plasma screen dedicated to AGTV will be erected in the Coffee House over the Summer, so it will be easier to see their programming.

AGTV will undergo significant expansion over the summer and through the next year. They will move to the basement of Freeborn Hall with the rest of the campus media, where they will take over the old El Rodeo office. They will also be getting a DVD burner so they can sell copies of their episodes. This expansion will be lead by the new AGTV Co-General Managers Eric Fox and Lindsay Nakano.

Visit the AGTV website for information and to watch episodes of the show. The episodes are mostly done in a local-news style and last 20-30 minutes.

AGTV is currently not broadcast in the dorms. This was a platform issue for L.E.A.D. during the Winter 2005 ASUCD Election. Perhaps the independent senator now in charge of AGTV will achieve what the slate could not. Or maybe he could just leave the state a quarter after he started the job.

⁠

This UCD program receives ASUCD subsidies.

Episode Reviews

Episode 1

Episode 1 covered the Ralph Nader Write-In Campaign for President and the Ski or Snowboard Club.

• Nobody who was interviewed looked at the camera!

The Candidate-ing Game

• Embarrassing for everyone involved!

Controversy

AGTV encountered some controversy in February 2005 with the proposed purchase of two plasma TVs for $33,000 by the ASUCD Senate (Aggie Editorial). Some were critical of what they call AGTV's lackluster performance, saying AGTV was not deserving of the amount of student money they received. Others say the group needed a venue for their broadcasts before they could get their feet off the ground.

• I know the bill to pay for this passed Senate, but no TVs have been put up yet. I believe the new Controller froze the funds, and no TVs have been bought yet. Only four senators of the current twelve even voted on the bill in the first place, and the Coffee House staff is still opposed to the screens. There's a good chance we may never see them.
• The thing that really set me off about this bill was how poorly it was researched. I think bill was very telling of the technical ineptitude of AGTV and is proof of concept as to why they need to get their shit together before we're going to give them any money. For starters, the bill (which I can't find at the moment) said that they were going to buy 30" plasma TVs from Apple. Well, I know Apple's product line pretty well, and I can assure you that Apple does not make plasma TVs. They do however make 30" LCD displays which have a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. For anyone who's had any experience with digital video, they know that this is extreme overkill. Standard DV resolution is 720 x 480. I've uploaded a scale graphic of how ridiculous this is. Not only did they want to buy 30' LCDs, but they wanted to buy G5s to run them. A G5 is a massively powerful (and expensive) computer. Using it to play a DV file on loop is a gross misappropriation of resources. What they should have done is actually bought 30" plasma screens (for around $1000 ea. from someone who actually makes Plasma screens) and hooked them up to a $30 DVD player and played a DVD on loop. Now I don't actually want to be inundated with plasma screens — I can get that at Albertsons — but this bill made me want to hit my head against the wall.

I would make that argument that most senators have not seen AGTV on DCTV because it airs during Senate meetings but Senator Gabe Bang has pointed out that a DVD is available, and he owns a copy, so I know some of them have seen it. But I will make this argument: I think the Senate was very hasty about giving AGTV $33,000 for the plasma screen TVs and one of their biggest motivations for doing so was their desire to see themselves on TV. - RobRoy

---

2005-02-22 09:55:54   I seriously doubt anyone would be willing to sit through 20-30 mins of AGTV regardless of the venue. —ArlenAbraham

---

2006-05-29 17:07:35   Perhaps I'm out of touch with the student body, but I don't think television is a relevant medium to the student body. Furthermore, I'd guess that there is hardly an overlap between the student population that actually watches television and the student population that cares about campus issues. Who is their demographic? I'd like to see supporters of AGTV publish some evidence that there is some semblance of student demand for such a thing (and when I say publish, I mean through some means outside of their own internal meetings that is accessible to the average student e.g. the Aggie, the Wiki, etc). —VictorZapanta

---

2006-05-29 21:57:02   I'd be willing to sit through 20 - 30 minutes of AGTV; I wanted to be apart of it, but it's so not apart of my cultural sphere. Its broadcast in the MU and online? WTF, mate? Okay, and on DCTV, which somehow I seem to miss. But I'm certainly not going to sit in the MU for a half and hour waiting around to watch this show when I've got stuff to do. It's too bad, too. —SS

---

AGTV doesn't get much money in the ASUCD operating budget. They may have a plasma screen to work with now, but the majority of those working for AGTV are still volunteers. The hope is that AGTV will become the next KDVS, but KDVS didn't turn into a successful radio station overnight, so cut AGTV some slack. ph

---

2006-10-22 11:42:11   Being a volunteer for AGTV, I can attest to what most people are saying. The entire concept of AGTV is flawed to begin with, who wants to sit through some cheap local news knock off if they could've gotten their information from the Aggie a week earlier? Also, there is an grossly unfair division of labor, we have about 20 reporters and only with 4-5 technical/cameraperson to cover for them, and most of the times, a story is shoved to the back burner when time conflicts or an interview is unable to be set up, AGTV is above it's fisical and technical limitation with the way it is set up currently, and I think most people on the team know that, which is the reason why only about 8-10 people show up during the club meetings (out of 50 or so) and people usually put AGTV on the backburner, rendering any actual progress stagnant. —JG

---

2007-01-15 23:19:36   When was the job posted for AGTV General Manager? —JamesSchwab

• I don't remember it being posted when foxy left.- ph

---

2007-10-21 20:31:06   Has AGTV doing or done anything recently? —DonGibson

---

2008-11-05 16:05:49   AGTV now has its own studio. Expect many fascinating shows to come. If anyone is interested in contributing rather than complaining please email Daniel at [email protected] —DJF

---

2009-05-02 02:39:23   All information displayed on this page should be disregarded as it is all irrelevant. —DJF

---

2010-03-11 08:17:12   I just watched the coverage for March 4, 2010 Public Education Protest, and.....let's just say I'm happy I'm not a student any more, so my fees won't be wasted on this program. —JoePomidor

---

2010-11-05 18:58:37   Please visit the new AggieTV wiki page at: http://daviswiki.org/AggieTV because this page is very outdated, thank you! We also no longer go by AGTV, we are now AggieTV. —SaherR