SPC-TV Celebrates 10 Years

By Gus Bode

a href=”https://www.dailyegyptian.com/contactus.html”bDE Staff Reporter/b/abrspan class=”realsmall”bDaily Egyptian/b/span

SPC-TV Celebrates 10 Years

Special anniversary program to take place on Saturday

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Ten years ago, SPC-TV started out in a janitor’s closet. A decade later, they are still working out of the same space – a space Lainie Thomas, production manager and news director interim, says is no bigger than a bathroom.

Although the space hasn’t grown much, the station has. This Saturday is the 10th year SPC-TV has been bringing entertainment to SIUC. On the day of its birth, SPC-TV will hold a three-hour special from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on channel 24 featuring stand-up comedian Hannibal Burress and “spoof” shows making fun of recent movies, all to celebrate the last decade of TV and look forward to the future.

In the last 10 years SPC-TV has grown from just a few members to more than 60. Its members are producing several more television shows and said they provide about 10 percent of SIUC students’ media.

Thomas, a sophomore from Sherman studying pre-law and political science, spends between 30 and 40 hours a week in the janitor’s closet where others have worked so hard before her.

She said her job has taught her responsibility, how to make deadlines and even a lot about campus happenings; she receives no pay for the time she spends working there.

Still, Thomas said working for a television production is a lot of fun and something everyone should try at least once, for the fun if nothing else.

“Whatever is happening on campus, we’re probably there doing something stupid,” she said.

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But according to Josh Gates since he joined SPC-TV, it has gotten a little less stupid.

Gates said the first time he saw a program on SPC-TV it was so bad he felt compelled to call the station and complain.

“When I first got to Carbondale, I didn’t even know we had a TV station,” said Gates, a junior in glass and metals from Kankakee. “One night I had nothing to do, so flipping through the channels and came across this video show. I thought man, this sucks.”

Gates said he found a number to call for questions and comments, so he called and told him his thoughts on the program he saw.

“They told me to come to their meeting on Monday nights,” he said, “so I went with my girlfriend and we started a show.”

The show – “Forensics Spotlight” – now airs Thursday nights at 7. Gates, and his girlfriend, Chrystal Nause, a senior also from Kankakee studying photography, are the heart and soul of the program.

Gates picks the music videos for the show that he also hosts, produces and edits. He also adds graphics to the show before it airs. He says he does everything he can, but he says he still can’t seem to run the camera. That is where Nause comes in. She is the official camerawoman of the show. The one-hour shows takes more than four hours to complete. And Gates and Nause receive no pay for their hard work. Instead, Gates said he gets perks like free concert tickets, free CDs and all kinds of other complementary gifts from record labels.

“It’s so worth it,” Gates said. “I have a lot of fun and I really just love it. I get to see all the videos I love that never get played on MTV. It’s great.”

Reporter Kristina Herrndobler can be reached at [email protected]

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