Tufts University Television (TUTV) Records

Alumnus Andy Liebman founded TUTV in 1977 when, in exchange for taping child development classes and tennis lessons, he received permission to use Tufts’ equipment to film TUTV programs. The early years of TUTV consisted of only 10 members. Since its founding, TUTV has grown exponentially in terms of its membership base, resources, scope of activities, and audience.

From 1977 to 1997, TUTV existed primarily as a video club. It had no system for disseminating its programming on a large scale. Instead, TUTV employed a hand-delivery system in which TUTV shuttled copies of its programs back and forth between TUTV’s production offices and the Mayer Campus Center. These copies were only available for viewing on VCR in Hotung Cafe or on the televisions in the Mayer Campus Center. As early as the 1980s a cable channel was discussed, but it did not become reality until the mid-1990s when Tufts University’s Assistant Director of Telecommunications Marj Minnigh contracted with Campuslink to provide voice, video, and data services to the Tufts residential system, including a closed-circuit cable channel that could be used by Tufts to deliver audiovisual content to their community. Wiring was completed in 1995 and by 1997, TUTV had received nearly $40,000 of funding with $30,000 from the Spaulding Porter Innovative Undergraduate Education Fund and $7,600 from Time Warner Cable. TUTV also received $20,000 from the Office of the Provost. These funds gave TUTV the ability to purchase eight new super VHS cameras and extensive editing equipment. With an updated studio and a cable system, TUTV aired on channel 43 in 1997.

When channel 43 came on-line in 1997, the Tufts administration authorized the Experimental College to oversee its use, with TUTV representatives managing the content creation process. TUTV continued broadcasting on channel 43 and on their website until launching their own channel on YouTube in 2012.