Orange Television Network, Syracuse University’s 6-year-old station, is trying to re-brand itself and reach out to students outside of communications majors.

Although OTN’s office is based in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Samantha Hayden, OTN’s promotion manager, said she has been hired this year to combat the stereotype that OTN is meant only for Newhouse students.

‘Yes, the staff is primarily composed of Newhouse students and its home is at Newhouse, but it’s not meant for Newhouse students only,’ said Hayden, a senior advertising major. 

OTN is SU’s own TV station that airs content produced by students at CitrusTV. It can be viewed 24/7 anywhere on campus on Channel 2, 2.1 or 2.2 on a high-definition TV. Content is also always available streaming on its website. 

Although SU has had a version of CitrusTV for more than 30 years, none of its content had ever been broadcast around campus until OTN, said Andrew Robinson, OTN’s general manager. 

As of last year, OTN is the country’s first student-run campus cable TV station being broadcast in high definition. 

‘Some of the best students in the country go here,’ said. ‘They deserve to be introduced to the best technology available.’ 

Hayden, the promotion manager, is working on moving from the traditional platform of advertising, such as tabling at Schine Student Center and hanging posters around campus, to more online-based advertising, such as purchasing advertisements for Facebook, she said. 

This year, OTN created a new job and hired someone to manage the network’s Facebook and Twitter social networking websites. Hayden said her goal is to have 500 followers by the end of the semester and 750 by the end of the year. 

‘It’s not about getting the followers,’ she said. ‘It’s getting the support.’

klross01@syr.edu

 

Published on November 16, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Kristin: klross01@syr.edu | @kriskross22