University unveils TUTV cable station

A $1.2 million gift from the Kal and Lucille Rudman Foundation will make TUTV produced in Annenberg Hall possible beginning in the Fall semester.

A $1.2 million gift to Temple will fund a new Main Campus media center designed to give students practical experience in the broadcasting field, thanks to the Kal and Lucille Rudman Foundation.

The aptly named Kal and Lucille Rudman Media Production Center in Annenberg Hall will be home to the university’s new television station, TUTV, scheduled to air this fall.

At a reception Wednesday in Sullivan Hall, the university honored foundation founders Kal and Lucille Rudman and emphasized the significance of its new media center and television station.

“I feel blessed to be able to help Temple students for many years to come,” Kal Rudman said.

TUTV, a cable station, will feature programming from the variety of content produced by students and faculty. Associate Professor Paul Gluck, TUTV’s general manager, said programming will range from news shows to dance recitals, musical pieces and art presentations.

“I’m absolutely thrilled that we have the opportunity to watch a television station for Temple University. It’s something that will benefit every student and all the faculty,” Gluck said. “I think it will be important for our alumni. I think TUTV will provide us with an interactive pathway with the community, [which] Temple University hasn’t had for many years.”

The media center will contain a master control room, studio and editing facilities. Gluck said TUTV will shoot on location throughout Main Campus and the Temple community. He noted that the new television channel is still undetermined.

The media center will also include an adjacent classroom and newsroom to be used for instruction and seminars on broadcasting topics. Students will have the opportunity to do internships working with TUTV.

Gluck said TUTV is important to all students and will not be limited to broadcast, telecommunications and mass media majors.

“So many students from so many different disciplines come with their own media skills because they have grown up in this environment, and we would welcome them to work on TUTV,” Gluck said.

Several students and faculty expressed their gratitude toward the Rudmans through a video production aired at the reception.

“[Kal and Lucille Rudman have been] part of our school and part of our community, and they’ve been so involved in everything we do,” President Ann Weaver Hart said, noting that it took the university five years to secure the digital license for TUTV.

The Rudmans are known for their philanthropy to broadcasting and education. They have also contributed to Philadelphia’s Broadcast Pioneers, an organization that has produced several scholarships to Temple students.

Recipients of the organization’s awards for 2010 expressed excitement over development plans for TUTV and the media center.

“The Rudmans are providing Temple students with this absolutely wonderful opportunity. And to even have a television station on campus, we’re getting real life experience during our college years – it’s something that you can’t really put a price on,” Lindsey Bitter, a sophomore BTMM major, said. “I’m really excited to get in those classes and just learn.”

Lena Van can be reached at lena.van@temple.edu.