Partly cloudy skies. Low 66F. Winds light and variable..
Partly cloudy skies. Low 66F. Winds light and variable.
Survey of Students on Cable Use
Survey of Students on Cable Use
The bottom of a July 1st email from IUP housing notified students that they have decided to no longer offer cable TV in residence hall dorms.
“With so many students using streaming services, few students are using our cable service. Instead, our focus will be on strengthening our in-hall wireless. We will continue to add wireless access points to provide the fullest coverage possible to meet student demand,” the email said.
The Penn surveyed 262 students at North Dining Hall on whether or not they would use cable TV this semester if it was offered, in an effort to see if IUP’s determination of students not preferring to watch cable was accurate. 57% of students either do not watch TV at all or prefer streaming over cable, while 43% of students preferred some extent of having cable TV as an option.
60 students answered that they prefer cable while 120 students preferred streaming. 42 students responded that they would use cable TV, but only for sports
“Live TV is for sports, if anything,” said Madelyn Hosey (junior, nursing).
However, live sports games are available on some streaming services such as Hulu.
30 students responded that they do not have the time to watch TV with their schoolwork load.
“I just do not have the time to watch television,” said Caleb Rokosky (freshman, biochemistry)
10 students’ responses fell into the “other” category, such as Ann Gamble, who felt that whether or not she would personally use cable was beside the point.
“I personally dislike the move [to get rid of cable.] I’m using so much money to pay for the dorm upkeep, that I think dorm cable should still be included,” said Ann Gamble (senior, political science).
Nedrick Patrick responded that he prefers watching the news as it airs, not on streaming platforms afterwards.
“Live TV has better news programming [than streaming],” said Patrick (PhD candidate, English).
Michelle Fryling explained that they tried to survey students, but they do not get a high response rate to their polling. Instead, they made the determination by talking to the SGA and the Residence Hall Association last spring. In addition, they considered the amount of work orders and requests made to housing over the years.
“It’s important to understand that decisions like this are made over the course of multiple years. We’ve seen more than a 90% reduction in work orders for cable tv (from students) over a multi-year period,” said Fryling.
“However, we’ve seen a great increase in requests to have smart TVs, Rokus, and other streaming devices connected to the wireless,” she said.
For students who are upset with not being able to watch cable TV this semester, there is the other option of antenna TV. It is just like cable or satellite TV, but it is sent over radio waves to antennas on the ground, similar to radio stations.
It is best to position the antenna by a window as high as possible and free of blockage by trees and buildings. The best reception is when it has a clear path to a tower. The ability to pick up Antenna TV on campus is highly dependent on what direction a window faces.
There is also the option of using a TV that is compatible with Amazon’s Freevee, which gives ad-supported streaming versions of cable TV stations, known as FAST channels.
There will also be one TV lounge in each building that will have a cable TV.
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