By Chloe Nott

Quincy University’s weekly newscast will now be streamed live on Comcast. The half-hour program will air live at 1:30 p.m. every Wednesday of the semester on channel 1901. 

The newscast is created and presented by some of QU’s communication program students. The channel is available on campus via Xfinity digital cable TV. 

For the last few years, QUTV has only been streamed to YouTube. However, this system was difficult to find and navigate for viewers. With the addition of going live on cable, QUTV will have the ability to be seen on over 30 TV’s around campus as well as any personal television, desktop, and mobile device.

The live stream has been in the works for some time. Mike McCabe, QU director of information technology services, has been working tirelessly for two years with Comcast to get a campus-based channel. 

“They spent two years trying to figure out how to do it and get it to work,” McCabe said. 

McCabe mentioned having a QU channel provides opportunity, not only to QUTV students but for all of QU. 

“For me the goal would be at some point that we are using channel 1901 as kind of a community bulletin board. So students from their room could pull up and see here’s what is going on on campus today,” McCabe said.

Shane Husley is the current sports anchor and content creator for QUTV. 

“It’s been a long time coming. IT has worked incredibly hard to get us on Comcast, and I think their hard work is going to pay off. The more platforms we get on and our product out there, the better,” Hulsey said. 

The newscast allows students to gain experience in all areas of news broadcasting. Each student creates a story for the show. This consists of interviewing, filming, and editing content. The students also have specific jobs on ‘show day’. This includes on-camera jobs such as news, sports, and weather anchors. Others work behind the scenes in the technical room, with a director, technical director, video operator, audio technician, producer, and teleprompter. 

Raven Ash is part of the QUTV team, working as a producer and content creator for the show.

“Being able to show QUTV on Comcast is such a big opportunity for our show because it creates another platform for students on campus to see our content. Having our content on cable makes what we’re doing so much more real. We are excited to see what else we are able to do with channel 1901,” Ash said. 

The work that students do creating and presenting the newscast can be seen by potential employers and used in work portfolios. This enables the students to not only gain experience but take the work they’ve done with them. 

McCabe has already been looking into the future capabilities of QU having their own channel. He hopes to one day have QUTV mini segments throughout the day, more content by QU students, and even use it as an admission tool for potential students visiting campus.