SUSU.tv :: Wessex Scene Online

SUSU.tv

13th November 2006
Emma Lenanton

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Southampton University’s Students Union is about to launch its own TV channel, the Wessex Scene can reveal. Susu.tv is a web-based stream that allows students to view events filmed at the University. This innovative piece of technology is thought to be one of the first of its kind in Student Unions accross the country.

The idea for the project grew out of a promotional DVD now being streamed on susu.tv which focused on advertising the Union and improving the student experience for Freshers.

In the future, susu.tv will contain highlights of University life and will also screen short films made by the Wessex Films society. But as the project snowballs the highlight of the new technology will be a facility for uploading material. Whether it is artistic film clips or amusing mobile phone videos students choose to upload, susu.tv will provide a tech-savvy Southampton student with a new form of online addiction.

Phil Webb, VP Media & Comms, has been enthusiastically involved in putting the project together. He said: "This is going beyond just a TV station, and is another great assest to our media portfolio. In participation stakes this should actively increase the number of users browsing the website and as result raise all-round awareness of all Union departments."

The site will also contain blog-spots and personal spaces, allowing the creation of identities online. Pete Wood, Susu IT manager, who has also been at the forefront of organising the project, states that confession booths, as seen at the Freshers’ Ball, could become a frequent occurrence at Union nights such as Kinki or My name is John. Students who reveal their naughty secrets to the camera risk having them made public to all those with a susu.org password.

The projected blossomed from a summer of research, and the final steps were taken in getting the project off the ground with the budget for the equipment approved at Union Council at a cost of around Ł7000.

With the recent sale of YouTube to Google for $1.6 billion and the success of MySpace and Facebook, it is clear video is the next big thing. And with this new venture, SUSU is at the cutting-edge of the new technology.