A black entertainment television channel might replace student-produced programming on NIU’s TV-8.

The Black Entertainment Network, which distributes black-oriented programming to cable systems throughout the country, is in the process of negotiating a contract with NIU, a spokesperson for BET’s legal department said.

BET might air on cable channel 8 this fall if a contract is signed, Don Buckner, director of NIU’s Housing Office, said.

Buckner said the decision to subscribe to BET programming is “part of the plan to bring more minority-oriented programming to this campus.” The initiative came from student groups such as Black Interhall Council, he said.

Nick Noe, director of the Office of Institutional Research, said out of 23,118 students on the DeKalb campus, 1,090 are black.

Willard Draper, Housing Service assistant director, said, “We have the opportunity to add another dimension to education on this campus. All students can benefit from this program.”

The selection of BET programming could mean decreased air time for communications and journalism students.

TV-8 is used for the campus bulletin board, Financial News Network and student-produced programming, such as TV-8 News, Paragon (a feature magazine) and Viewpoint (a talk show featuring journalism students).

“Students have a significant advantage in coming to NIU,” Robert Miller, assistant professor of communication studies, said. “We have a complete television production facility entirely devoted to student training. At many schools, students have to share the facilities with professional producers,” Miller said.

Robert La Conto, associate professor of journalism, said NIU’s student-produced programs need one hour daily of broadcast time.

Buckner said NIU has 7,600 students living in residence halls. He said 3,900 cable outlets are in the halls and the Holmes Student Center.

Student residence hall fees fund the cable television and maintenance service, Buckner said. Of the $18 million residence hall budget, $43,000 per year is used for television programming, Buckner said.

The cost of BET would amount to about 3 cents per student, compared to 44 cents per student for ESPN (the 24-hour sports network cable system), Buckner said. BET would cost NIU about $1,000 per year, he said.

The housing office is trying to reach an “equitable arrangement” concerning broadcast time for BET’s programs and NIU’s student-produced programs, Buckner said.

George Morisette, chief television engineer for TV-8, said if NIU selects BET programming, some technical changes, including rewiring the equipment, will need to occur.

“Feeding BET to the campus would tie up equipment and we couldn’t send locally originated programs to DeKalb,” Morisette said.

“The campus cable system is facing the same problem cable systems all over the country are facing,” Miller said. “A 12-channel capacity just isn’t enough anymore.”