Teens may have screamed “I want my MTV” in the 1980s, but in 2005, it is time to add one more letter to the acronym.

mtvU, the college-oriented spin off from MTV, is looking to expand its channel to the corn fields of NIU.

“First and foremost, college is where the majority of our audience is,” said Stephen Friedman, general manager of mtvU. “We want to connect with students where they are.”

So far, the channel has reached more than 730 universities.

While mtvU only is available in residence hall rooms, the channel tries to connect with students off campus.

The network could come to common areas like the Campus Recreation Center, hardwire the building and hang flat screen TVs to play mtvU – all for free.

“We would pipe the station through the cable systems in the dorms and wire common areas for the rest of the campus as well,” Friedman said.

While the offer sounds promising, some still have doubts as to whether it could happen.

“In the past year, we actually looked at another similar type of venture that involved having televisions around campus,” said Residence Hall Association president Daniel Chou. “But the administration didn’t like where it was bringing NIU.”

Services Offered

While the standard MTV has drifted away from the “M,” mtvU focuses all its programming around music.

“Music is the heart of the channel,” Friedman said. “We don’t play Britney [Spears]. We don’t play much pop at all.”

All the programming is in short form, which is three to four-minute segments, about the length of a music video, Friedman said.

As soon as a campus is connected with mtvU, opportunities for students begin right away.

An mtvU grant is available every week to any student-run community service organization and allows the students to further good deeds. NIU also would qualify as a stop when mtvU takes bands on college tours.

Students would be able to download featured artists on the channel from “The Cut,” a free and legal way to download and share music from up-and-coming artists.

“We understand that music inspires you,” Friedman said. “We also understand that you’ll want to pass on the music and we provide a legal way to do this and the artists embrace it.”

mtvU “Stand In” also surprises students by replacing a professor with a random celebrity.

Bill Gates taught an introduction to a computer science course at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and rapper Kanye West taught a music class at Chicago State University.

Possible Problems

While students may scream the four-word phrase, the RHA is skeptical.

“The number one thing it comes down to is money,” Chou said.

Right now, there is no room for additional channels, said Chou.

“To invite another channel isn’t hard, but you have to bump another channel to bring one in,” he said.

One such example is Comcast Sports. In order to receive the channel, 10 others would have been dropped.

“It would have cost a third of our budget just to get one channel,” Chou said.

There is hope, however, for students who want the channel.

“All it needs is an overwhelming presence,” Chou said. “If the students really want mtvU, we’ll be able to represent that. The students just need to keep saying what they want.”

Students who want the channel can be the voice of their university by stating, “I want my mtvU.”

“All it takes is one person to show interest and we’re there,” Friedman said.

Such was the case at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

“Within a month of one student showing interest in the channel, we were wired into the campus,” Friedman said.

Students can express interest in mtvU by coming to hall council meetings at 9 p.m. Tuesday nights, by visiting the RHA Web site at www.niu.edu/rha or by filling out a request form at mtvu.com.