The Daily Pennsylvanian is a student-run nonprofit.

Please support us by disabling your ad blocker on our site.

Sex and the City, The Sopranos and Six Feet Under can be seen on a TV near you -- for now.

Penn Video Network, the University's cable television and special events video network, has decided once again to offer the option of a Home Box Office package featuring both HBO and HBO2 to students living in on-campus housing this year.

But the future availability of the package is in jeopardy after disappointing subscription returns following last year's decision to begin offering the premium channel.

Working with Information Services and Computing, Penn Video Network decided to test the waters with a pilot program last year.

The decision came after years of student requests for HBO, including a petition last year sponsored by the Undergraduate Assembly signed by 40 percent of the student body who said they were willing to pay for the channel if given the opportunity.

Officials struggled with how to bill students for premium channels, but after joining with ISC, PVN had the ability to monitor the student use through telephone services, making HBO at Penn a reality.

HBO was offered free of charge for a trial period of several weeks last December to students in on-campus housing.

During this time period, an application was available online at the PVN Web site for students to sign up for HBO at the reduced price of $50 per outlet for the semester.

After the free trial period ended, service was cancelled to all students except those who signed up for the premium channels.

And despite the fact that 40 percent said they were willing to pay, subscriptions among the student body failed to meet the expectations of PVN.

"The number of subscriptions was lower than our more optimistic outlook would have liked," said PVN Video Producer Chris Cook. "We were surprised -- it was a bit on the low side."

PVN declined to provide precise subscription numbers.

The network's explanations for the poor response ranged from lack of publicity to problems with presenting HBO as an option in the middle of the semester, resulting in an incomplete turnout.

This year PVN decided to try again and changed their approach.

PVN Video Services Coordinator Mayumi Hirtzel said, "We wanted to see if [offering the service for] a full year would make a difference."

PVN started to promote awareness early in the year. Publicity at New Student Orientation helped draw attention to the HBO package option with a sign-up form at the services fair.

"We thought this way we would be better able to penetrate the student body as a whole," Hirtzel said.

PVN also tried a different approach in the options available to students wishing to sign up for the premium package. Students could sign up for the full academic year or for the fall and spring semesters on a separate basis.

Initial response, though, has been roughly the same as last year, once again failing to meet expectations.

"We haven't quite reached the numbers we were looking for," Hirtzel admitted. "But students can still sign up for the spring semester so we might see a balance in numbers."

Poor student response could mean the end of HBO at Penn.

"We are really going to have to seriously evaluate offering HBO next year," Hirtzel said. "We will have to look very closely at the pros and cons, and the costs versus the value to the students."

Student response to the premium package is mixed.

"I don't watch TV that much, and if I was going to watch something it would probably be ESPN," College freshman Jonathan Perrelle said. "HBO costs extra money, so it would basically be pointless."

"We missed the deadline," College freshman Ashley Smith lamented. "Plus, I think PVN already has a lot of good movies."

"Anyway," she added, "really the only thing we miss is Sex and the City."

Comments powered by Disqus

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.