After years of keeping Kent State students from doing their homework, the on-campus movie channel is coming to an anti-climactic ending.

At their general council meeting Tuesday night, Kent Interhall Council announced they would be shutting down Channel 10, Kent State’s on-campus movie and information channel. Channel 10 will continue to air movies throughout the rest of the spring semester, but it is expected to cease operations by next fall.

“We’re moving into the future, and right now we’re looking into providing other high quality multimedia services for students,” KIC President Scott McCallen said.

With the number of channels available on television in today’s world, people have the ability to see most of the movies Channel 10 plays, McCallen said. The movie channel is funded with activity fees billed to students living in the residence halls, which costs KIC an estimated $38,000 a year to keep it running.

“If they reallocate the money they were using for the movie channel in a way that is beneficial to students, then I don’t have a problem with it,” said Lisa Miskimen, junior international relations major.

Although KIC is in debt, McCallen did not consider finances a major reason for the channel’s termination. He cited other reasons for shutting down Channel 10. The most prominent one involved KIC’s Movie Channel Committee, the group responsible for determining what movies are played.

“There has been a lack of student participation in the movie committee,” McCallen said. “We’ve consistently tried to get people to participate.”

Another issue is the low quality of service. Channel 10 is still running off VHS, and McCallen said KIC has received numerous complaints about the sound and video quality.

“I watch it every once in a while, but (Channel 10) doesn’t really play any new movies,” Miskimen said. “I go to the video store more often.”

KIC is currently looking into alternatives to the movie channel, such as setting up a service for Kent State students that will allow them to download music and movies online.

“I think it’s a good move for KIC and the residence hall students to provide better services in the future,” McCallen said.

He said students concerned about the shut down of Channel 10 can voice their opinions to KIC, but he encouraged feedback on future alternatives.

“If they could get any of the movie channels that you can get on regular cable, like HBO, then I wouldn’t mind,” Kyle Olsen, sophomore psychology major, said.

Contact on-campus entertainment reporter Greg Kupetz at [email protected].