Live from North Andover, It’s MCTV!

By Jack Dollase

MCTV is Merrimack College’s student-run television studio, which operates on a YouTube Channel, where students work together to create videos and post them on the channel. MCTV is more than “just” a studio – it is also one of the most important clubs at Merrimack. Their mission is as follows: “MCTV strives to keep the Merrimack Community informed of what is going on around campus, from school events to sports news, through the use of digital media and news shows.” (Warrior Network) 

In its early years, MCTV was primarily focused on creating small-scale videos, such as sports highlights, campus interviews (question on the quad), or skits (police logs). Andrew Daume, MCTV’s current President, gave his perspective on the club’s past works: “There were a lot of phone videos, cell phone videos, that we edited, and some of it was Premiere, a lot of it was iMovie, just the very basic stuff.” 

Additionally, MCTV struggled to maintain consistent membership, as there was little interest from the student body in what they were doing. Andrew describes how, in his sophomore year, MCTV was having trouble staying as a club, as the many seniors running it had graduated. This propelled him to become the club’s vice president and eventually, the president. 

From humble beginnings with a small number of students and outdated equipment, MCTV is now thriving on campus. The key to this change has a name: Chuck Scott. Chuck joined Merrimack College as the director of the media center in the Spring of 2024 and became the new faculty advisor for MCTV. 

Chuck’s first impressions of MCTV were that it was a lot of students who wanted to do bigger things, but knew they did not know how to do so, on a technical level. 

With an extensive background in production, Chuck saw an opportunity for the club to grow through the use of live streaming. He mentions, when discussing this with a student, asking “‘Well, are you guys live streaming?’ And they said, ‘Oh, we don’t know how to.’ And I was kind of floored by that answer, I guess. And I was like, ‘it just takes OBS.’ And then, you know, the next comment is, ‘what’s OBS?’”

During the following summer, Chuck took key steps to enable Merrimack to do live streaming, including acquiring new technology such as higher-end cameras and microphones, as well as installing OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) in the TV studio. He also conducted practice runs with students in MCTV, teaching them how to use OBS for live streaming and explaining how all the technology works. 

Chuck emphasizes that he uses a student-centric approach to teaching and mentoring: “Let’s set the playground up and allow the students to play with the tools that they’ll be using. And then through that osmosis, they’ll start to learn more and grasp more and take more responsibility and ownership.”

In practice runs, the students mastered the basics, including exposure, framing, audio, and lighting, which are key components of any modern form of media. He emphasized that while the media may change frequently, those basics never do. Once one has a strong understanding of the fundamentals, one can start to experiment with these tools to create one’s own style of media. 

In Fall 2024, at the club’s first meeting of the semester, Chuck raised the stakes for MCTV by introducing the monthly live show: a format that involves creating four segments from events around campus and compiling them all into a live show presented by on-air talent, streamed to the club’s YouTube channel.

When the live show idea was introduced, the club’s members were concerned, as many of them had never attempted something of this scale before. While they now had the equipment, such as cameras, tripods, and microphones, many of them didn’t even know the steps to take to film background footage (b-roll) with a higher-end camera.

With the first show looming, the students were worried about whether they could actually pull it off. Chuck wasn’t worried and told students not to stress about the outcome; have fun along the way, and just make it to the shoot. He also emphasized “We don’t have to have things perfected here for this to be deemed successful. And so that’s a big part of it is, you know, those expectations are in a spot that we still can have fun because if there are mistakes, again, no one’s dying.”

With Chuck’s advice and direction, the club scrambled to find and create segments and pulled off their first live show on October 3, 2024. This was a mere month after he introduced the idea. While the show didn’t go smoothly, with missing audio and occasional technical difficulties, it instilled a lot of confidence in the club members, proving that it could be done

The club has continued to produce live shows every month since, gradually improving each time. The live show format became a stepping stone for many other creative outlets for students, bringing enhanced opportunities to connect with the community. 

The monthly shows capture moments, both big and small, on campus, based on what club members bring forth. “It’s all what students want to do and pretty much everything that’s solely MCTV is for students, by students” says Andrew. 

Additionally, as people began to become more familiar with the technology used, students began experimenting with their own ideas for videos. One example of this is Warrior Films, which was recently created this past year. Headed by MCTV member Sonia Behdaoui, this is a team dedicated to making short films, involving all the processes of making a film, such as writing, shooting, editing, and more. 

Another new venture taken by the club is their live pre-game shows, where a group of students run their own show before an on-campus sports game, including packages, analytics, and occasional interviews with players and coaches. This format debuted February of this year, when Chuck’s interns – with me serving as the producer – had the amazing opportunity to host the first pre-game show for a Men’s Basketball game in Lawler Arena.

The show featured two on-air talents with several packages, including an interview with star player Adam “Budd” Clark, conducted by yours truly. Although we experienced some hiccups, the show was a massive success, garnering praise from Athletics, and MCTV has utilized this model for numerous pre-game shows throughout the fall semester. 

Andrew describes the hiring of Chuck and the introduction of the live show format as bringing in an influx of students to the club. This, in turn, allows students to put on consistent shows every month and continue to expand their skills.

At the end of the day, MCTV is creating entertainment for students while also helping to prepare club members for the world beyond Merrimack. Chuck adds to this idea: “We are building the resume for our students in a way that has real impact long term for the career, short term in terms of the skills gained. And overall, the student experience improves greatly on campus through that.”

The future is bright for the club heading into 2026. MCTV continues to cover on-campus events, offering creative outlets for students and seeking new opportunities to grow as a club. The ultimate goal is to help ensure students feel seen and heard, and that they matter. Andrew’s parting words are “Join MCTV, because the more people we have, the more we can do!”

Check out MCTV on their YouTube Channel, as well as their Instagram page, to see all their amazing content!

Social Media

Instagram post to tease the story (Photo credit: John Dollase, 2025)

Alt Text: A table and two tall chairs are set up with a TV in between them with red and green lights in the background. There is text saying “Live From North Andover, It’s MCTV” above and a link to the story below.

Video for Instagram that shows behind-the-scenes of an MCTV Live Show. (Video credit: John Dollase, 2025)

Video for Facebook or YouTube showing MCTV’s control room during a live show, with various members inhabiting different roles. (Video credit: John Dollase, 2025)

[Captions: Sonia: “One minute.” Matt: “One minute.”]