Apogee Restores the CW to UMW Campus

By EMILY MONTGOMERY

Gossip Girl is back.

After a period in which students had not been receiving the television channel the CW, which hosts “Gossip Girl,” it is available again.

Joseph McMahon, Apogee support technician for the university, reported Tuesday on his blog that all students should be able to get it.
“We activated a new DirecTV receiver, which is used to broadcast the CW to the campus,” said McMahon on his blog. “There should not be any major additional issues with the CW.”

The CW features popular shows such as “America’s Next Top Model,” “90210” and “One Tree Hill,” along with “Gossip Girl.”

UMW gets television through both DirecTV and through antennas, according to McMahon. Having the over-the-air broadcast through antennas also allows students with HDTVs to receive free HD channels.

McMahon explained that the CW station in D.C., WDCW, had to change how they were broadcasting their signal when they switched from standard to digital.

“As a result,” he said, “Mary Wash became just outside of the range of getting a usable signal, which is why it ‘kind of’ worked for a while.”
Many students were affected by the loss of the CW.

“I was outraged,” Michelle Sutherland, a freshman, said. “I almost cried because we were going to have our weekly Gossip Girls party, but the CW was gone!”

Freshman Jill Burke agreed. She was mad that the channel had disappeared this Monday after they had access to it last week.
Other students didn’t have the same reaction.

“I just don’t really watch any of the shows on that channel,” senior Gina Rhodes said.

If students are still not getting the CW, they should be able to get it by doing a channel scan on their television, according to McMahon.

For more information, go to apogee.umwblogs.org.