Southeastern Channel named best in the nation
Thursday, November 12, 2015 
by: Tonya Lowentritt
FIRST IN THE NATION- For the second straight year, the Southeastern Channel has been named first in the nation by College Broadcasters, Inc. at the National Student Production awards. The channel also won first place in the “Public Service Announcement” category and National Finalist recognition as one of the top four in the country for “Best Video Promo.” Pictured, from left, are Rick Settoon, Channel general manager; Kristen Roussel of Hester, first-place national winner for her PSA; Danielle Shearer of Hammond, national finalist for her promo; and Steve Zaffuto, Southeastern Channel operations manager and advanced video production instructor.
HAMMOND – For the second straight year, the Southeastern Louisiana University television
station has been named first in the nation by College Broadcasters, Inc. at the 2015
National Student Production Awards held recently in Minneapolis.
The Southeastern Channel has now won National Finalist recognition 11 times for
productions ranked in the top four in the nation.
“Save Water,” a public service announcement produced by Southeastern senior Kristen
Roussel of Hester, was named the country’s best at the awards ceremony. The production
won first place in the “Best Video Public Service Announcement” category.
This year there were 897 entries in the competition from universities across
the country.
Last year the Southeastern Channel won first place in the nation for a student
documentary, “McCrea 1971: Louisiana’s Forgotten Rock Festival”, produced by history
students Nicholas Brilleaux and Scott Caro.
Along with Roussel’s winning PSA, the Southeastern Channel was named a 2015 National
Finalist as one of the top four in the country for “Best Video Promo.” The winning
promotional spot was for the student sportscast, “The Big Game,” produced by senior
Danielle Shearer of Hammond.
“It’s a great honor for our students to be recognized as best in the nation for
the second straight year,” said Channel General Manager Rick Settoon. “Kristen and
Danielle are incredibly creative and talented, and they work hard to produce a very
high standard of quality. Their spots look professionally-produced. You’d never
know they were made by students.”
Roussel’s “Save Water” PSA is about water conservation and its effect on the
environment and ecosystem.
“Some people don’t realize how much water they use on a daily basis,” Roussel
said. “Washing clothes only with a full load, taking showers instead of baths, and
turning off the water when brushing your teeth are all ways that we can save water.”
Roussel and Shearer are communication majors who produced the spots for an advanced
video production course in the Electronic Media concentration of the Department of
Languages and Communication.
“Studying at the Southeastern Channel has helped me learn the importance of camera
angles, lighting and timely editing,” Roussel said. “I incorporated a lot of what
I learned into filming and editing my PSA.”
The Southeastern Channel has won over 200 national, international, and regional
awards in the last 12 years, including 12 Emmys. The Channel airs in 90,000 households
on the North Shore with a potential viewing audience of 250,000 on Charter Cable 199.
Its live 24/7 webcast and video on demand are viewed in 46 states and 47 countries
monthly at www.southeastern.edu/tv.
