Cable 13 and was one of the first all student-run television stations in the nation, and was founded in 1976 by Duke seniors Jed Daly and David Frey, who raised an initial budget of $20,000 from the Sloan Foundation, Cable 13ers soon went on to win four Telly Awards for “Excellence in College Broadcasting.” Despite moderate funding and the lack of a communications major, Cable 13 served as the largest student-run television station in the United States until 2003.
In its first years Cable 13 shot with borrowed equipment and broadcast in black and white. Its early offerings included a Jimmy Buffett performance at Cameron Indoor Stadium and several live feeds of Duke basketball games. Competing with five other channels at Duke, Cable 13 attracted a segment of the student audience. In the mid-1990s Cable 13’s soap opera Ivy Tower won numerous awards and was picked up by other college stations. In fact, Ivy Tower (produced by Stephen Zapotoczny, producer of ‘We Were Soldiers’) was broadcast by over 60 college stations in the nation in 1995.
In 1995, Cable 13 renovated its facilities and began using the television broadcasting industry’s standard digital equipment. As a result, ESPN and Jefferson Pilot Sports asked Cable 13 to provide sporting-event highlights, and the National Association of College Broadcasting called Cable 13 a “model station.” Dan Abrams, the chief legal correspondent for NBC News, former host of “The Abrams Report,” and the current General Manager of MSNBC, anchored occasional newscasts aired on Cable 13 when he was at Duke. Sports Illustrated reporter Seth Davis (also one of three in-studio hosts for March Madness along with Greg Gumbel and Clark Kellogg) and ESPN’s Jay Bilas have produced and hosted shows for Cable 13. Many celebrities have appeared on Duke Student Broadcasting, including Adam Sandler, Kevin Nealon and Mike Krzyzewski.
In 2005, Duke’s University Archives began to house all of Cable 13’s early programming and documentation, including video tapes and news clippings. The tapes include interviews with William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Terry Sanford, as well as cultural and sporting events. Programming after 1982 is still housed on site at the Duke Student Broadcasting studio.
Cable 13 celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2006. Led by Lawrence Gan and Orcun Unlu, the student-run TV station began a three-year project called the “Winds of Change”, which included recruitment, marketing, design, the switch to 24/7 programming, free blockbuster movies, new equipment, and total revamp of the studios to meet current technology demands.
In 2009, the student-run TV station began hosting a House Course for academic credit, catering to students interested in television production. The course taught by Stephanie Shyu resulted in a live weekly newscast that aired on the channel.