Various complaints about cable quality in the dorms led the United Hall Council to request nine new channels and improve service.

The channels, which include Cartoon Network, Disney, Spike TV, Entertainment network and Fox News, were chosen using data from a survey conducted last semester, said sophomore Helen Franckowiak, UHC president.

In the survey taken last semester, Franckowiak said students were willing to pay up to $15 extra for additional channels.

A new satellite also will be installed, which will improve reception on all channels, said Chuck Major, director of Housing and Residence Life.

The upgrade will cost about $10,000 more per year, Major said, which would turn out to be about $6.75 per room every month.

UW-Eau Claire does not use a local cable carrier. They have a system called Satellite Master Antennae TV. The university has been running its own cable for the past 30 years, Major said.

Eau Claire is one of the few colleges in the United States that still has its own system, he said.

Chancellors Hall director Peter Rejto said he was notified that the upgrade would take place sometime this afternoon. Cable service will be down for two or three hours.

It will take about two weeks to get everything changed over and the contracts with the networks finalized, Major said.

Rejto said he was sympathetic to what residents were saying about the quality of the cable.

“One part of housing is good customer service,” he said.

Adding channels and improving reception quality helps keep that service intact, Rejto said.

A few students have not heard anything about the new channels.

One of them, freshman Katherine White, a psychology major, said upon hearing about them, that she didn’t especially need the extra channels.

She was excited about Disney and said that the few extra bucks would be worth it to watch a few hours of Disney on Sunday morning. Improved reception would also make it worth the money, White said.

Sophomore Ben Jeffrey, a nursing major, also heard nothing about the new channels. Jeffrey said he watches only MTV and Comedy Central but the possibility of improved reception sounded good.

Although some students do not know about the new channels, it is a UHC initiative. Major said that the students in the survey voted the most for the Cartoon network and then for Disney.

Major said it is normal to add a few channels each year but this has not happened in the past few years because they were researching other options.

Research proved that SMATV is still the most affordable, and with that known, the new channels are being added, he said

“It is what the students asked for and I think they are getting a good deal.”