Students who have long missed out on their favorite Fox network programs will have the opportunity to receive them over satellite beginning next fall.
Fox will be available on cable in September, before the beginning of the football season, said Kelly Jones, customer service representative for Twin State Cable, which services New Hampshire and Vermont.
The network carries the popular programs "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Melrose Place" and "The Simpsons."
Although Fox is available to 95 percent of the country, there has never been an affiliate to serve New Hampshire and Vermont. The closest affiliate is Fox 25 in Boston.
The new Fox station, called FX, will be taken off a satellite. Twin State Cable does not know if the channel will carry national or regional news. Many Fox affiliates have both national and regional news broadcasts.
Recently the Fox network outbid CBS for the rights to broadcast beginning next season the National Football Conference games.
"We were negotiating with Fox before the NFL agreement," Jones said. "This came into play well before that happened."
The 1995 Class Council made getting Fox a priority this year, Vice President Alyse Kornfeld '95 said.
"We researched the possibilities and were prepared to do a signature petition drive to secure Twin State Cable's commitment to making Fox available here," Kornfeld said.
"When we spoke with Twin State, we were told that Fox was already coming," Kornfeld said. The cable company has agreed to make Fox available at the College by the start of the football season, she said.
Twin State Cable does not yet know what channel on the cable system will be given to the new station, Jones said.
Student reaction to the news of Fox's arrival was positive.
"Just about every show I watch is on Fox," Anna Ochoa '97 said. "Most other schools have it and we should too."
"Now I will have a reason to go to the television room," she said.
"I don't watch that much television, but I am very much for Fox coming here," Ben Herman '96 said.
