Montclair State University

Department Productions

Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem Contact: Patricia Piroh (973) 655-5158

CARPE DIEM is an award-winning weekly half-hour magazine show produced by the Department of Broadcasting at Montclair State University. The program airs on Comcast and Cablevision in northern New Jersey. Awarded the 1996 CTN CAPE Award for Best Series, and three Gracie Awards for student productions in 2001 and 2002, Carpe Diem has covered a wide range of topics of interest to New Jersey, including a segment on the Jersey Devil, Weird New Jersey, Amandla Crossing, and New Jersey filmmaker Tom Cudworth, as well as topics featuring many campus events and activities. The show has also featured such guests as Ernestine Schlant Bradley, Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Steve Adubato of Caucus, New Jersey, jazz singer Ruth Brown, and Tony award-winner Melba Moore, an alumna of MSU. Apart from these programs, faculty member and Emmy award-winner Dr. Bill Berlin has produced and hosted several Carpe Diem episodes including those featuring former Congressman Peter Rodino and writer Tony Hiss.

In addition to providing a service to the northern New Jersey television community, Carpe Diem provides broadcasting majors with rigorous weekly production activity that simulates that of the broadcasting profession. During the course of a semester, students produce a minimum of fifteen programs, often more. Apart from producing their own works, it is not uncommon for students, by the time they have graduated, to have production credits for as many as 25 to 30 programs.

Carpe Diem reaches about a half million households in New Jersey and is produced at the DuMont Television Center at MSU.

Airing on the Broadcasting Dept's weekly show, CARPE DIEM from November 19 - December 4, 2009:

Behind the Scenes of Music Programming

"Preparation is the key to being good at this job, " says Associate Producer/Editor Janet Shapiro. Shapiro and Emmy-award winning producer Phillip Byrd formed Brandenburg Productions, creating international music programming which varies from small venues like Preservation Hall in New Orleans to major symphony orchestras. They speak of the rewards and challenges of working with international crews, coping with bad weather, and how editing can enhance production: "You can cover up an awful lot of sins in post-production." Their advice to students? Watch TV critically, not just for entertainment, and "get to know about a lot of different things, get to know about music, get to know about books, get to know about science, and don't just learn cameras and editing, get passionate about a subject."

This episode was produced and hosted by Jeff Friedman of the DuMont Television Center and directed by Broadcasting major Greg Addo.

Barring pre-emption, the show is scheduled to air on the following stations this week:

Comcast channel 26: Tuesday 9 pm
Clifton Cable TV channel 77: Tuesday & Friday 10:30 pm
Edison Channel 15: TBA
Montclair Channel 34:TBA

or, you may view CARPE DIEM on our MSU Broadcasting website:

The show will also be airing on Cablevision the week of 11/30 - 12/4:

Cablevision: Bergen: channel 77 : Monday 5 pm
Cablevision: Oakland: channel 76 : Tuesday 3 pm (note new day)
Cablevision: Morris: channel 21 : Wednesday 5:00 pm
Cablevision: Paterson: channel 75 : Wednesday 5:30 pm (note new time)

Watch a current

Carpe Diem episode