NYC Gazette

New Programming includes Café con Felo, a Talk Show Hosted by Chancellor Matos Rodríguez

And 100 Hours a Month of University-Created Content and Movies from NYC Film Festivals

CUNY TV, the public educational channel of the City University of New York, announced the launch of its new programming lineup for 2023, bringing more than 20 additional hours of University-created shows a week to the system’s television station. The revamped schedule includes the debut of “Café con Felo,” a talk show where CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez hosts conversations with leaders about the University’s impact on New York City.

The lineup includes a student-hosted show, “CUNY Uncut,” and a documentary show about the many CUNY Laureates past and present. It also features a wide array of programs from the University’s 25 colleges alongside special presentations of many of New York City’s local film festivals.

“CUNY TV is well-lauded for its ability to highlight what makes New York special, and it is with great pride that I am able to share our University’s story on the station alongside the high-quality programs on the new lineup,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez. “One of the greatest privileges I have as CUNY’s Chancellor is to tell as many people as will listen about the many ways in which our University lifts New York, and ‘Café con Felo’ is our latest way of letting everybody in on these conversations.”

“Our University views serving our great City as a critical part of its mission,” said CUNY Vice Chancellor for Communications and Marketing Maite Junco. “The latest offerings from our TV station leverage CUNY’s talented voices — our students and graduates, our faculty and staff, and even the Chancellor himself — to tell the stories that their neighbors want to hear. We are thankful to CUNY TV’s team for bringing this new vision to life.”

Café con Felo

“Café con Felo” features 30-minute fireside-style conversations with prominent New Yorkers about the University’s leading role as an engine of opportunity both for its students and for the city’s public and private business sectors. In the series premiere, Chancellor Matos Rodríguez — who goes by the nickname “Felo” — speaks to distinguished journalist Errol Louis, the host of NY1’s “Inside City Hall” and an adjunct professor at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.

The second episode features Association for a Better New York CEO Melva M. Miller, a three-time CUNY alumna who is earning a doctorate in social welfare from the CUNY Graduate Center. The following conversation will feature famed theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, professor at The City College of New York and the CUNY Graduate Center.

Each episode will include a question-and-answer portion where CUNY students are able to engage with the guest. “Café con Felo” will debut Friday, Feb. 17, and will air on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at 8 p.m.

The first episode of “Café con Felo” is available to watch on YouTube here.

Student Voices

CUNY TV is welcoming a wide array of student voices to the lineup. Exemplifying this effort is a new show, “CUNY Uncut,” an outgrowth of the University’s first-ever student podcast. Hosted by Hannah Kavanagh, a 2022 graduate of Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College who also serves as the show’s executive producer, the show sheds light on topics of interest to CUNY students by engaging in conversation with other students. CUNY TV will additionally air student speakers from sessions hosted by TEDxCUNY, a student-led idea-sharing hub and the University’s independent version of the TED Talks conference format.

The reimagining also includes the premiere of “CUNY Laureates,” a documentary series dedicated to showcasing CUNY graduates who went on to win major awards, including the 13 Nobel Laureates who attended the University. CUNY TV will also serve as the platform for more than 20 hours a week of additional University programming produced by John Jay College, the CUNY Graduate Center, Baruch College and City College, along with Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute and Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO).

“One of the first things I recognized when I joined CUNY TV was just how much the station and our CUNY colleges have to offer the New York City area,” said Chiqui Cartagena, who was appointed CUNY TV’s interim executive director last September. “Our staff works tirelessly to produce creative and impactful shows that all New Yorkers can enjoy and learn from, and we look forward to seeing how our refreshed lineup of programs can continue to resonate with the city’s many communities.”

One other new initiative launched by the station will bring more than 20 hours of content from New York’s film festivals to the weekend schedule. As part of this endeavor, the station will highlight the capabilities of CUNY’s student-filmmakers by airing student-produced documentaries and films.

New Partnerships

Cartagena, who came to the University with over 35 years of experience in media and communications, has led CUNY TV to forge partnerships with the New-York Historical Society, whose content includes American history videos that make history more accessible to the public, and the Association for a Better New York, airing the latter’s popular “Power Breakfast” speaker series. The station’s new programming lineup also includes dedicated time slots for many of its shows, allowing viewers to more easily locate their favorite shows. For a schedule of shows visit our website.

This programming lineup is part of the latest vision for CUNY TV, which has 35 New York Emmy Awards under its belt, including a record-matching seven earned last year.

CUNY TV is the City University of New York’s 24-hour television station and New York’s leading public educational media channel. Established in 1985, 

CUNY TV is committed to extending CUNY’s mission of providing a first-rate education to all students, regardless of means or background through relevant, meaningful and diverse programming that lifts all New Yorkers. The station reaches 7.3 million broadcast households in the New York metropolitan area from its studios at the CUNY Graduate Center. Programming includes 28 locally produced shows from CUNY TV staff and 100 hours a month of programs from CUNY’s 25 colleges and external partnerships. Program formats include magazine and studio shows, documentaries, student and faculty films, lectures, academic symposiums, artistic performances and more. CUNY TV is broadcast in the city’s five boroughs over the air on Ch. 25.3; and through cable signals with Spectrum and Optimum on Ch. 75; RCN on Ch. 77; and Verizon FiOS on Ch. 30 as well as on YouTube and Apple Podcasts. The station is the recipient of 35 New York Emmy® Awards as well as other prestigious industry honors including the Telly Awards and Communicator Awards.

The City University of New York is the nation’s largest urban public university, a transformative engine of social mobility that is a critical component of the lifeblood of New York City. Founded in 1847 as the nation’s first free public institution of higher education, CUNY today has seven community colleges, 11 senior colleges and seven graduate or professional institutions spread across New York City’s five boroughs, serving over 243,000 undergraduate and graduate students and awarding 55,000 degrees each year. CUNY’s mix of quality and affordability propels almost six times as many low-income students into the middle class and beyond as all the Ivy League colleges combined. More than 80 percent of the University’s graduates stay in New York, contributing to all aspects of the city’s economic, civic and cultural life and diversifying the city’s workforce in every sector. CUNY’s graduates and faculty have received many prestigious honors, including 13 Nobel Prizes and 26 MacArthur “Genius” Grants. The University’s historic mission continues to this day: provide a first-rate public education to all students, regardless of means or background.

Original source can be found here.