We’re Live

It’s 7:15 in the morning, and as the front office and Kennedy Commons begin to fill with the chatter of arriving students, one group is already hard at work. The assignment? Produce and broadcast a live television program that will air in homerooms throughout the school.

The program is the all-new CM TV. Three mornings a week, students such as Carson McCarthy ’26, Michael Holland ’27, and Max Lebedenko ’26 anchor a show with scripts written by Geoffrey Morse ’28 and Andrew MacDonald ‘26. In the nearby production room, CM TV advisor Michael Monroe manages the broadcasting software that adds graphics and overlays to each segment, while Donal McGurran ’27 serves as director and camera operator, signaling cues to the anchors and letting them know when they on the air.

“Media literacy is critical in our modern world, and CM TV allows students to learn how to communicate information to their peers in an engaging manner,” says CM Principal Mickey Corso, who spearheaded the revival of CM TV in 2024.

The show is a successor to the original CM TV, known as the Knightly News, which broadcasted daily updates and creative segments to the school community from 1991 to 2019. While the studio has changed and the program is now streamed instead of viewed on closed-circuit television—CM TV continues to give students an outlet to explore the communications field.

“As someone who is interested in creating digital media and photography, working behind the scenes for CM TV allowed me to explore those interests. Learning how to operate the live broadcast has led me to new opportunities like filming and producing the football livestream,” says McGurran.

Monroe oversees the show as news director, approving story ideas and assigning positions each week. A student who anchors one week may find himself writing scripts or pitching a segment idea the next. It's like a variety show where the Swiss Army knife approach applies to all and any who are involved.

Some of the program’s most creative moments have already become fan favorites. For the Halloween edition, the team used a green screen—and green shirts—to make McCarthy and Lebedenko appear as floating heads. In another episode, the anchors teased a video package for the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, only for one of them to be comically replaced by School President Adam Lewis, encouraging students to join the tradition.

“CM TV is a time when the whole school is focused on the same thing, so it’s an opportunity for our students to show their creativity,” says Monroe. “It’s great to do a one-off, but they also face the challenge of being creative day to day. It’s a chance for students to push themselves and not settle.”

CM TV airs internally at CM on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays from the new CM media center, located in the former CM TV studio.