Cable TV

Cable television for Morningside residence halls and administrative buildings.

Beginning in the Fall 2021 semester, CUIT will be phasing out the wired cable TV service ("legacy CUtv") and replacing it with a streaming cable service ("SpectrumU").

SpectrumU (streaming cable TV)
  • Watch live TV on your computer via the Spectrum website at https://www.spectrum.net/tv (select Sign in to SpectrumU at bottom) or on your mobile device with the SpectrumU streaming app (Apple Store or Google Play). See full setup instructions for details and Roku/AppleTV options.
  • Immediately available at no cost to all undergraduate students living within the CU Undergraduate Housing locations.
  • Available to new subscribers in administrative and academic spaces on the Morningside and Manhattanville campuses. Columbia staff should submit a ticket to request SpectrumU.
  • Not available in Columbia Residential, with an exception for undergraduate students who reside in Columbia Residential-managed apartments.
Legacy CUtv (wired cable TV)
  • Also known as CATV, Cable, CUtv
  • Provided in undergraduate housing common spaces, and in academic and administrative buildings on Columbia's Morningside campus.
  • This legacy service will be decommissioned in the near future. No new subscriptions to this service are available. CUIT will assist current administrative and academic subscribers with the migration to the SpectrumU streaming service.

Supported locations

  • SpectrumU streaming is available to all undergraduate students living within CU Undergraduate Housing via the SpectrumU streaming app on a mobile device or via https://www.spectrum.net/tv on a computer.
  • Legacy CUtv is provided in the residential areas of certain undergraduate housing locations. Please contact the Hospitality Desk in Hartley Hall for the most up-to-date list of locations. CUtv is not available in individual rooms.

CUIT will be decommissioning the legacy CUtv service in the following buildings:

  • Dodge Physical Fitness Center
  • Earl Hall
  • Hamilton
  • Jerome Green
  • Kraft Center
  • Lerner
  • Lewisohn
  • Low Library
  • IAB
  • S.W. Mudd
  • Uris
  • W. C. Warren Hall
  • W. & J. Warren Hall
  • School of Social Work

Undergraduate students living in Columbia Residential at 600 West 113th Street are eligible for the SpectrumU service.

Pricing

For residents of Lenfest Hall, a subscription for legacy CUtv service is available for $115.00/semester (spring or fall) and $90.00 for the summer. 

To subscribe, please fill out the subscription form, and sign, date and submit it to CUIT as an attachment to a service ticket to make a request. You can find your PID number by logging into Student Services Online. Installation and service activation should be complete within 5-10 business days.

SpectrumU 

  • Streaming cable service subscription: $34.00/month

CUtv

  • Legacy wired cable service subscription: $34.00/month
  • Network Support Services labor charge: $121.20/hour

SpectrumU setup and channels

    1. Download SpectrumU (not simply Spectrum!) from the Apple Store or Google Play.
    2. Open the app and enter columbia.edu and click Submit.
    3. Sign in using your UNI and UNI password, and authenticate with Duo to complete your login.
    4. Select Watch TV to open SpectrumU and see current offerings.
      If you are not connected to Columbia wifi, you may see a Connect to Campus Wifi for More Channels banner; when you are off-campus, you will only have access to a subset of the full channels available on the Columbia network.
    1. Navigate to https://watch.spectrum.net/.
    2. Do not fill your username and password here. Scroll the bottom of the Sign In to Get Started window, and select on Sign In to SpectrumU.
    3. Enter columbia.edu in the school domain field, and select Submit.
    4. Log in using your UNI and UNI password, and authenticate with Duo to complete your login.
    5. After login, you’ll be redirected back to https://watch.spectrum.net/. Select Continue to open SpectrumU.
      If you are not connected to Columbia wifi, you may see a Connect to Campus Wifi for More Channels banner; when you are off-campus, you will only have access to a subset of the full channels available on the Columbia network.

    There is only one Roku app for Spectrum TV, which is used for both Residential Spectrum and SpectrumU.

    1. Go to the Roku Channel Store and download the Spectrum TV app (there will not be a specific SpectrumU app).
    2. Open the app and you will see the Let's Get Started activation screen. From a computer or smartphone, visit https://watch.spectrum.net/activate, enter the activation code that’s displayed on the Roku and select Submit.
    3. Enter columbia.edu in the school domain field, and select Submit.
    4. If you're on campus (using the Columbia campus internet network), it will automatically allow you to sign in to Spectrum U using your UNI credentials and Duo.

      If you're off-campus (not connected to a Columbia-approved network), select Help Signing In, then choose Sign In With SpectrumU and login with your UNI credentials and Duo.

    5. After login, you’ll be redirected back to the activation page. Select Accept to open SpectrumU.
      If you are not connected to Columbia wifi, you may see a Connect to Campus Wifi for More Channels banner; when you are off-campus, you will only have access to a subset of the full channels available on the Columbia network.

    SpectrumU can be installed on all fourth and fifth-generation devices and tvOS version 12.0 or newer.
    1. Go to the Apple TV App Store and download the SpectrumU TV app (not simply Spectrum!).
    2. Open the app and you will see the Let's Get Started activation screen. From a computer or smartphone, visit watch.spectrum.net/activate, enter the activation code that’s displayed on the Apple TV and select Submit.
    3. Enter columbia.edu in the school domain field, and select Submit.
    4. If you're on campus (using the Columbia campus internet network), it will automatically allow you to sign in to Spectrum U using your UNI credentials and Duo.

      If you're off-campus (not connected to a Columbia-approved network), select Help Signing In, then choose Sign In With SpectrumU and login with your UNI credentials and Duo.

    5. After login, you’ll be redirected back to the activation page. Select Accept to open SpectrumU.
      If you are not connected to Columbia wifi, you may see a Connect to Campus Wifi for More Channels banner; when you are off-campus, you will only have access to a subset of the full channels available on the Columbia network.

    Legacy CUtv setup, channels, and troubleshooting

    1. Use your original TV remote control and owner's manual. Universal remotes do not often work for the setup process. You must get your remote from the manufacturer to avoid other problems.

    2. Before plugging in your TV, connect one end of the coaxial cable to the round cable outlet in the wall. (Coaxial cables are available in any audio/video store and also in many hardware stores.)

    3. Connect the other end of the cable to the back of your TV into the RF connection. The plug should be labeled CABLE or RF IN or VHF.

    4. Plug in your TV and position it where you want it to be. Turn on the TV.

    5. You may need to set your TV to recognize the cable signal since many TVs are set to receive antenna signals by default. If you have your manual, check to find out exactly how your TV set is supposed to be programmed. Your manual should be able to give you the best instructions because it will be talking about your specific TV. If you do not have your manual, then use your remote and follow the instructions below. Note: Some TVs detect a cable signal automatically so that all you have to do is plug in the coaxial cable, turn the set on, and follow the on-screen prompts.

    6. If you need to change the settings to cable, use your remote control to select the MENU or SETUP button somewhere on your remote. If you don't have a MENU or SETUP button, try a button that looks promising until you get an option screen. The menu should allow you to choose between ANTENNA and CABLE. Variations on ANTENNA may include ANT, AIR or NORMAL and CABLE might be labeled CATV.

    7. Change the setting to CABLE (or CATV) by moving the cursor to CABLE or cycling through a list of options until CABLE is visible, then pressing ENTER or EXECUTE.

    8. Make sure CABLE is stored in the TV's memory. To test it, after selecting CABLE, exit completely from the menu by pushing MENU again, then go back into the menu and see if CABLE is still highlighted. If it is, then it was selected properly.

    9. Now that you have your TV set up to receive a cable signal, all that remains is to scan and store your channels. This process stores the channels of our channel lineup into your TV's memory and deletes from memory any unused or inactive channels.

    10. AUTOPROGRAM is usually one of the menu options available after selecting CABLE. Or, there may be a button on your remote which says AUTOPROGRAM, CH.SCAN, or AUTOSCAN, or something similar.

    11. Once you have selected or pressed AUTOPROGRAM, your screen will probably go blank or turn blue, and will begin cycling through the channels. Usually TVs are cable-ready for up to 125 channels, so allow the TV scan to finish without interrupting the process in order to get all of the channels available.

    Please check that your cable-ready TV is programmed for cable and not for antenna input. Some TVs have switches on the back, but most use the remote control to access "Main Menu" setup functions.

    If you are still having problems such as partial channel reception, snow or static, submit a ticket to the CUIT Service Desk.

    FAQ

    SpectrumU: DVR service is not available to subscribers.

    Legacy CUtv: Set top boxes and DVRs are not offered to legacy subscribers.