The student television station The Volunteer Channel (UT campus cable 64; Comcast Digital Channel 194) was begun in 1998. The Student Government Association initially assisted in laying the groundwork for the station and paid for flyers and advertisements for the channel, but the station was independent from its beginning. The channel, which offers original programming, was the first HD channel broadcasting from East Tennessee when it began service in 2008. The SGA passed a bill supporting institutional funding for the Volunteer Channel in 2012.