Joseph Iuliano Jr., former general manager of HillTV, stepped down from his position Monday citing a need to focus on his school work and a desire to return to production and behind-the-camera work.

Iuliano, the general manager since January of last year, said that running the 200-person television network and keeping his grade point average up was just too much. He wanted to step down before the semester progressed too far.

‘A lot of people give a lot of their lives to [the program],’ Iuliano said. ‘I just realized that I didn’t need this much pressure on me. It’s taxing on your mind, your body and especially your grades.’

Iuliano’s resignation coincided with the resignation of Bob Hand and Brian Carberry, producers of the weekly show ‘Four Downs,’ formerly known as ‘Syracuse Sideline.’ Hand and Carberry had exchanged heated e-mails with a producer over control of the show’s content, and it was eventually determined that both Hand and Carberry would step down, Iuliano said.

A computer technician with HillTV is also looking into possible e-mail fraud with the e-mail account of sports producer Angelo Di Carlo, said Matthew Herman, the assistant general manager and chief engineer. Although an e-mail was sent from Di Carlo’s account giving his resignation, Herman said Di Carlo is still sports producer with the network. Di Carlo declined to comment.

The feud was mainly an emotional escalation, Iuliano said, which occasionally happens between workers who are also peers.

‘There’s issues with creativity. Sometimes they can be burdensome, but a lot of time they can end up being productive in the end,’ Iuliano said.

Hand and Carberry decided to step down themselves, something they would have done anyway. Second semester seniors at HillTV are not allowed to stay on the production staff in order to get new students in and make sure production levels stay high.

‘Everybody talked about it and they had to determine what was best for the show,’ Iuliano said. ‘It’s the nature of show business. These conflicts are creative differences – It’s just a cycling of the guard.’

Hand, Carberry and Iuliano’s resignations and the Di Carlo e-mail was simply a coincidence.

‘It was a one-show problem,’ Iuliano said. ‘It’s just coincidental that it is happening now.’

Associate producer Eric Oberland and Brian Perkins, both juniors, will now run the production of ‘Four Downs.’

Herman has taken over Iuliano’s responsibilities while the search for a new general manager is conducted. A few candidates from HillTV’s executive staff have expressed interest in the position, Herman said, but the search process will not begin until at least next week.

‘(HillTV) is where the majority of my friends are from,’ Iuliano said. ‘I’m just trying to back away from the front lines. The transition will be smooth, but it will take time.’

Iuliano said the future for HillTV looks bright with upgrades in production technology as well as a new set that has made the network look more professional. Currently all of HillTV’s programming is available only through the Internet, but plans exist to expand programming on the new Orange TV Network and a new contract with Time Warner Cable to air their weekly 30-minute program ‘On The Bench,’ a show similar to Sportscenter but focused on SU sports.

The program will air two Fridays from now and every week thereafter at 11 p.m.

‘That is one of the greatest accomplishments of this station – that this show will get broadcasted to 400,000 televisions across the region.’ Herman said of ‘On The Bench’s’ future airing.

Aside from the resignations, all other shows are on schedule, Herman said.

‘All the other shows from every department have been operating on schedule,’ he said. ‘Schedules haven’t been affected or changed at all.’

Published on September 22, 2004 at 12:00 pm