There may be no such thing as bad publicity, but Triton Television has finally figured out the upside of a little good PR.

With the name of Student-Run Television nothing but a distasteful memory, TTV is wholly embracing their new status on the A.S. Council bandwagon. They’re so into their image of legitimacy, in fact, that although the council worked out a hefty list of “what not to air” into TTV’s charter last night, Station Manager Tom Dadourian couldn’t care less.

This lighthearted reception of a set of rules that could set other media orgs to rioting (there is a clause that obligates TTV to “avoid stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status” — enough to put a serious thorn in any satirical publication’s side) is probably due to the station’s unprecedented commercial success since its reincarnation.

Having reclassified themselves as an A.S. service and not a media org, they’re quite content to be working for The Man — and rightfully so. Unlike the rest of the campus orgs starving for A.S. funds, TTV is sitting pretty with more contracts and financial backing than they know what to do with.

Remember that diversity video, titled “Triton Voices,” that A.S. Council played during Welcome Week? Well, probably not. It was a 13-minute film featuring footage from last spring’s BSU protests and students and faculty from diverse backgrounds that was supposed to represent how “diverse” UCSD truly is. For that little number, TTV raked in $5,500 from Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Gary Ratcliff.

TTV is also contracting out film coverage to university departments and sponsors — and charging a pretty penny for the privilege. The station’s members don’t directly financially benefit from their productions, but they do charge clients $120 for production, $35 pre-production and $65 for post-production work. It’s nice to know there’s at least one university org that’s making bank.

While “Triton Voices” may have had an audience consisting entirely of those wide-eyed freshmen that show up eagerly to every  Welcome Week event — and it could hardly have held even their enthusiastic attention for long,  some of the other videos that emerge from the studio are pretty impressive. Their reel of the All-Campus Dance made the lackluster affair look almost EDC-worthy.

The flashing lights, cool angles and special effects should be enough to give it away, but just in case: This is not SRTV. The days of SRTV’s live talk shows and Koala TV are now only stuff of legend and PR nightmares.

It would be one thing if there was anything to censor. However, TTV members haven’t shown interest in producing shows with comedy or social commentary. Instead they’ve stuck to commissioned PR pieces — nothing groundbreaking, it’s true, and certainly nothing that will guarantee Koala levels of outraged publicity, but who says they need to be controversial, outspoken and risqué to be successful?

The latest issue of the Koala proved that just because you’re uncensored doesn’t mean you’re funny — or even remotely clever. It would be one thing if there were creative, cutting-edge comedians that wanted to push the line, but when there aren’t, insisting on controversy for the sake of being controversial is just desperate.

After last year’s Koala TV debacle — in which Koala Editor in Chief Kris Gregorian infamously called the Black Student Union “ungrateful niggers,” earning the Koala and then-SRTV alike a protest’s worth of enemies — TTV has turned over a new leaf. SRTV got its start as a television channel made for the students, by the students. However, after SRTV lost its charter and its name last spring, it became Triton Television: a channel by the students for the A.S. Council. And working as A.S. Council’s right-hand flunky might not be such a bad thing for TTV.

TTV classifies themselves as a pre-professional business with members that genuinely want to enter the film industry. They’re not interested in creating scandal or starting riots — their newfound goal is to have their work reflect that of professionals and give their members experience.

TTV is raking in the dough from A.S. Council and big name sponsors like Red Bull, Amped and Truck Covers USA, all while producing quality work. Gold star for you, TTV.

If anything, TTV is proof that choosing the path of most resistance isn’t always the best way to get ahead. While it might not be as edgy or badass — and it definitely isn’t for everyone — cooperation does work. And when you’re looking at four-figure paychecks, it’s hard to remember why you wanted to call people names .in the first place.