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Prospects get dimmer for Idaho Public Television digital-signal translators

By Brian Murphy - bmurphy@idahostatemsan.com

Published: 03/23/09


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Television viewers in several Treasure Valley communities might not be able to pick up a signal after the digital conversion in June — and Idaho Public Television’s plan to fill in those gaps ran into a major roadblock Monday.

The legislative budget-writing committee rejected a proposed $150,000 in the IPTV budget to cover matching funds for federal grants through the U.S. departments of commerce and agriculture. The grant money would have been used pay for the translator stations needed to carry IPTV's signal and cover the holes in digital coverage.

Peter Morrill, the general manager of IPTV, said he thought his organization would have a good chance of landing those grants.

“But at this point, I’m not sure what were going to do as we don’t have match money,” Morrill said. “With the general economy down, the options for looking for this size of match, I’m not sure where we’re going to look at this time. We may have to turn down the grant.”

The areas affected are:

• Idaho City

• Eastern and northeastern Emmett

• Boise Front

• Harris Ranch

• Glenns Ferry

• Mid-southern Wood River Valley

• Portneuf Valley

Sen. Jim Hammond, R-Coeur d’Alene, supported removing the $150,000 from the budget.

“I’m a fan of public television and it’s difficult for me to make this motion,” he said, but given the cuts the committee has already made, “We need to be careful with every dollar that we’ve got.”

Hammond said people who make the decision to move to rural areas are making certain sacrifices when it comes to certain services.

“Does the government always have to provide those?” Hammond said.

•••

Brian Murphy: 377-6444

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