Peter Morrill, who is general manager of Idaho Public Television, represented public television stations nationwide when he spoke about digital transition issues to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce last week.

Morrill spoke about the needs of TV viewers as the June 12 transition to digital-only broadcast for high-power stations approaches. He advocated for in-home assistance, particularly for the elderly.

"Other top priorities should be telephone and walk-in help centers staffed with well-trained personnel ready to help with location- and station-specific issues," he said.

Morrill noted that Idaho is one of those states with challenging geography for broadcasters. Both analog and digital signals have difficulty reaching homes in some mountainous areas of the state.

Idaho Public Television has identified seven areas of Idaho where it expects to lose viewers after the digital conversion June 12: Idaho City, east side of Emmett, the Boise front, Boise's Harris Ranch area, Glenns Ferry, and the Wood River and Portneuf valleys.

Morrill has been working to obtain federal grants to pay for the installation of six translators to serve those seven areas. But there have been major setbacks, including a rejection by the state Legislature's Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee of IPTV's request for $150,000 in funds to match a hoped-for federal grant.

Another federal grant that IPTV has applied for does not require state matching funds, so there's a possibility that funding will come through for three of the six translator stations.

Morrill said the public stations have a need for increased federal funding to make up for reductions from other sources, including individual contributions, corporate underwriting, foundation and state support.

He told the Congressional committee that Idaho Public Television is projecting that the state will reduce IPTV's fiscal year operating funding by nearly $300,000 from the previous year, and will eliminate a $1.1 million request for capital equipment for the last major piece of the statewide digital conversion.

"We ask for the support of members of this authorizing committee for increased federal funding so that public television may weather this economic typhoon and continue to provide innovative public media content and outreach to help all Americans do the same," Morrill told the committee.