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/ 01.25.2010 12:00AM
Idaho Public TV Station Faces Annihilation
MOSCOW, IDAHO: The University of Idaho is in danger of losing
it’s PBS member station, KUID-TV, local press reports indicate. The state’s
governor, Butch Otter, has proposed budget cuts that would eliminate funding
for the Idaho Public TV system, which now operates KUID, (pictured left). Around $1.5 million of
IPTV’s $7 million operating budget is contributed by the state government,
according to the Idaho
Statesman. By comparison, the Idaho Statehouse recently underwent a $120
million restoration. The bonds are to be repaid through a cigarette tax, the Statesman said.
Peter Morrill, general manager of IPTV, told The Argonaut that a loss of state funding would result in laying
off about one-third of the staff and closure of three of its facilities. IPTV
has five full-power transmitters and 42 translators covering around 97 percent
of Idaho’s population. The network’s local programming includes the only full
coverage of the state legislature.
Support for the IPTV budget cuts is not strictly a matter of political
affiliation. The governor, a Republican, wants to pull funding. Lt. Gov. Brad
Little is a supporter, but he noted that a new $50 million education network
connecting classrooms in the state via broadband makes schools less reliant on
IPTV.
The station has had a rocky relationship with lawmakers, the Statesman said. It
produced two investigative documentaries in the 1970s that motivated the
legislature to cut funding for public television. Idaho residents objected, and
funding was partially restored. Subsequent investigative exposés have riled
mostly conservative lawmakers.
KUID, launched in 1965, is the state’s oldest public station. It was upgraded
for the digital transition at a cost of around $860,000, according to The Argonaut,
the newspaper produced by the University of Idaho. The head of the J-school
there said she didn’t know what would happen to the equipment, much of which is
owned by the university. She said the school would still need a broadcast
facility if KUID is shut down.
The State contributed the lion’s share of government funding for IPTV’s digital
transition--$14 million out of a total of $22 million for all the stations and
translators, the Statesman said. The
federal government chipped in around $6 million, some of which may have to be
returned if the equipment isn’t operated for at least 10 years.
(“Debate confronts Idaho Public Television’s value,” is available at the Idaho
Statesman.)
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