USDA Public Broadcaster DTV Grant Application Deadline Nears

By Doug Lung
published

Public television stations serving rural areas have slightly more than a month to submit applications for a Public Television Digital Transition grant before the July 7, 2014 deadline. The grants are provided by the United States Department of Agriculture under its Rural Development program.

Funds can be used to "acquire and install facilities and software necessary for the transition" and may also be used for "associated engineering and environmental studies." Eligible equipment includes digital transmitters, translators, and repeaters as well as power upgrades of existing DTV equipment, including "replacement of low-power digital transmitters capable of delivering the final authorized power level." Associated equipment, including STLs, master control equipment, digital program production equipment, multicasting and database equipment and the cost of leasing facilities, if any, for up to three years is covered.

For additional information, visit the USDA Public Television Digital Transition Grant Program webpage.

Earlier this year, USDA announced grants to Idaho Public Television to upgrade translators, to the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television to replace analog microwave links with digital microwave links; to Eastern New Mexico University to buy two translators; to Ana G. Mendez University in Puerto Rico to buy digital equipment for educational, social and cultural programming to remote locations; to West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority to convert its digital production studio in Charleston from analog to HD video; and to Bethel Broadcasting in Alaska to help KYUK there buy digital production equipment and convert an LPTV transmitter from analog to digital.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.