Local TV Board Pardons Translators

The folks of White Pine County in eastern Nevada will have over-the-air analog TV for some time to come, thank you very much. The county’s TV board has decided to maintain the analog TV translators that serve the 8,900 square-mile county (with just over one-half person per square mile, factoring in the city of Ely).

The Ely Timesreported that analog transmissions will continue at least until mid-summer. The translators are being fed by a main facility that’s converting the digital signals of Utah and Nevada stations to analog, like a giant converter box. The head of the TV board said the arrangement gives White Pine County residents more time to get a digital TV or a converter box, both of which will probably be cheaper after the transition.

The 2000 Census put median household income at $36,688. Residents of the county’s TV district pay a yearly $35 TV tax to maintain the translator system, established in 1977.