USDA Announces Funding to Assist Rural Public Television Stations with Digital Conversion Projects
WASHINGTON, Dec. 3, 2010-Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager today announced the selection of public television licensees in 13 states to receive funding to complete digital TV conversion projects. The funding is provided through the Public Television Digital Transition Grant Program, which is administered by USDA's Rural Utilities Service. The program provides equipment funding to public stations that serve substantial rural populations.
The funding will support digital transition efforts, which include replacing outdated transmission equipment in isolated rural areas. For example, the Kentucky Authority for Educational Television (KATV) has been selected to receive a grant to place digital translators in eight isolated rural communities. USDA funds will also be used for one digital translator to serve a rural part of southern West Virginia that had previously received analog service. The project will provide public broadcasting coverage to several counties which lost good quality over-the-air signals.
Funding for individual recipients is contingent upon their meeting the conditions of the grant agreement. A complete list of the stations selected for funding is below:
Arizona
Arizona Board of Regents for Arizona State University; $177,508
California
Redwood Empire Public Television, Inc.; $550,275
Idaho
Idaho Public Television; $142,025
Illinois
Board of Trustees of Southern Illinois University; $749,000
Kentucky
Kentucky Authority for Educational Television; $677,920
Maine
Maine Public Broadcasting; $655,580
Missouri
University of Central Missouri; $576,246
North Dakota
Prairie Public Broadcasting, Inc.; $382,725
New Mexico
Regents of the University of New Mexico; $39,000
New York
St. Lawrence Valley Educational Television Council, Inc.; $698,693
West Virginia Education Broadcasting Authority; $366,000
The grant funding totals $6.2 million. USDA, through its Rural Development mission area, administers and manages more than 40 housing, business and community infrastructure and facility programs through a national network of 6,100 employees located in the nation's capital and nearly 500 state and local offices. These programs are designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, farmers and ranchers and improve the quality of life in rural America. Rural Development has an existing portfolio of nearly $142 billion in loans and loan guarantees.
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