| Subject: Welcome to the Columbia Basin |
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Anonymous
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Date Posted: Tue, February 03 2004, 21:56:24 PST
Forty-eight years ago, a few residents of the Columbia Basin wanted the reception of Television, like everybody else in the metropolitan cities like Spokane, Yakima, Seattle. The only way this was possible was via Translators which would pick up the signal, boost it, and rebroadcast it to the local area.
For about forty years, all was well, and the PEOPLES' T-V Association, Inc., a nonprofit group, was a force to contend with. People were asked to contribute $30 a year to help pay for the service. Then came cable television, which for $15 a month gave people more choice and better reception. Then came Pay Satellite TV which offered more choice yet. People began to flock to cable an Pay Satellite service.
As if this was not enough, along came cell phones, and with it high demand for FCC regulated frequencies. In a mere five years, all but about 12,000 households in the Columbia Basin flocked to cable TV, Satellite TV, and now TIVO. Needless to say, PEOPLES' T-V had the rug pulled from under their feet, as the equipment required more maintenance, and all but about 400 households opted to tune in to the translator TV signal without helping pay for it.
On January 1, 2004, the PEOPLES' TV group was left no choice but shut down the translators, and the TV sets went dark for 12,000 households.
The story doesn't end here. For those who find these site, you are encouraged to post your thoughts, your comments, your questions, and what you hope would happen as it pertains to the future of TV reception which won't cost viewers an arm and a leg. The cost of cable and satellite is rapidly going up up and away, and it is only a matter of time before more and more households will look for alternatives.
There are many alternatives, and if you are interested in what they are, you are encouraged to stay tuned, visit and post on this site often, and join a move within the Peoples' TV group to re-focus itself, its vision, its mission -- to continue the vision of the dedicated founders of the group.
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