News Releases for February 2004
February 20, 2004
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Hoeven Announces $2 Million USDA Grant To Upgrade Western Public Broadcasting Stations To Digital
Minot, Williston, Dickinson to Benefit
BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. John Hoeven today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $2 million to finance the conversion of television services to digital for Prairie Public Broadcasting stations KSRE, KWSE and KDSE. The stations serve the Minot, Williston and Dickinson broadcasting areas respectively. The grant, which is the largest of 16 awarded nationwide, is provided through the USDA Rural Development Telecommunications Program.
"We are working to make good things happen in western North Dakota, and this grant will help us to continue that progress," Hoeven said. "We're grateful to President Bush and Secretary Veneman for enabling these rural communities to improve their broadcasting capabilities and better serve the public."
Many rural communities depend on public television stations for services ranging from educational course content in their schools to local news, weather and agricultural reports. The recipients selected for the competitive grant program are from rural areas, have the least resources, and provide the greatest public need to their communities.
"Bringing digital age broadcasting to rural America ensures that more remote rural residents have access to state-of-the-art broadcasting technology for viewing educational programming as well as important local information," said Veneman.
To meet the requirements of transition to digital broadcasting, a station must install a new antenna, transmitter or translator, and new digital program management facilities consisting of processing and storage systems. If a station is to perform a program origination, which many do, digital cameras, editing and mastering systems are required.
Prairie Public Broadcasting's main studio is located in Fargo, where digital multicast and high definition programming originates for its eight digital transmitters. The Fargo studio already has a digital connection to the Bismarck studio, but the three stations west of Bismarck still lack a digital signal. The grant funds a digital microwave system that would provide the final studio-to-transmitter communication links necessary to deliver digital programming to the western North Dakota stations.
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