Durango – It was a little taste of the local television strict diet.
Federal Communications Commission assistant chief Eloise Gore tried to tune in to a Colorado weather forecast on the TV set in her Durango hotel, only to discover none was available – only New Mexico weather, news, politics and sports.
Gore, with the FCC’s policy division, was in town Wednesday at the side of U.S. Rep. John Salazar, whose constituents have been begging him in considerable numbers to get them the forbidden Denver TV broadcasts – from Broncos games to news and even political ads for candidates they can vote for.
La Plata and Montezuma counties are in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe Designated Market Area, one of 210 viewing areas the FCC created decades ago to divide the country up for broadcasters – long before cable and satellite.
Close to 4,000 people in La Plata County, and more than roughly 11,000 regionwide, reportedly have signed petitions asking the FCC for Denver programming, which, with a few convoluted exceptions, is not available.
“This is about identity, at its roots,” Bayfield town manager Justin Clifton said. “When you think about a culture, for people to be excluded from the statewide culture is more than about missing a football game.”
And government officials have pointed out that the county’s inclusion in the New Mexico market has created “serious, costly and cumbersome problems” for local Emergency Alert System stations.
“Obviously, if this was a quick and easy solution, it would have been solved,” Gore told a roomful of city and county representatives.
Salazar said he is drafting legislation to enable southwestern Coloradans to watch what they want. In the meantime, there might be a partial regulatory fix.
A cable provider or television station can request a market modification, Gore said. If the FCC approves the modification, local viewers could get both cities’ transmissions.
But Denver stations could not be compelled to provide the programming. There might be existing agreements that reserve this market for Albuquerque.
Salazar will meet next week with the Colorado Association of Broadcasters to discuss those parameters.
This FCC remedy is only for cable subscribers. Access to Denver programming via satellite or airwaves would require new law.
Staff writer Electa Draper can be reached at 970-385-0917 or edraper@denverpost.com.
