PRESS RELEASE — Tuesday, August 2, 2011
For Information Call Anne Peterson at 208-373-7368
           or Bob Evancho at 373-7369

IdahoPTV's McCall/New Meadows Translator To Send Digital Signals on Channel 11 by August 12

— Digital Signals Require Digital TelevisionsOr Set-top Converter Boxes, Provide Four Channels

An Idaho Public Television engineer is installing equipment the week of August 8-12 at the McCall/New Meadows translator to provide a digital television signal to the area.

The work on the translator on Brundage Mountain will send an over-the-air digital signal that provides four digital channels in the place of the traditional single-analog channel.

The new digital signal will appear on most digital television sets and digital set-top boxes as channel 11, which is a change from the current channel 5.

A translator on No Business Peak already reaches some parts of McCall and will continue to do so on channel 41. The Brundage Mountain installation will provide a digital signal to much of the northern end of McCall and to New Meadows.

"Viewers who receive an over-the-air signal in the McCall area will need to complete the conversion to digital television. They need either a television with a digital tuner or a set-top box for an analog TV," says IdahoPTV Director of Technology Rich Van Genderen. "And they need to scan for the new signal, which is usually seen as channel 11, but is divided into four sub-channels, each offering different programming, instead of just one channel. People who are prepared for the conversion in the translator's reception area should experience sharp, clear TV images from the new signal."

An antenna with UHF capability will still be required to capture the signal. "This is just like what people in the area have been using for years. So anyone who has been receiving us before, should have no problem after the conversion," Van Genderen says.

Twenty-seven of IdahoPTV's 42 translators now are converted to digital signals.

IdahoPTV's 24-hour over-the-air multi-cast digital channel lineup includes:

— IDAHO (High Definition) — Sub-channel 1, same programming as the current analog channel but broadcasting in high definition as of August 9.

— PLUS (Standard Definition widescreen) — Sub-channel 2, theme nights — History and Biography, Idaho/Northwest and Exploration, Science, Drama and Mystery, British Comedy, Nature, and Music and Performance — as of August 9.

— LEARN/CREATE (Standard Definition) — Sub-channel 3, enrichment programs for educators and lifelong learners as well as live coverage of the Idaho House of Representatives when in session.

— WORLD (Standard Definition) — Sub-channel 4, public affairs and life & culture programs as well as live coverage of the Idaho Senate when in session.