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Denver stations axed from Pitco translators

John Colson

Area residents who get their television service from the Pitkin County Translator System will get the NBC and Fox affiliates out of Grand Junction instead of Denver, after a breakdown in negotiations between the county and the two Denver signal providers.That is, of course, assuming the county’s television engineer was able to get the necessary equipment installed by today.If not, said the county’s TV and FM translator coordinator, Renee Nofziger, the system could be blacked out until the equipment can be installed.According to Nofziger, negotiations between the county’s attorneys and two Denver stations stalled recently because of differences over contract language.The county has been transmitting signals sent by satellite from the Denver stations since 2002, at a cost of $5,280 per year, Nofziger said.The Grand Junction signals, she said, will be transmitted via ground-based antennae and will be beamed to the county’s receivers free of charge. But it is the installation of the equipment necessary to receive the signals that could cause problems for area viewers.”I’m hoping there’ll be no dark days,” she said. “But this snow could cause a problem.”The equipment was scheduled to be installed Wednesday.The Pitkin County Translator Department maintains and operates a mountaintop translator system that rebroadcasts FM and TV signals to residents of Pitkin County and other portions of the Roaring Fork Valley. The change will affect residents of the outlying areas of Pitkin County who rely on the translator system for television. Those areas mainly include Redstone, Thomasville and Meredith and parts of Woody Creek, as well as any household in Pitkin County not served by cable providers. Viewers seeking information about KKCO-Grand Junction (NBC) can visit the station’s website at http://www.nbc11news.com/fs/programming.cfmProgramming for programming and schedules. KFQX-Grand Junction (Fox) is not yet available online as its website is under construction.To comment or ask questions about the county’s translator system, contact Nofziger at 920-5395.John Colson’s e-mail address is jcolson@aspentimes.com