Digital TV Facts: The Latest

Federal grants worth $4.95 million will ease the shift to digital television for rural public broadcasters. Seven projects in six states will receive funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Among the grants announced today:

• Mississippi Public Broadcasting was awarded $1.86 million for two projects to enable several counties in the Hurricane Katrina-damaged Mississippi Delta region to upgrade coverage and receive a digital public television station signal for the first time.

• The Oklahoma Educational Television Authority will receive $1 million to fund the digital conversion of three rural translators.

• Prairie Broadcasting in North Dakota was awarded a grant of $837,895 to convert its Dickinson transmitter from analog to digital, and to fund tower upgrades.

• Link: USDA