Lake County has no Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). In fact, we have no free broadcast television at all.
When PBS and National Public Radio (NPR) were formed, years ago, they were partially financed by the U.S. government because of its potential for educating preschool and school children of low-income families to help the children learn better in school.
Two of the many worthwhile award-winning programs over the years have been Sesame Street and The Electric Company. The U.S. Department of Education still gives grants to help in the production of these two programs but low-income children in Lake County cannot take advantage of what these two educational programs have to offer.
I have talked with the head engineer of KRCB and met with the directors of KRCB of Rohnert Park”s Channel 22 television, a PBS station, and they were very enthusiastic about the possibility of an increase in viewership that Clear Lake would offer.
Technically, in Lake County, what we need is a line of sight from atop Mount Konocti to KRCB”s transmitter atop Mount Sonoma, which I believe we have. We will also need a transceiver unit and antenna with a low-wattage digital transmitter atop Mount Konocti. The engineer thought that we would need about $25,000 for the project.
I have spoken twice before the Lake County Board of Supervisors about the lack of PBS. They told me that they could do nothing to rectify this situation because of the franchise agreement with Mediacom, which states that Lake County government could not do anything that may jeopardize its monopoly with Clear Lake.
Since Lake County owns Mount Konocti, I think it must issue a license to broadcast from the mountain. It is questionable whether Mediacom could block this also, which sounds like an infringement on our free speech rights.
We need to get together to raise funds for this project of adding public broadcasting into our lives here in Lake County. There are many educational benefits for adults, also. I would appreciate any and all feedback as to how we can get this project off the ground.
Jon M. Nelson
Lucerne
