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Bill would put Colorado TV in Durango, Cortez

Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 21, 2006 at midnight

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Durango and Cortez are squarely in Colorado on any map - unless it's the one that divvies up the country into 210 viewing areas for the television networks.

On that, the southwestern Colorado cities are grouped in with the nearest big market, which happens to be Albuquerque. That means they watch news, weather and sports from New Mexico instead of Denver.

Republican Sen. Wayne Allard last week introduced a bill attempting to change that. The bill would let cable and satellite-TV providers broadcast Denver television signals to subscribers in both La Plata and Montezuma counties, home to Durango and Cortez.

"Colorado residents deserve Colorado television, and should be able to receive Colorado news statewide and cheer on the Broncos like the rest of the state," Allard said in a statement.

The bill isn't likely to get anywhere with the current Congress, which resumes its lame-duck session Dec. 5. Steve Wymer, a spokesman for Allard, acknowledged that passage this year is unlikely but said the senator would reintroduce the bill next session.

U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, has also tackled the issue after constituents complained about missing Broncos games and other Colorado events, such as the 2004 U.S. Senate debates.

Nielsen Media Research, which measures TV audience, determines which regions belong in the nation's 210 "designated market areas." New Mexico broadcasters want to keep La Plata and Montezuma in their sphere because the market is one of the smaller ones in the country and losing more viewers could cost valuable advertising.

Bresnan Communications, the cable operator for La Plata and Montezuma counties, hasn't seen Allard's bill yet and declined to comment, said Shawn Beqaj, Bresnan's director of public affairs.

Allard's bill was an outgrowth of legislation he co-sponsored last week to allow EchoStar's Dish Network subscribers in mostly rural areas to continue to receive distant network television signals in spite of a looming court order.

Under an injunction issued last month, Dish Network must stop sending distant feeds of ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox by Dec. 1 unless Congress enacts legislation to prevent it. More than 14,000 Coloradans will be affected by the move, Allard said.

That legislation, which was co-sponsored by a bipartisan group including Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar, also is unlikely to be enacted this congressional term.