MPBN to keep towers on air
The Maine Public Broadcasting Network has abandoned plans to shut down a radio transmitter in Fort Kent and radio and television towers in Calais, under an agreement with state officials announced Thursday.
The towers were scheduled to go silent Feb. 28 as a cost-cutting measure, but after being announced in December the plan was met with an outcry from politicians and listeners. In some areas along Maine's northern and eastern borders, MPBN broadcasts are the only U.S. signals residents can access, the Bangor Daily News reported. The network has teamed up with the governor's office and legislators to address its funding issues, and will explore other savings routes that don't disproportionately target one area of the state, according to an MPBN press release. The network's employees accepted pay cuts last winter and 10% of its staff was eliminated.
Sen. Kevin Raye, R-Perry, is sponsoring a bill that would tie MPBN's $2 million in state funding to continued statewide broadcasts.
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