Sen. Mark Udall clearly is paying attention to what his Southwest Colorado constituents care most about. It is not water rights. It is not NSA surveillance. It is not the federal budget. It is not even the Affordable Care Act. In this election year, and all others – and all nonelection years, too – Coloradans in this corner of the state come together in apolitical unity over one thing: Denver TV. On his campaign visit Wednesday to Durango, Udall made a big point of how clearly he is hearing this message. Whether he can do anything about it, or what that would be, is an entirely different story – one he told in a clever way.
For decades, the regional representatives of various federal elected officials – Democrat and Republican alike – have reported that the calls, questions and complaints they receive from constituents fall into two categories: 1) the lack of Denver television; and 2) everything else. The crux of the concern is that, being Coloradans, Durango residents would prefer to receive news of what is going on in Colorado, as well as related political advertising and information during election seasons. As interesting as it may be, such content from New Mexico is not altogether relevant for those living here. And then, of course, there are the Denver Broncos: Durangoans need their football.
But the problem is multifaceted, and not at all the result of elected officials’ action, or even inaction, as Udall’s tour – accompanied by Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel – made clear. Broadcast regions are determined not by Congress or even the FCC, but rather by The Nielsen Co., which concerns itself with fairly dividing the United States into marketing regions. When this division occurred, apparently Nielsen did not consult a map, and our neck of the woods got lumped in with the Albuquerque region. A simple rearrangement is tricky: Moving Southwest Colorado to the Denver market, where it belongs, would remove a valuable chunk of audience from Albuquerque’s market – that would have to be made up somehow. It is a zero-sum puzzle that has eluded a solution.
While Udall helped broker a temporary fix so Broncos fans can tune in via Albuquerque’s Fox affiliate, it does not address the larger issue of news and political information. Perhaps a legislative fix will be able to reconfigure the markets, but it will not come easily.
Whether Udall or his colleagues in the Senate and House can forge a solution to this problem is not indicative of any of their responsiveness to the Denver TV issue or, by extension, Southwest Coloradans’ concerns. Nor should it be a deciding factor for voters’ choices come Election Day. While Denver television surely would be a welcome and appropriate addition to the Southwest Colorado media offerings, its presence or absence does not define life here as fundamentally as some would assert. Udall is wise – and politically savvy – to acknowledge and thoroughly explain the TV situation and its related challenges. Now, he and voters should move on to more important things.
