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Supervisor Novasel recommending the Board authorize the Chief Administrative Officer to work with the City of South Lake Tahoe, State and Federal Legislatures, Charter Communications and the Federal Communications Commission to revise the Designated Market Area for South Lake Tahoe, as well as any other options, so that South Lake Tahoe is included within the Sacramento region instead of the Reno/Nevada region.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
Recently the County was notified that Charter Communications will discontinue providing KCRA-NBC news coverage out of Sacramento to South Lake Tahoe effective June 4, 2018. During discussions with my office, the Chief Administrative Office, representatives from the City of South Lake Tahoe, and Charter Communications it was determined Charter Communications made the decision to discontinue providing KCRA-NBC news coverage due to cost increases and profitability.
According to Charter Communications, the issue of cost and profitability could be resolved if the Federal Communications Commission were to identify Sacramento as the Designated Market Area (DMA) for South Lake Tahoe. South Lake Tahoe is currently included in the Reno/Nevada DMA. However, the rest of El Dorado County, as well as the north shore of Lake Tahoe, including Tahoe City and Kings Beach, is included in the Sacramento DMA rather than the Reno/Nevada DMA.
As a result of this decision by Charter Communications, residents in South Lake Tahoe will not have news coverage of important issues impacting California, including information regarding statewide elected official campaigns, and more importantly, important news information as it relates to natural disasters such as fires, floods and road/highway closures that are affecting El Dorado County and travel to and from the Tahoe basin along the Highway 50 corridor.