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Port pulls the plug on three channels

Port Clements residents who watch cable TV will having their viewing choices restricted to the CBC, Knowledge Network, and Global by the end of April.The village council voted last week to stop paying for the three other channels which it has traditionally supplied through its cable network. The three about-to-be-cancelled channels are TSN, Detroit and NBC. The village has to give the networks 60 days notice of its decision, so the channels won't be turned off until late April.Meanwhile, three volunteers have come forward to revive Port's TV Society, which had been in danger of dying due to lack of members, clerk-treasurer Heather Nelson-Smith told council last week.The new TV Society will be getting organized and holding an annual general meeting in the near future, Ms Nelson-Smith said. It's possible the TV Society could apply for money from sources other than the village in order to get more channels, she said. That will be up to the society.For the past couple of decades, Port has had a cable TV system funded by the village taxpayers and run by the TV Society. In recent years, the TV Society has received between $5,500 and $6,500 from the village to supply six channels. However, since the mid-1990s more and more Port residents have switched to satellite TV, which they pay for out of their own pockets.