The Town That Television Forgot

Arietta, New York, is the sort of town satellite-TV companies dream about. Located 70 miles northwest of Albany, in the midst of the Adirondack Mountains, the tiny community (pop. 301) has no traffic lights and no full- time doctor. Many telephones are still on party lines, and the nearest , supermarket is 50 miles away. Television too has largely bypassed the town. Arietta is too remote and unprofitable to be wired for cable, and a good antenna brings in only two or, at most, three stations. Between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. during the summer, because of solar interference, even those...

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