Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 14/05) - Residents of Fort Smith will soon have a television channel to call their own.

Staff at Uncle Gabe's Friendship Centre are reviving the community channel that broadcast in the late 1970s and early 1980s, said Christopher Bird, the centre's executive director.

The channel will be on the air 14 hours a week with programming that includes community events, programs developed in the North in a variety of aboriginal languages and a bulletin board to announce upcoming events. Council meetings might also be broadcast, Bird said.

The channel is expected to launch between the end of November and the beginning of December.

"A lot of people are anxious to see what will be on it," said Bird.

Staff are developing a program schedule and waiting for a new transmitter because the old one was beyond repair.

In the beginning, staff at the friendship centre will take turns running the channel. The goal is to use computers to make the system self-sufficient. Residents will be able to purchase a package at a discount price that includes rabbit ears and a switch box so they can tune in the channel.