PIERRE — Television viewers still getting their signal through antennas will have to endure a few more weeks without shows such as “CSI” and “The Late Show With David Letterman.”

Those shows, broadcast locally on KELO-TV, haven’t been available to over-the-air viewers in central South Dakota since Jan. 22. That’s when a major ice storm combining freezing rain and high winds brought down KELO’s tower in Reliance, which rebroadcast KELO’s feed to Pierre under the KPLO call sign.

KELO-TV chief engineer Paul Myrick said the station began dismantling the fallen tower Monday, and hopes to have a temporary tower up within three weeks.

Courtesy photo The top 300 feet of the large KELO TV tower in Reliance lies crumpled on the ground Jan. 24. The tower, which fell in a statewide ice storm, normally broadcasts the CBS affiliate’s over-the-air signal to customers in central South Dakota, including Pierre. Advertisement

This temporary tower will have about two-thirds the range of the old tower. Myrick said viewers’ reception will depend on the quality of people’s antennas.

A permanent replacement will take six to eight months.

The downed tower does not affect any viewers receiving their TV via cable or a satellite dish.

Myrick said only a few of KELO’s viewers still receive their feed over the air.

“If you take all four of KELOLAND’s stations, the amount of people watching it over the air is about 1 percent,” Myrick said.