Houston residents will have to pony up $8,000 should they want to receive the CBC channel over-the-air again.
Earlier this month, the Houston area recently lost that channel as a result of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation shutting down analogue channels, a policy they adopted in 2012. In order to receive that channel again, the Houston-Smithers Rebroadcasting Society estimates that it will cost $8,000 to get the CBC’s digital signal into the Mount Harry Davis transmitter.
“What we are going to try to do, is see if we can find some money from somebody — grants, somewhere — and if we can, then we should be able to put the signals into Houston later on this year,” said Society spokesperson Richard Harris.
Harris suggests that people can help the Society by writing to their Regional District representative.
“That’s probably the best. Telling them, they’d like to see the funding of the Rebroadcasting Society increased, either that or some effort made to help us find other funds,” he said.
The Houston-Smithers Rebroadcasting Society has switched a Hudson Bay Mountain transmitter, at a cost of $8,000, to receive a digital signal that will allow the broadcasting of four channels, including CBC Vancouver.
“Some people as far as Quick and maybe a little to the east of that, actually, almost to Barrett Station Road maybe able to get it, but they’ll have to use good outside antennas for that,” said Harris. “But I can’t guarantee reception because it’s really outside our intended area.”
Harris adds that the people all over the North are without the CBC. He notes that even larger centres such as Prince George do not currently receive the CBC.