It appears that there soon will no longer be a no-charge television rebroadcasting system in the Clearwater-Wells Gray area.
During the Aug. 19 town council meeting, councillors approved a recommendation from the joint services committee that funding for the Thompson-Nicola Regional District rebroadcasting service not be funded past Dec. 31, 2014.
A letter is to be sent out to the residents of the area, notifying them of the discontinuation. The letter will also provide information regarding the federally funded Local Television Satellite Solution (LTSS) program currently being offered through Shaw Broadcast Services.
According to a report to council, the rebroadcasting service has been in existence since 1975.
It uses repeaters located on local mountaintops to provide analog television signals to area residents using rabbit ear or rooftop antennas.
The service has been funded through local property taxes through the TNRD.
Last year the service cost $25,000, which was paid for by taxpayers in Wells Gray Country (Area A) and District of Clearwater.
The equipment is getting obsolete and difficult to replace, plus the sites are getting less and less accessible.
With more people using cable and satellite for their television, questions have been raised about how viable the system now is.
LTSS is funded by the federal government and provides up to 10 channels at no charge for the next five years (into 2019).
Only 31,500 spots are funded but the program is underutilized. How many spots are available is not known.
To subscribe, residents must call 1-866-782-7345 and ask to apply to LTSS.
Residents have until the end of November, 2014, to apply.
There had been discussions about doing a survey to find out how many people use the rebroadcasting system and/or want to continue paying for it.
However, that was felt to be not worth the cost, said councillor Gord Heisterman.
