Source : Kamloops Daily News

Determined CBC-TV fans, disenfranchised by the disaffiliation of CFJC earlier this year, still hope the Crown corporation will restore broadcast service to the region.

A local group called Save Our CBC has been making inquiries with the public broadcaster, the CRTC and MP Betty Hinton, but none has been able to provide any assurance the service will be restored.

However, a CRTC decision to delay CBC/Radio Canada's licence renewal for a year while it reviews over-the-air TV may give the group a leg up, Hugh Jordan, a member of the group, said Tuesday.

"The objection here, of course, is we're stuck with two versions of the same network," Jordan said.

TV viewers who do not subscribe to cable or satellite services can tune into either CFJC-TV or Global TV, both of which are part of the same CH network.

Hinton informed Jordan in writing that the CRTC review will involve discussions with CBC over the cost of extending its full service across Canada. She expressed regret, however, that her inquiries did not result in a more favourable conclusion.

A CBC official stated at the time of CFJC's disaffiliation application in February that the network had insufficient time to budget for construction of rebroadcasting transmitters in the region. It was also estimated at that time that the affected audience amounts to only five per cent of the population.

However, Jordan questions that figure after consulting the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement. He also wonders why the disaffiliation of CHBC-TV was accompanied by the construction of eight rebroadcasting transmitters across the Okanagan while there is no similar plan in place for this region.

"If they can spend millions there, why not here? And I think (the millions of dollars in estimated cost) is an exaggeration."

Rob Weller, operations manager with CHBC, said the transmitter construction took a couple of years to complete. Towers were built in Kelowna, Braeloch, Penticton, Vernon, Oliver, Salmon Arm, Enderby and Celista to broadcast the CBC programming to Okanagan viewers. He estimated the cost amounted to $10 million.

"They're not cheap and when the CBC puts them in, they're top of the line."

B.C.'s rugged, mountainous terrain adds to the cost, he noted.

In the absence of funding for transmitters, there is the possibility of using Radio Canada's Kamloops repeater to beam in the CBC signal from Vancouver, Jordan added.

The CBC could not be reached for comment on that possibility. To date, the Crown corporation has not responded to questions from the Save Our CBC group or to repeated inquiries from The Daily News.

Pam Astbury, who initiated Save Our CBC, said the group now numbers 35 or 40, but she has not heard from disenfranchised viewers from beyond the city in communities such as Williams Lake and Quesnel.

"As long as we continue to get the story out and get more people to stand up for this we're going to be really successful with this," she said. "I'm fairly confident of that."

She hopes to meet with Hinton later this week to discuss the issue.

"I just don't buy this five per cent business," she said. "The principles behind this are very strong."

Jordan gave up on cable programming a while ago but he is not yet giving up on the return of CBC-TV.

"We did have cable for a while but when we realized we were spending more time looking for something worthwhile to watch rather than watching, so we decided to get rid of it.

"We were tired of 200 stations with nothing on and thought we'd seek alternatives."

© Kamloops Daily News