POOR television reception experienced by residents in Buninyong and Mt Clear will be fixed by the end of the year, according to Australia's industry group for regional broadcasters.
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A new "gap filler transmitter" will be installed on Mt Buninyong, which should fix the signal woes people have been complaining about for years.
"Our broadcast engineers are aware there have been problems for some time," said Regional Broadcasting Australia spokesman Alan Butorac.
Television signals that serve the district come from the broadcast tower on Mt Cole, located approximately 80km from Ballarat.
Mr Butorac said the locations of suburbs such as Buninyong and Mt Clear pose a challenge to the television networks.
"A lot of houses are positioned in the shadows of hills, so that makes it quite difficult," he said.
While digital television has its advantages, a major drawback is when reception drops below 60 per cent the signal is known to freeze, stutter or drop out completely.
Mr Butorac said Prime was the network causing the most trouble for residents because of its position on the broadcast spectrum. Many older antennas can only pick up clear broadcast signals up to channel 40, however Prime digital signal is shown on channel 46.
Currently, television networks are not given a choice on where they are placed on the digital spectrum, with the Federal Government's Australian Communications and Media Authority setting channel allocations.
In January, the government called for submissions from the networks as they begin plans to "restack" digital channels before the analogue television signal is switched off in 2013 in metropolitan areas.
The RBA expects this to be beneficial for regional viewers, because channels will be placed closer together on the spectrum in a frequency range that will be easier for antennas to pick up.