SITE bosses for the former Bilsdale transmitter have announced the date when the new interim transmitter is set to go live and have asked some viewers to retune as a result.
According to Arqiva, more than 98 per cent of homes across the region have had some TV services restored.
The new interim mast is set to be switched on as of Wednesday, February 23 at Bilsdale bringing improved signals to more than 100,000 households.
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The new mast is also set to be more reliable in the bad weather.
According to the infrastructure company, some viewers will have to retune their TV as a result of the switch on.
Arqiva say this is simple for TVs that retune automatically however, for those whose TVs do not retune automatically they can visit bilsdalemast.co.uk/retuning or call the dedicated helpline on 0800 121 4828.
Some residents have also been warned that they may lose their Freeview as a result of the switch and, according to Arqiva, have been written to as a result.
Those who received a letter have been asked to contact Arqiva on the freephone helpline to request an engineer to re-point their aerial.
In a media briefing last month Arqiva said the location of this interim mast means that about 1,250 households will lose signal during what bosses are calling a “signal shadow”.
The majority of the homes to be affected will largely be along a strip of the County Durham coast, where the line of sight of the mast will be interrupted.
Site bosses also suggested that some areas of Hartlepool – such as Hartlepool headland – may be affected.
The news comes after it was announced last month that Jacob Young pushed for “widespread” BBC licence fee refunds in Parliament calling the situation “not acceptable” after thousands were left with no TV following the Bilsdale TV mast fire.
Mr Young, Conservative MP for Redcar, made the comments after The Northern Echo launched its campaign for Licence Fee refunds to reflect the lack of service experienced by many after the Bilsdale transmitter fire in August last year.
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Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Young pressed the Minister of State and Media, Data, and Digital Infrastructure, Julia Lopez MP, about the lack of BBC licence fee refunds.
Mr Young mentioned the “growing support” for the scrapping of the BBC licence fee, also known as “axing the TV tax.”
He said: “The Minister will know there is growing support for scrapping the licence fee, or 'axing the TV tax', not least in Redcar and Cleveland where the Bilsdale mast fire left people without a TV reception.
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"Yet most weren't provided with any sort of refund.
"Does the Minister agree that this is not an acceptable situation and that if this was a satellite, a broadband or phone provider, a refund for time without service, and in some cases even further compensation, would have been expected?"
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