Star Choice

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Star Choice is Canada's second direct broadcast satellite television distributor (the other being Bell ExpressVu), and is majority-owned by cable TV operator Shaw Communications Inc. As of 2007, Star Choice had over 860,000 subscribers. It broadcasts on Ku band from two communications satellites, Anik F1 at 107.3°W and Anik F2 at 111.1°W; these satellites are owned by Telesat Canada and otherwise are used primarily to distribute programming to various Canadian cable TV companies.

Star Choice should not be confused with STAR TV in Asia -- neither they nor its parent, News Corporation, own any interest in Star Choice.

A full list of channels carried by these two satellites is available from satellite-related sites such as Lyngsat: Anik F1 Anik F2. Anik F1 carries most mainstream English-language programming; Anik F2 programming includes French-language and HDTV broadcasts.

Star Choice began in Lincoln, New Brunswick, but is now based in Calgary, Alberta. It also has an operations centre in Mississauga, Ontario and its call centres in Montreal, Calgary and Mississauga.

1 Technical information
2 Services and pricing
3 History
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Technical information

The system requires an elliptical antenna of at least 45x60cm in size with a special LNB pair built as one unit to accommodate the narrow 3.8° spacing between satellites; the receiver uses the Motorola-proprietary Digicipher II system which has so far been virtually free of the problems with pirate decryption that have plagued other providers such as rival Bell ExpressVu. The standard 18" DBS antennas used by other providers are not compatible with this system as the signals differ in both frequency and polarization, due to Star Choice being relayed via FSS satellites, Anik F1 and F2 in this case.

[edit] Services and pricing

Over 430 channels are offered, including:

multiple feeds from various affiliate stations of Canadian networks, including CBC, CTV and Global
CJON-TV, better known as NTV, Newfoundland and Labrador's only private TV station
multiple feeds from various affiliate stations of U.S. networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and PBS; these feeds can come from Detroit, Buffalo (Fox excluded), Rochester, New York (Fox only), Seattle and Spokane¹
French Canadian networks such as Radio-Canada, TVA, TQS and Tele-Quebec
WSBK, independent station from Boston¹
WPIX, WGN and KTLA, the CW Television Network affiliates from New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, respectively¹
various specialty channels such as A&E, Bravo! and Showcase
The Movie Network and Movie Central
40 commercial-free and DJ-free digital music channels provided by MaxTrax and Galaxie
Pay Per View movies and events

¹ -- US commercial stations subject to Simultaneous substitution in some areas, replaced at the receiver level with the subscriber's local station, if carried on Star Choice. If Star Choice does not offer the local station, the original US signal will be seen.

The monthly packages range from $20 for the basic service, up to $89.99 for specialty and movie channels. Individual premium and specialty channels can also be purchased. The receivers range from $99 for a basic system to $699 for a high-definition personal video recorder.

[edit] History

August 1996: Awarded broadcasting license.
March 1997: Opened first customer care centre.
March 1997: Activated their first customer, who purchased a receiver for $999 with 100 digital channels when he purchased $400 worth of programming.
September 1997: Added Pay Per View to their lineup.
September 1999: Added 60 new channels to their lineup.
January 2000: Launched HDTV programming with the broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIV, the first High Definition TV broadcast in Canada.
August 2000: Privatized by Shaw Communications Inc. through its acquisition of Cancom.
April 2001: Activated both Anik F1 and Anik E2 satellites, becoming the first Canadian provider to broadcast services from two satellites simultaneously.
March 2002: Moved its head office from Lincoln, New Brunswick to Calgary, Alberta.
May 2002: Sold its one millionth receiver.
August 2003: Launched its first fully integrated High Definition receiver, the Motorola DSR500 HD.
February 2004: Added 18 additional channels including 2 high-definition ones.
July 2004: Announced the expansion of new channels as a result of the launch of the Anik F2 satellite.
May 2005: Launched the dual tuner High Definition Digital Video Recorder.
Nov 2005: TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is introduced to the Canadian market for the first time.
Sep 2006: AMC (American Movie Classics) is introduced to the Canadian market for the first time.
Oct 2006: A&E HD, Discovery HD and SRC HD (Montréal) launch on October 12, 2006. Super Ecran HD launches October 30 2006.
Dec 2006: Showcase HD and National Geographic HD launch on December 19, 2006 bringing the total amount of free HD channels to 17.
Jan 2007: Launched the DSR317 receiver, featuring a faster processor than previous Standard Definition receivers, and picture-in-guide. Superstation WGN was swapped for the local Chicago feed on January 17, 2007.
Feb 2007: Launched the DSR207 receiver, featuring a faster processor than previous Standard Definition receivers, and picture-in-guide.
Mar 2007: Star Choice announces the addition of GOL-TV, World Fishing Network, WGN-HD and HDNet.
Mar 2007: Star Choice celebrates it's 10 Year Anniversary

[edit] See also

Shaw Broadcast Services (formerly CANCOM)

[edit] External links

Cable and direct broadcast satellite companies in Canada

Cable: Access • Aurora • Cable Axion • Cablevision • Cogeco • Dery • EastLink • Look • Persona • Rogers • Rush • Shaw • Vidéotron • Westman
Satellite: Bell ExpressVu • Star Choice
Defunct providers: Access (Nova Scotia) • CF • Cablecasting • Classicomm • Fundy • Maclean-Hunter • Northern • Selkirk • Trillium • Videon
See also: International cable providers.

v • d • e Shaw Communications Inc.
Corporate Directors: Adrian Burns \| Jim Dinning \| George Galbraith \| Ronald Joyce \| Charles Keating \| Don Mazankowski \| Michael O'Brien \| Harold Roozen \| Jeffrey Royer \| Bradley Shaw \| Jim Shaw \| J.R. Shaw \| J.C. Sparkman \| John S. Thomas \| Bill Yuill
Assets: Shaw Broadcast Services \| StarChoice
Annual Revenue: $2.08 billion CAN (6% FY 2004) \| Employees: 6,000 \| Stock Symbols: TSX: SJR NYSE: SJR \| Website: www.shaw.ca