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| Shaw Direct | |
| Formerly | Star Choice |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Satellite television |
| Founded | 1996; 29 years ago (1996) |
| Headquarters | Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
Area served | Canada |
Key people | |
| Products | Direct broadcast satellite,Pay television,Pay-per-view |
| Parent | Rogers Communications |
| Website | shawdirect.ca |
Shaw Direct G.P. is adirect broadcast satellitetelevision distributor in Canada and a subsidiary of the telecommunications companyRogers Communications. As of 2010, Shaw Direct had over 900,000 subscribers.[1] It broadcasts onKu band from twocommunications satellites: Anik G1 at 107.3°W, and Anik F2 at 111.1°W. Anik F1R, which had been in service for 15 years, reached its end of life in the latter part of 2020, when the services on this satellite were migrated between the remaining two.[2] These satellites are owned byTelesat Canada and otherwise are used primarily to distribute programming to various Canadian cable TV companies. The company was formerly known asStar Choice until April 15, 2009.[3]
A full list of channels carried by these two satellites is available from satellite-related sites such as Lyngsat.[4][5] The newer of the two satellites, Anik G1, was launched on April 15, 2013, and then later reached orbit on May 29, 2013.
Shaw Direct was founded inLincoln, New Brunswick, but is now based inCalgary, Alberta. Its broadcast centre is inMississauga, Ontario, and hascall centres inVictoria,Vancouver,Winnipeg andMontreal.
The system requires an elliptical antenna of at least 45x60cm in size with a specialLNB pair built as one unit to accommodate the narrow 3.8° spacing between satellites; the receiver uses theMotorola-proprietaryDigicipher II system which has so far been virtually free of the problems withpirate decryption that have plagued other providers such as rivalBell Satellite TV.[citation needed] The standard 18"DBS antennas used by other providers are not compatible with this system as the signals differ in both frequency and polarization. Shaw Direct is relayed viaFSS satellites, Anik G1 and F2.
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Shaw Direct currently features over 500 channels including all major Canadian and American networks, popular specialty services, PPV, sports packages and over 350 HD channels.[6] Key services include:
Monthly packages range from $30 for the basic service, up to $107.99 for specialty and movie channels. Individual premium and specialty channels can also be purchased. The receivers range from $99 for a basic system to $399 for a high-definitionpersonal video recorder.
In addition, Shaw Direct provides specialty services
Starting in 2011, Shaw Direct offered a free satellite dish, receiver, installation and a handful of SD channels to Canadians who lost their over-the-air (OTA) access to television as a result of Canada's digital television transition.[7] The offer was part of Shaw's little known Local Television Satellite Solution (LTSS) program[8] approved by the CRTC as part of Shaw's purchase of Canwest Global in 2010.[9] The period to apply to the program ended August 31, 2014, three months earlier than the original extended application deadline of November 30, 2014. On April 12, 2019, the CRTC opened a public call for comments regarding Shaw Direct's licence renewal request that included its plan to end the LTSS as of August 31, 2019. According to Shaw Direct, more than 31,500 Canadian households subscribed to the no-fee LTSS. While Shaw Direct did end up offering the LTSS beyond August 31, 2019, according to Shaw Direct customer service all remaining LTSS subscribers had been disconnected as of December 20, 2019.