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- Digital Canadian
Satellite History -
The Canadian Digital Satellite industry, also known as
Canadian Direct to Home has a
long and interesting history to it. The Hughes Directv/USSB system was
the first successful small dish digital satellite company in the
United States, launching a limited service in 1994.
In the same year, several Canadian satellite companies as well as federal regulators
(CRTC) recognized the need for a Canadian Direct to
Home digital satellite service. It issued a call for
companies interested in initiating a Canadian digital satellite
undertaking to file an application for a CRTC license.
Two companies initially made the first applications, the first
was Expressvu, which was wholly owned by BCE,
Canada's largest Telecommunications holding company. They
initially intended to make use of Canada's only available
commercial satellites to broadcast a mixture of Canadian and
American digital satellite channels to subscribers across Canada.
The second company, was to be known as PowerDirectv, a
partnership between Canada's Power Corp., which had radio and
television holdings and the U.S. Directv satellite
broadcaster.
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An Early Expressvu Canadian digital satellite system with 24" dish and linear LNBF. Early customers were converted to a new LNBF and dishes repointed upon the successful launch of the Nimiq DBS satellite. This also allowed dish sizes to shrink to 18".
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Both companies were successfully licensed in
December of 1994. However shortly after, a large controversy
erupted over the CRTC's steep requirement of 50% Canadian
content. The Canadian content rules states that there must be
equal Canadian channels for every non-Canadian channel carried by
the licensed Canadian satellite company. Additionally,
Canadian satellite broadcasters were forced to
use Canadian satellites for transmission of their signals.
Further adding to the problem was that only CRTC approved
non-Canadian channels could be made available to Canadian
customers. Unfortunately, for PowerDirectv, an overwhelming
percentage of the U.S. channels broadcast from Directv were not
approved for broadcast in Canada. PowerDirectv's arguement to the
CRTC was there at the time, there were not enough Canadian
channels in existance to match the amount of U.S. channels that
they proposed to broadcast. PowerDirectv was able to amend the
Canadian satellite requirement to allow them to broadcast the
U.S. portions of their signal to Canadians via the U.S. Directv
satellite and the Canadian portions via the Canadian Anik E1 or
E2 satellites.
Unfortunately for Canadians patiently waiting for a
alternative to cable vision, these problems caused substantial
delays in bringing a successful digital satellite product to the
Canadian satellite market. It would not be the last however, as
in March of 1996, a near total system failure on Telesat's Anik
E1 satellite caused a near total loss of all satellite capacity.
This meant that Canada no longer has the satellite capacity to
support 2 digital satellite companies. For PowerDirectv, this was
the last straw and shortly after they announced that they were
abandoning plans to launch a satellite service in Canada. This
meant that Expressvu now had the only license, however they had
still not been successful in launching a service, nearly 2 years
after they had been licensed, despite a number of promised and
missed milestones.
Early 1997, nearly 3 years after Expressvu had received their
license from the CRTC, they had still not brought their service
to the market. In the meantime, many Canadians had grown weary of
broken promised and had purchased U.S. "Grey Market" satellite
systems from Directv. Expressvu had little tolerance for these US
systems and declared them illegal and campaigned heavily for
Canadians to wait until they were able to bring their service to
the market. Early 1997 also brought in 2 new CRTC licensees, both
of which were considered risky. Star Choice Television Network, a
small company from New Brunswick and Alphastar Canada, owned by
troubled Canadian satellite equipment manufacturer Tee-Comm
Electronics Inc. A third company, Homestar which was owned by
Canadian Cable vision company Shaw Communications also applied
for a license, however it was rejected.
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Alphastar Canada system with 36" dish. Alphastar was the last Canadian DBS company licensed, yet the first to market only to fail little more than a year later due to financial and organizational problems.
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Ironically, Alphastar was the last company to be licensed, but
the first to bring a successful product to market in the spring
of 1997. Due to the limited satellite capacity of
Canadian satellites Anik E1 and E2, Alphastar
was able to get an exception which allowed them to use a U.S.
medium powered satellite (Telstar 402R) to broadcast their
service. Unfortunately, this meant that their minimum dish size
would be a clumsy 36". Alphastar has also launched a US based
satellite service to the United States using the same Telstar
402R satellite. This meant that they could save on overhead by
eliminating duplicate carriage on many US channels.
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Star Choice Television Network was the second entrant onto the Canadian DBS market. Star Choice later merged with Shaw Communications, giving it the much needed financial support to compete in a changing Canadian marketplace.
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The summer of
1997 brought a successful Star Choice launch to the Canadian
marketplace. Star choice initially planned to utilize U.S.
Echostar equipment for the satellite service, however earlier in
the year, they merged with Shaw Communications, who was unable to
successfully obtain their own DTH satellite license from the CRTC
and also recognizing that the fledgling Star Choice venture
lacked sufficient capital to properly compete with BCE's
Expressvu Inc. After the merger, Star Choice abandoned the
Echostar equipment platform in favor of the cable vision favored
General Instrument platform, which was being used by the U.S.
Primestar service. Due to lack of satellite capacity, Star Choice
was forced to share the limited satellite capacity with
Expressvu, aboard the Anik E2 satellite.
The fall of 1997, finally brought the successful launch of
Expressvu, who had now taken advantage of the abandoned Star
Choice Echostar equipment deal and had adopted the Echostar
platform for their service. Expressvu was licensed by Echostar
for use of their name and trademarks in Canada and began to
market their satellite service as "Expressvu - Dish Network
Canada". Unfortunately for many Canadians who had jumped on the
opportunity to own an Alphastar Canada System, Alphastar
announced troubles in late 1997, which eventually led to a
shutdown of the Alphastar Canada and Alphastar U.S. services.
Alphastar as it turned out was underfunded and was unable to
successfully sway investors to their company. Fortunately many
Alphastar customers were able to salvage some of their
investments by taking advantage of a free Star Choice or
Expressvu trade-in offer.
Expressvu eventually added "Bell" before their name, to take advantage of Bell Canada's good will and recognition in Canada. Today, Star
Choice and Bell
Expressvu remain Canada's only digital satellite companies in
Canada.
More information on both services is
available below. As well, we also have some dedicated
Canadian Satellite Digital Forums for those wishing to discuss these topics.
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08/04/2008 11:20 AM
In order to give the website a better focus, we are phasing out the less popular areas of the site, including the high definition and digital video recorder areas and forums. This will leave the site focused on digital satellite television and satellite radio.
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90210
CW
8:00 pm ET
Silver (Jessica Stroup) recalls her childhood parties when Jackie and Teddy (guest stars Ann Gillespie and Trevor Donovan) surprise her with a "half-birthday" celebration. Navid (Michael Steger) confronts Jasper (guest star Zach Sherman) after seeing him sell drugs to Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes). Debbie and Harry (Lori Loughlin, Rob Estes) are forced to tell Dixon (Tristan Wilds) that Sasha lied about being pregnant in "A Trip to the Moon."
The Biggest Loser
NBC
8:00 pm ET
The contestants head to Colorado to train at an Olympic training facility, where they are welcomed by paralympic athlete Allison Jones and learn the game is going from teams to singles. Olympic skiers Julia Mancuso and Jeret "Speedy" Peterson help train the contestants. After a biathlon challenge, two more players are sent home. Skaters J.R. Celski and Rockne Brubaker also appear.
Independent Lens
PBS
10:00 pm ET
Child stars don't have it easy, as anyone who reads the tabloids can tell you. So can Priscilla, who at 9 is pursuing her dream of being a rap star. She and her single dad and mentor, Jesse, are starting to reap the rewards of her ambition and talent -- moving to a four-bedroom apartment and playing at sold-out clubs. But she's starting to realize that staying a little girl is going to take some effort in the new documentary "P-Star Rising."
Ninotchka
TCM
8:00 pm ET
East meets West in this 1939 comedic tale of culture shock. Three Soviet emissaries are sent to Paris to sell the family jewels of the exiled Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire), but all does not go as planned. The three start to see the value of a capitalistic society, prompting by-the-books comrade Nina Yakushova (Greta Garbo) -- otherwise known as Ninotchka -- to take over the mission. Garbo's next-to-last film was acclaimed as one of her best.
The Eye
TMC
8:00 pm ET
Jessica Alba challenges herself by playing both sightless and musically skilled in this Tom Cruise-produced remake of a Hong Kong thriller. Her character is a concert violinist who gets her vision back through a double cornea transplant, but her new eyes give her terrifying visions that send her on a search for their original owner. Parker Posey and Alessandro Nivola lend Alba good acting support, but you'll still be tempted to poke your own eyes out.
Valentino: The Last Emperor
SHO
8:00 pm ET
No, not Rudolph. The Valentino at the center of this 2008 documentary is fashion designer Valentino Garavani -- better known by his first name and his reputation as the creator of gorgeous dresses for some of the world's most gorgeous women, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The film crew follows Valentino at work and at home as he prepares for a 45th anniversary celebration of his work.
Melrose Place
CW
9:00 pm ET
The police search for Auggie (Colin Egglesfield) after discovering his blood was on the murder weapon. An incident at work forces Jonah (Michael Rady) to pretend he is engaged to Ella (Katie Cassidy), who really gets into her role. David (Shaun Sipos) arranges a secret play date with his little brother (guest star Cameron Castaneda). Ashlee Simpson-Wentz also stars in "Ocean."
Explorer
NGC
10:00 pm ET
You may find yourself involuntarily lifting your feet from the floor while watching "Python Wars," an unsettling new episode that chronicles how Burmese pythons -- some of the largest and most powerful snakes in the world -- are poised to spread throughout the U.S. from their current home in Florida's Everglades. Scientists plot a counteroffensive designed to avoid upsetting the ecological balance in the Everglades.
Fool's Gold
MAX
10:00 pm ET
Reteamed from "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey have lesser effect together in this comedy-adventure as spouses bordering on divorce. The background settings are more attractive than they are, as the characters end up involved in a treasure hunt at sea, using the yacht on which the wife works as their base. Donald Sutherland plays the boat's owner, and Ray Winstone ("Beowulf") and Alexis Dziena also are in the cast.
Stalag 17
TCM
10:00 pm ET
The unofficial inspiration for television's "Hogan's Heroes," director Billy Wilder's 1953 comedy-drama remains one of the screen's most memorable war stories. William Holden earned an Oscar as a POW who can bargain with his German captors -- but his wits take him only so far when he's suspected of overt action against the enemy. Filmmaker Otto Preminger proves to be a great actor as the commandant. Don Taylor and Peter Graves co-star.
The Good Wife
CBS
10:00 pm ET
As Alicia (Julianna Margulies) defends a husband accused of murdering a baby sitter, she and her family prepare for the outcome of Peter's (Chris Noth) appeal and his potential homecoming in the new episode "Hi." Christine Baranski, Josh Charles, Archie Panjabi and Matt Czuchry also star; James McDaniel ("NYPD Blue") guest stars.
The Millionaire Matchmaker
BRAVO
10:00 pm ET
Patti tries to help Smike Wallen, a smart and sensitive gay man whose traveling has prevented his setting down roots, including any kind of meaningful long-term relationship, as well as high-maintenance client Rupert Wainwright, a 48-year-old director and Rhodes Scholar from England who insists that any romantic prospects be under 30 years old.
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