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Star Choice is a direct broadcast satellite
Direct broadcast satellite

Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception, also referred to more broadly as direct-to-home signals....
 television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 distributor in Canada which is majority-owned by cable TV operator Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications

Shaw Communications is a Canada telecommunications company that provides telephone, internet and television services. Shaw is Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta....
 Inc. As of 2008, Star Choice had over 870,000 subscribers. It broadcasts on Ku band
Ku band

The Ku band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies. This symbol refers to "K-under" ?in other words, the band directly below the K-band....
 from two communications satellite
Communications satellite

A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purposes of telecommunications. Modern communications satellites use a variety of orbits including geostationary orbits, Molniya orbits, other elliptical orbits and low Earth orbits....
s, Anik F1R at 107.3°W and Anik F2 at 111.1°W; these satellites are owned by Telesat Canada
Telesat Canada

Telesat Canada is a Canadian satellite communications company founded on May 2, 1969. The company is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario as well as having offices in the United States and Brazil....
 and otherwise are used primarily to distribute programming to various Canadian cable TV companies.

A full list of channels carried by these two satellites is available from satellite-related sites such as Lyngsat: .






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Encyclopedia


Star Choice is a direct broadcast satellite
Direct broadcast satellite

Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception, also referred to more broadly as direct-to-home signals....
 television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 distributor in Canada which is majority-owned by cable TV operator Shaw Communications
Shaw Communications

Shaw Communications is a Canada telecommunications company that provides telephone, internet and television services. Shaw is Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta....
 Inc. As of 2008, Star Choice had over 870,000 subscribers. It broadcasts on Ku band
Ku band

The Ku band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies. This symbol refers to "K-under" ?in other words, the band directly below the K-band....
 from two communications satellite
Communications satellite

A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purposes of telecommunications. Modern communications satellites use a variety of orbits including geostationary orbits, Molniya orbits, other elliptical orbits and low Earth orbits....
s, Anik F1R at 107.3°W and Anik F2 at 111.1°W; these satellites are owned by Telesat Canada
Telesat Canada

Telesat Canada is a Canadian satellite communications company founded on May 2, 1969. The company is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario as well as having offices in the United States and Brazil....
 and otherwise are used primarily to distribute programming to various Canadian cable TV companies.

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

High-definition television is a digital television broadcasting system with higher than traditional television systems . HDTV is digitally broadcast; the earliest implementations used analog broadcasting, but today digital television signals are used, requiring less Bandwidth due to digital video compression....
 broadcasts.

Star Choice began in Lincoln
Lincoln, New Brunswick

Lincoln is a Canada suburban community in Sunbury County, New Brunswick, New Brunswick.Located on the west bank of the Saint John River between Fredericton, New Brunswick and Oromocto, New Brunswick, Lincoln was one of the original United Empire Loyalist settlements established in the province following the American Revolution....
, New Brunswick
New Brunswick

New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only Constitution of Canada bilingual province in the federation. The provincial capital is Fredericton....
, but is now based in Calgary
Calgary

Calgary is the largest city in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and High Plains, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies....
, Alberta
Alberta

Alberta is one of Canada Canadian Prairies Provinces and territories of Canada. It became a province on September 1, 1905.Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the U.S....
. It also has a broadcast centre in Mississauga
Mississauga, Ontario

Mississauga , incorporated in 1974, is a city located in the Regional Municipality of Peel, Ontario, and part of the Greater Toronto Area. With a population of 668,549 as of the Canada 2006 Census, it is Canada's sixth-most populous municipality, and has almost doubled in population in each of the last two decades....
, Ontario
Ontario

Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
 and its call centres in Montreal
Montreal

Montreal, or Montr?al, is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada of Quebec and the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population....
, Calgary and Mississauga.

History

  • August 1996: Awarded broadcasting licence.
  • March 1997: Opened first customer care centre.
  • March 1997: Activated their first customer, Archie Gray, 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
    High-definition television

    High-definition television is a digital television broadcasting system with higher than traditional television systems . HDTV is digitally broadcast; the earliest implementations used analog broadcasting, but today digital television signals are used, requiring less Bandwidth due to digital video compression....
     programming with the broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIV
    Super Bowl XXXIV

    Super Bowl XXXIV featured the National Football Conference champion St. Louis Rams and the American Football Conference champion Tennessee Titans in an American football game to decide the National Football League champion for the 1999 NFL season....
    , the first High Definition TV broadcast in Canada.
  • August 2000: Privatized by Shaw Communications
    Shaw Communications

    Shaw Communications is a Canada telecommunications company that provides telephone, internet and television services. Shaw is Headquartered in Calgary, Alberta....
     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 Écran 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 its 10 Year Anniversary
  • Jun 2007: Séries+ HD and Canal Vie HD launch on May 31 2007. MuchMusic and TLN move to essentials and PunchMuch is removed. Casino and Gaming Television was added on June 5 2007 to the essentials package.
  • Jul/Aug 2007: A new interactive program guide was deployed to all DSR505's and DVR530's. The new interactive program guide introudced new features such as instant on capability (Guide will load within 3 minutes after power failure), support for Open TV and support for 8PSK modulation.
  • Sep 2007: PPV HD, MMore HD, Movie Central HD2, Canal Z, ABC West HD were added to the line-up
  • Oct 2007: Added NHL Centre Ice
    NHL Centre Ice

    NHL Centre Ice is a Canadian digital cable subscription Out-of-Market Sports Package. It is offered by both national satellite television service providers, Bell TV and Star Choice and many digital cable television providers such as Rogers Digital Cable, Shaw Cable, Cogeco and more....
     package to the line-up
  • Dec 2007: Teletoon Retro was added to the line-up. Viewer's Choice and Canal Indigo PPV was dropped in favour of Shaw PPV
  • Feb 2008: Speed Channel HD, Nascar Hot Pass and Wild TV was added to the line-up
  • Aug 2008: TFO
    TFO

    TFO is a Canada French language educational public television network in the province of Ontario. It is the only French-language television network in Canada whose operations are based entirely outside of Quebec....
     was dropped from the line-up
  • Sep 2008: TSN2 and TSN2 HD was added to the line-up
  • Oct 2008: HBO Canada, HBO Canada HD and The FRAME HD was added to the line-up
  • Dec 2008: Star Choice launched the DSR209 receiver. BigTen and BigTen HD was added to the line-up.
  • Jan 2009: Star Choice celebrates the sale of its 2 millionth receiver.
  • Feb 2009: Star Choice launched the DSR319 receiver.


Technical information


The system requires an elliptical antenna of at least 45x60cm in size with a special LNB
Low-noise block converter

A low-noise block converter is the Antenna of what is commonly called the parabolic satellite dish commonly used for satellite TV reception....
 pair built as one unit to accommodate the narrow 3.8° spacing between satellites; the receiver uses the Motorola
Motorola

Motorola, Inc. is an United States, multinational, Fortune 100, telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It is a manufacturer of wireless telephone handsets, also designing and selling wireless network infrastructure equipment such as cellular transmission base stations and signal amplifiers....
-proprietary Digicipher II system which has so far been virtually free of the problems with pirate decryption
Pirate decryption

Pirate decryption most often refers to the reception of compromised pay TV or pay radio signals without authorization from the original broadcaster....
 that have plagued other providers such as rival Bell TV. The standard 18" DBS
Direct broadcast satellite

Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception, also referred to more broadly as direct-to-home signals....
 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
Fixed Service Satellite

Fixed Service Satellite , is the official classification for geostationary communications satellites used for broadcast feeds for television and radio stations and networks, as well as for telephony and data communications....
 satellites, Anik F1 and F2 in this case.

Services and pricing

Star Choice currently features over 450 channels including all major Canadian & American networks, popular specialty services, PPV, sports packages and over 30 High Definition channels. Key services include:

  • multiple feeds from various affiliate stations of U.S. networks, including ABC, CBS
    CBS

    CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American radio network and television network. The name is derived from the initials of Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name....
    , NBC, Fox
    Fox Broadcasting Company

    The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox and stylized as FOX, is an United States television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation....
     and PBS
    Public Broadcasting Service

    The Public Broadcasting Service is an United States non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the United States....
    ; these feeds come from Detroit
    Detroit, Michigan

    Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Wayne County, Michigan. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit River, in the Midwestern United States of the United States....
    , Buffalo
    Buffalo, New York

    Buffalo , is the second largest city in the state of New York. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the county seat of Erie County, New York....
     (Fox excluded), Rochester (Rochester, New York
    Rochester, New York

    Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, New York State, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. The Rochester metropolitan area is the second largest economy in New York State, behind the New York City metropolitan area....
    ) (Fox only), Seattle
    Seattle, Washington

    Seattle is the most populous city in the US state of Washington and the Northwestern United States. The encompassing Seattle metropolitan area is the 15th largest in the United States, and the largest in the Pacific Northwest....
     and Spokane
    Spokane, Washington

    Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. Spokane is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, as well as the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region....
    1
  • The Movie Network
    The Movie Network

    The Movie Network is a Canadian English language premium television service, owned by Astral Media. The service is licensed to operate east of the Ontario-Manitoba border, excluding the territories....
    , Movie Central
    Movie Central

    Movie Central is a Canada English language premium television service. Movie Central is designated to operate west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, including the Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories of Canada....
     & Super Channel (English-language premium movie services)
  • Super Écran
    Super Écran

    Super ?cran is a Canadian Canadian French premium television that broadcasts nationally via satellite or cable subscribers. The network is owned by Astral Media....
     (French-language premium movie service)
  • Pay Per View movies and events in Standard and High Definition from Shaw PPV
    Shaw PPV

    Shaw PPV is a Canadian English language and French language pay-per-view service owned by Shaw Pay-Per-View Limited, a division of Shaw Communications....
  • NFL Sunday Ticket
    NFL Sunday Ticket

    NFL Sunday Ticket is an Out-of-Market Sports Package that broadcasts National Football League season games unavailable on local Affiliate#Broadcast networks....
  • NHL Centre Ice
    NHL Centre Ice

    NHL Centre Ice is a Canadian digital cable subscription Out-of-Market Sports Package. It is offered by both national satellite television service providers, Bell TV and Star Choice and many digital cable television providers such as Rogers Digital Cable, Shaw Cable, Cogeco and more....
  • NASCAR Hot Pass
    NASCAR Hot Pass

    NASCAR Hot Pass is a complementary television package available exclusively on DirecTV in the United States and on various cable & satellite providers in Canada....
  • Setanta Sports
    Setanta Sports (Canada)

    Setanta Sports is a Canadian English language subscription pay-per-view service wholly owned by Rogers Media, in partnership with Ireland-based Setanta Sports....
  • Playboy TV
    Playboy TV

    Playboy TV is a pay-per-view List of adult television channels on cable television, IPTV and satellite television services, and available in United States, Sweden, Brazil, Canada, M?xico, New Zealand, Greece, the United Kingdom, Spain, Republic of Ireland, Norway and others....
  • Hustler TV & Red Hot TV (Adult channels)
  • 40 commercial-free digital music channels
    Digital television radio

    Digital television radio is an informal term which describes the music channels that are provided with a digital television service. In terms of price and musical variety, DTR falls somewhere between regular AM broadcasting or FM broadcasting radio, and satellite radio....
     provided by Max Trax and Galaxie
    Galaxie

    Galaxie is a Canada English language and French language digital pay television audio service owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation....
  • 50 Canadian commercial radio stations
  • 7 local FM radio stations from Spokane


The monthly packages range from $20 for the basic service, up to $95.99 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.

See also

  • Shaw Broadcast Services (formerly CANCOM)
  • List of Star Choice channels
    List of Star Choice channels

    The following is a list of channels carried by Star Choice, presented in numerical order. Some channels have both Eastern Canada and Western Canada feeds, airing the same programming with a three-hour delay on the latter feed, creating a backup for those who missed their shows....


External links

  • (PDF) (PDF) (PDF) (PDF)