Get Ready For 100's of New HD Channels! Shaw Direct's New Satellite Has Launched!

[TVViewer]

As I predicted, there is some unhappy customers. No CBC News Network HD or any Canadian news channel, other than BC1 added. No CTV Two HD affiliate at all, still doesn't carry the complete suite of TMN channels, new US Superstations in HD and French Canadians really got short changed on this as well, only 4 additional French specialties.

Sorry but you have such an overwhelming bias against Shaw Direct it's really hard to take anything you are saying about the company seriously. I have never denied that Shaw Direct had a poor HD offering in the past, their carriage of HD channels, especially HD locals was unacceptable. You on the other hand appear to have this vendetta against Shaw Direct and will dispute anything positive anyone says about the company, and MANY of the predictions you have made about Shaw Direct and Anik G1 over the last few months have turned out to be wrong. From the launch date of Anik G1 to the number of local and HD specialty channels they will carry. I understand the company has made a number of poor decisions in the past but it's very clear you don't have an non-biased opinion on the company. There are people here who think i'm biased on a number of issues and that's fine but i’m not sure how they can’t see the same for you based on your signature and numerous Shaw Direct complaints and negative predictions about what the company will so. The bias you have against Shaw Direct is impossible to ignore and everyone should remember when reading your complaints

The hardware is fine, went with the HD Advanced PVR's and 2 weeks in have not experienced any issues. Another one of the major advantages Shaw Direct has is their fantastic on demand service. Bell is ridiculously behind them on this.

I also stand by my opinion that the vast majority of people will find Shaw Direct's HD channel selection superior. I think most people will choose the provider with more of the popular HD channels over the provider with more HD channels missing several of the popular ones. You can't deny that Bell is now missing several key local channels (especially when it comes to locals actually producing unique local content in HD), along with a growing number of popular specialty channels (Lifetime, H2, FX, BC1, Nat Geo Wild). I disagree that MOST people will think the provider with more French, ethnic, and low rated HD specialty channels is better than the provider with more of the popular HD channels. The majority of Canadians and the vast majority of Canadians outside Quebec do not speak French and will NEVER have any desire to ever watch a French language channel. It is more than understandable that Shaw Direct only carries one of the four LOW RATED superstations (WGN) in HD. These are low rated CW/MyTV affiliates very few watch. As for CTV Two, it has no local content in HD and is used as a programming dumping ground for CTV and the CTV Two summer schedule is horrific plus ALL of the new programming CTV Two will be airing this summer is available in HD on Shaw Direct via U.S. channels. Adding CTV Two HD for the summer adds almost no value if any to Shaw Direct's service. Meanwhile Bell is now so far behind Shaw Direct when it comes to offering local news in HD.

Bell's track record adding popular non-Bell HD channels speaks for itself. Look how long it took them to add History HD! They still haven't added FX, Global News BC1, and Nat Geo Wild even in SD. It could very well take months or even years for Bell to add the missing Global HD and popular HD specialty channels currently available on Shaw Direct, and yes Shaw Direct has had a poor HD track record in the past, but you are ignoring the fact that they had major capacity issues, the capacity issues no longer exist and expecting them to behave the same way as they did with capacity issues as they do now in my opinion is absolutely ridiculous. Bell on the other hand didn’t spend hundreds of millions of dollars to give them more capacity and there is no indication that they have any plans to change how they operate.

[bigoranget]

Sorry but you have such an overwhelming bias against Shaw Direct it's really hard to take anything you are saying about the company seriously.

You have such an overwhelming bias towards Shaw, so it's hard to take anything you say seriously.

[InMontreal]

The vast majority of Canadians will NEVER have any desire to ever watch a French language channel.

What ?????

[bigoranget]

From the launch date of Anik G1 to the number of local and HD specialty channels they will carry. I understand the company has made a number of poor decisions in the past but it's very clear you don't have an non-biased opinion on the company. There are people here who think i'm biased on a number of issues and that's fine but i’m not sure how they can’t see the same for you based on your signature and numerous Shaw Direct complaints and negative predictions about what the company will you. The bias you have against Shaw Direct is really hard to ignore.

How am I wrong here. They are carrying 27 additional locals now in English and 12 in French for a total of 39. Bell carries 38 so they are pretty much the same in this regard. Also BTW, anyone also notice the lack of CTV Two HD carriage? The specialty channels is almost the same, only handful not on Shaw; MuchMusic, W Network, ABC Spark, NBA TV, TCM and Disney Jr come to mind. But this is offset by the fact that for whatever reason they are not carrying BNN, Animal Planet or W Movies.

[bigoranget]

The vast majority of Canadians will NEVER have any desire to ever watch a French language channel.

What are you talking about? Quebec is a HUGE market and I bet they have a completely different opinion than you. Who said anything about English speaking Canadian's wanting to watch a French channel, I'm talking about French Canadian's wanting access to more French HD specialties. They clearly got shot changed with the additions. Just 4 additional channels. I'm betting most in Quebec will stay put.

[TVViewer]

[QUOTE=bigoranget;62326]

How am I wrong here. They are carrying 27 additional locals now in English and 12 in French for a total of 39. Bell carries 38 so they are pretty much the same in this regard.

When it comes to the selection of locals, the viewership of locals, and the locals actually producing local news in HD Bell doesn't even come close to Shaw Direct. A similar amount doesn't make Bell's selection the same. Shaw Direct has given themselves a major advantage when it comes to providing subscribers with their local channel and local news in HD, and they aren't even done adding HD locals, unlike Bell they actually plan to add more very soon.

Also BTW, anyone also notice the lack of CTV Two HD carriage?

Look at CTV Two's summer schedule, it's a low rated disaster and the few new episodes they have are available on Shaw Direct in HD without simsubs on U.S. channels, and CTV Two does not produce local news in HD. There is really no need for Shaw Direct to add CTV Two at this point.

[TVViewer]

Why In My Opinion Shaw Direct is far better than Bell:

• Shaw Direct has more HD locals than Bell and more local news in HD than Bell (Bell is missing Edmonton's #1 source for news in HD, along with the only local HD news in Halifax, Winnipeg, and Regina)
• Shaw Direct has many popular HIGH RATED HD specialty channels not available on Bell (including H2, Nat Geo Wild, FX, and Global News BC1, in fact Bell is missing Nat Geo Wild, FX, and BC1 entirely!)
• Shaw Direct's Advanced HD PVR is fantastic and just as good as Bell's receiver
• Shaw Direct has an incredible Video on Demand service, Bell satellite does not have a TV VOD Service
• Shaw Direct's channel packaging is FAR MORE flexible than Bell's. Bell's channel packaging is the worst in Canada
• Shaw Direct gives you access to all the locals from across Canada in timeshifting, Bell's timeshifting package gives you WAY less locals for the same price as Shaw Direct's
• Overall More HD channels than any other provider (more than 215 and counting!)
• Access to Global Go and HISTORY Go, allowing you to watch Global and HISTORY LIVE 24/7 online, on your iPhone. iPad, and Andorid along with full season catch up. Not available on Bell, in fact, Bell is the only major provider refusing to carry Global Go
• Access YTV Go, and Treehouse Go. Both are not available on Bell.

Compare the channel offerings for yourself to see which provider is the best for you but for me Shaw Direct wins hands down.

[bigoranget]

When it comes to the selection of locals, the viewership of locals, and the locals actually producing local news in HD Bell doesn't even come close to Shaw Direct. A similar amount doesn't make Bell's selection the same. Shaw Direct has given themselves a major advantage when it comes to providing subscribers with their local channel and local news in HD, and they aren't even done adding HD locals, unlike Bell they actually plan to add more very soon.

Okay lets dig into this deeper. So because Shaw Direct carries more Global locals which happen to have HD news, this somehow gives them a huge advantage. Let's look deeper into that. Right now Shaw Direct carries Global Edmonton, Global Regina, Global Winnipeg, Global Montreal and Global Halifax all of which isn't on Bell. I have no idea what the ratings are for Global Regina and Winnipeg but clearly Edmonton is a dominant local in that market so yet, they have an advantage there. As for the east, CTV is the dominate local in most markets and they are adequately covered on Bell in that respect so really just Edmonton and to a lesser extent Regina and Winnipeg areas have an advantage for Shaw Direct.

Also I'm not getting into what Shaw Direct may or may not offer in the future. We are talking about now. Just as we don't know for sure what Bell will offer in the future. Bell, like Shaw Direct still has transponder space available to add more locals and specialties.

[bigoranget]

One thing I want to point out about Lifetime, H2 and Slice. In my opinion, almost all providers in Canada will probably be on board with those channels very soon. I highly doubt it will take years for the competition to add these unless Shaw Media is unreasonable with carriage fees and conditions. Like what a lot of the vertically integrated companies do; they probably didn't even start to negotiate in good faith with other carriers until after the channel was launched on their system.

[bigoranget]

Just so we are clear, I am not a Bell sub but since we are comparing providers, I will post my opinion why Bell is Better.

1.) Bell has far superior hardware and a much better on-screen guide
2.) Bell's non PVR units allow remote hard drives to be connected.
3.) Bell's online offerings has access to more on demand networks
4.) More HD Specialties
5.) More French HD Specialties for French Canadians and more french SD specialties as well.
6.) More Ethnic channels for those that speak another language
7.) More Sports packages are available (MLB Extra Innings, College Sports etc.)
8.) You can program your PVR's remotely

[LOSat]

In my opinion and as a current Shaw Direct subscriber they are still the last on all counts. Here is my reasoning.

Their Custumer Service has gone hill big time with long wait times
Their 630 is still buggy and is too easy to freeze up
They are still missing too many HD specialties - just look at bigorangets revised list above
Looking at the new listing their 210 channel count only comes from including HD PPV and seasonal premium Sports Channels
They can not even create a single channel lineup that makes sense the advanced and classic line up now starts in the single digits, 003 Classic is CBC Vancouver HD 003 Advanced is CBC Vancouver StdDef
My mom lives in a small community of 2200 people and her Eastlink offering still runs circles around Shaw Directs new lineup

Shaw is over hyping the channel count, emphasizing quantity over quality. They are still missing some of the Astral HD movie channels and in my opinion the best value going, Hollywood Suite. This still leaves Shaw Direct as an also ran as a major BDU. They are still not a player; they haven't even stepped up to the plate. As a current subscriber I would not recommend them as a service provider to anyone.

Although their Global bias is probably understandable Global is now placed at the beginning of every channel grouping for each urban area in the new channel lineup.

I expect one ardent Shaw/Global fan here to disagree but if a current subscriber would recommend anyone but their current provider to others doesn't that speak volumes about the offering.

[bigoranget]

Well said LOSat; also TVViewer's assertion that their PVR is just is good as any other providers is totally incorrect. The PVR630 has had all kinds of issues and people are still having issues with the latest firmware that came out a few weeks ago. Their on-screen guide is very dated and lacks features that many other service providers have; one being able to program the PVR using a smartphone comes to mind.

[PokerFace]

All providers will generally have major flaws and as each person encounters those flaws, the desire to leave will often increase. Switching providers is the best way to see if the grass is really greener on the other side, but since it's often too much of a hassle to go back and forth between companies, most people seem to stay where they are and complain about how bad they have it.

Don't worry. Be unhappy. Lower your expectations. Grin and bear it. Don't sweat the big stuff.

Be thankful for what you have. Drink more often. Make a crack video. Start your own business. Watch it fail and then start another one.

I've never had a Canadian satellite service, but I've heard many good things about Bell's receivers. However, I wouldn't like to witness a TSN simsub (I already hate the Rogers Sportsnet simsubs) via Bell's service.

DirecTV or Dish Network would be my satellite choice. God Bless America.

[SportsFan]

Why In My Opinion Shaw Direct is far better than Bell:

Shaw Direct has more HD locals than Bell and more local news in HD than Bell

One more local. The local news in HD is an advantage.

Shaw Direct has many popular HIGH RATED HD specialty channels not available on Bell (including Lifetime, H2, Nat Geo Wild, FX, and Global News BC1)

Bell has many popular HD specialty channels not available on Shaw Direct

Shaw Direct's Advanced HD PVR is fantastic and just as good as Bell's receiver

No. Bell's receivers are better: better program guide, can connect a hard drive for more storage, remote PVR, etc.

• Shaw Direct has an incredible Video on Demand service, Bell satellite does not have a TV VOD Service

That's a lie. Or an honest mistake. Bell does have VOD. Shaw Direct on Demand looks like it offers far more choices, but you need to wire high-speed internet to your receiver for it to work.

• Shaw Direct's channel packaging is FAR MORE flexible than Bell's. Bell's channel packaging is the worst in Canada
• Shaw Direct gives you access to all the locals from across Canada in timeshifting, Bell's timeshifting package gives you WAY less locals for the same price as Shaw Direct's

True. Bell's Good, Better, Best packages give customers very few choices and fewer locals. Depending on what channels you want, this can be a big advantage for Shaw Direct. If you live in Quebec, Bell lets you have more choices of channel packages.

• Overall More HD channels than any other provider (210 and counting!)

How many does Bell have?

[bigoranget]

Shaw Direct doesn't have the most HD. Bell still has more specialties and locals for a higher combined total of channels. Shaw Direct only arrives at 210 by counting the 30+ PPV channels and 30+ sports PPV channels. In reality Bell has approx 160 channels and Shaw Direct has approx 150.

Also if you truly want to compare any of the satellite companies with a land based provider, you can't count all the locals because let's face it; it's a lot of duplicated content. Rogers, Telus Optik, Cogeco, Eastlink and Bell Fibe have far more content than either satellite carrier. Even my local cable company beats Shaw Direct in total specailties

[LOSat]

You should also add Superchannel HD 3 and 4 to your list bigoranget

[bigoranget]

You should also add Superchannel HD 3 and 4 to your list bigoranget

I know Bell Fibe has them, I wasn't aware that Bell Satellite had them.

[SHAW IN-direct]

The bottom line is that when Shaw Direct customer service was asked on numerous occasions what the new channel lineup would entail even up to the last few days before the addition -

the response was that the lineup and exact channels are "uncertain" however they kept boosting the phrase: "the most HD in Canada".....................

not only was this an obvious lie and deception, the reasoning behind it was that they knew way ahead of time that they would NOT carry MOST of the HD channels they knew were owned by BELL Media and

THE same channels that EVERYONE wanted - NUMBER ONE REASON for NOT disclosing such facts about their NEW channel lineup on their already lacking service -

the ONLY reason they have as many customers as they do is because they KNOW a lot of they customers are snowbirds who cant get Canadian TV while traveling in the warmth of the Southern U.S.

and these customers are willing to partake in anything possible to combine their favourite Canadian channels with American channels in the same service to save money whether at home or away............

From the looks of things since they wont tell you what lies ahead of more HD, there is GRAVE reason to believe that these missing channels like

CBC News Network HD and CTV News Channel HD, among others will NOT be available on Shaw Direct anytime soon.......................

..................UNLESS a petition by enough people and subscribers vote on it on a website and sign it to present SHAW with the persistence and pressure needed to add these channels -

Think about it - Shaw Direct ALREADY started charging more in numerous places for their NEW channel lineup add - its about time they ADDED the new cost in the wanted and needed channels to truly surpass BELL TV Satellite.........

[CDN Viewer]

A nice start by Shaw Direct but they still have quite a way to go IMO regarding channel additions. As evidenced by bigoranget's list, there are still many HD channels that they need to add. Also, I was surprised that Rewind & Silver Screen Classics were not added as they are carried by Shaw cable and are needed for the Cat. B rule. Perhaps they will be added in the next batch of channel additions- anyone know if there are more channels yet to be added?!

Why have they added so many HD PPV channels- do people still purchase PPV movies in this day and age with online streaming and Netflix?! This seems like a waste of space IMO, they could have added 30 more HD specialties instead of these PPV channels.

I don't think you will ever see on Hollywood Suite or any more ethnics on Shaw Direct.

[SHAW IN-direct]

A nice start by Shaw Direct but they still have quite a way to go IMO regarding channel additions. As evidenced by bigoranget's list, there are still many HD channels that they need to add. Also, I was surprised that Rewind & Silver Screen Classics were not added as they are carried by Shaw cable and are needed for the Cat. B rule. Perhaps they will be added in the next batch of channel additions- anyone know if there are more channels yet to be added?!

Why have they added so many HD PPV channels- do people still purchase PPV movies in this day and age with online streaming and Netflix?! This seems like a waste of space IMO, they could have added 30 more HD specialties instead of these PPV channels.

I don't think you will ever see on Hollywood Suite or any more ethnics on Shaw Direct.

The bottom line is that when Shaw Direct customer service was asked on numerous

occasions what the new channel lineup would entail even up to the last few days

before the addition -

the response was that the lineup and exact channels are "uncertain" however they

kept boosting the phrase: "the most HD in Canada".....................

not only was this an obvious lie and deception, the reasoning behind it was that

they knew way ahead of time that they would NOT carry MOST of the HD channels they

knew were owned by BELL Media and

THE same channels that EVERYONE wanted - NUMBER ONE REASON for NOT disclosing such

facts about their NEW channel lineup on their already lacking service -

the ONLY reason they have as many customers as they do is because they KNOW a lot

of they customers are snowbirds who cant get Canadian TV while traveling in the

warmth of the Southern U.S.

and these customers are willing to partake in anything possible to combine their

favourite Canadian channels with American channels in the same service to save

money whether at home or away............

From the looks of things since they wont tell you what lies ahead of more HD,

there is GRAVE reason to believe that these missing channels like

CBC News Network HD and CTV News Channel HD, among others will NOT be available

on Shaw Direct anytime soon.......................

..................UNLESS a petition by enough people and subscribers vote on it

on a website and sign it to present SHAW with the persistence and pressure needed

to add these channels -

Think about it - Shaw Direct ALREADY started charging more in numerous places for

their NEW channel lineup add - its about time they ADDED the new cost in the

wanted and needed channels to truly surpass BELL TV Satellite.........