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Shaw Cable Channel Discussion Thread

98K views 229 replies 71 participants last post by  bigoranget 
#1 · (Edited)
#2 ·
High Definition timeshifting is still incomplete on Shaw Cable. No CBC HD from Ottawa or WTVS (PBS) from Detroit are available in the West. I would have thought Vancouver would get KSTW HD, a CW affiliate, as well, since the standard definition channel has been available in the area forever.
 
#3 ·
Interesting note there about KSTW in Vancouver. I'm in Windsor with Cogeco and we receive WKBD-DT (CW) and WYMD-DT (MyNetworkTV) here in SD since way back in the pre-digital era, if not earlier. No sign of HD signals ever being added for them. I've requested them but I'd more likely see Turner and Cogeco strike a deal for HD channels.:rolleyes:
 
#10 ·
Interesting that as of yesterday Shaw Direct is now carrying beIN Sports HD. I wonder why they wouldn't add this to Shaw Cable too? It seems weird that Shaw Direct has HD channels that Shaw Cable doesn't have. You would think that Shaw Cable would want to make their core product the best product. Shaw Cable is missing the following channels that are carried by their Satellite Division

beIN Sports HD
MuchMusic HD
Teletoon HD
Turner Classic Movies HD
NBA TV Canada HD
ABC Spark HD
Disney Junior HD

In fairness Shaw Direct doesn't have these channels

W Movies HD
BNN HD
Animal Planet HD
DTour HD

Shaw use to keep the line-ups pretty uniform. At the very least Shaw Cable should have every English HD specialty channel that Shaw Direct carries.
 
#12 ·
Actually not at all surprising.Speed Channel ceased to exist in the United States nearly a year and a half ago (August 2013) and was converted into Fox Sports One, which isn't licensed for Canada. They kept the brand alive outside of the United States with racing events that Fox Sports One and Fox Sports Two were broadcasting and some of their older reality programming, but no original programing. According to a spokesman for Rogers, despite the major reductions in original programming Fox wanted a "significant increase" in carriage fees. Rogers Bell and Cogeco have all dropped the channel at the end of their carriage contracts in 2014, meaning that Shaw and Shaw Direct were the last major cable or satellite providers pretty much anywhere in the world (since the Speed channels in Latin America and Australia were converted to local Fox Sports channels) to carry Speed.

I shall miss Speed, but then again I missed the old Speed Channel, before they became primarily the NASCAR channel and bumped shows that I liked, like Alain de Cadernet's "Legends of Motorsports."
 
#14 ·
I agree that the dropping of Speed might not be a Shaw issue. But it does suck as Formula E's season won't be over before April 1, so Canadians definitely will not get those races.

I just hope that in return for dropping Speed, Shaw gives its customers something in return. I say it is high time either for the return of AXS or to get NBA TV in HD or since Rogers was such a pita during the MLB Playoffs, perhaps Shaw could offer the MLB Network, so we can actually see the complete playoffs.
 
#16 ·
The Channel Request form on their website is a big joke, in my opinion. None of my friends or family have even heard of it or are interested in looking in the Shaw forum. As well, most people aren't even aware of the channels that are available or which are included by other major providers, but not Shaw.

The DNU must have been completed long ago. I believe some analog channels have been dropped and made available only as digital. New channels are now MPEG4, which takes less bandwidth. What is the hold-up? Why have a Channel Request form, when so few channels are added?

There are some obvious omissions. Quite awhile back now, the timeshifting package was expanded in HD, but still no Timeshift CBCHD or Timeshift PBSHD. TCMHD is available on Shaw Direct, but not on Shaw Cable. How about a CW Timeshift channel in HD (for instance KSTW HD or KTLA HD in the west). Although it's not crucial to me, there has to be lots of basketball fans who want the NBA channel in HD. I suspect there would be demand for BBC World News in HD and CTV News Channel in HD as well. There are more than 50 HD channels available for inclusion in Canada that are not carried on Shaw Cable. No other major television provider is missing so many. Yet, the rates go up!

I suspect there is less complaining now, because many dissatisfied customers have left for the other providers or simply given up complaining, because it seems futile. I would never recommend Shaw Cable to anyone. The word I use to describe the company most often is "pathetic". I only continue, because quite some time ago, I purchased quite a bit of their equipment.
 
#23 · (Edited)
There are some obvious omissions. Quite awhile back now, the timeshifting package was expanded in HD, but still no Timeshift CBCHD or Timeshift PBSHD.

I have PBSHD time shift on Shaw, but it may have come with the introduction of the "Popular TV" package...

EDIT: Oops! I stand corrected, thought I saw it when I first changed to Popular TV.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#22 · (Edited)
Only reason I'm with shaw is because I haven't moved somewhere optik TV is available. Spike, NBA TV, and the out of market snet channels (west, Ontario) for me in BC being in SD only is reason enough to switch. Watching the Flames/Kings game at the end of the reg. season in SD after Rogers moved it off Center Ice had me fuming. It was abhorrent sd quality as well. Think 20% of vhs sharpness. With Telus, I could pay $2 for their top-up and have seen it in HD. I paid $14 for a month of grandfathered tier 1 programming to get spike in SD so I could watch a Glory Kickboxing event. Now I sit watching NBA TV in sd and feel like it's more of an eyesore than it's worth. $180/mo+ for TV and internet would be acceptable if all my friends w Telus didn't get so many more HD options.
I await w bated breath the addition of more HD channels.
 
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