Dumb questions

[megados]

These are some things I've wondered . . .

What kinds of programming is carried on the Canadian systems? How many channels are offered?

Can US residents subscribe to them, or are they not allowed to sell subscriptions outside Canada?

[aod]

The Canadian satellites (both Star Choice and ExpressVu) carry both US and Canadian channels. You get Canadian locals from major cities in each of the 5 time zones, plus US networks from 2 time zones (east and west) and the superstantions. The cable channels are half and half. For example we get A&E and Court TV from the states, but Comedy Central is replaced by the Canadian Comedy network and History Channel replaced by the Canadian History Channel. The movie channels (HBO, Showtime etc) are not there, instead you have the Canadian equivilant TMN (the movie network) and a couple smaller ones. PPV is the same but usually not as many chanels as DTV. Music and is pretty much the same. If you want to get more detailed info check out http://www.bell.ca (click on sattelite TV)- they have a channel list.

I doubt that you can sub from a US address, but you could get a PO box in Canada. As for the legality of hacking Canadian services in the US, I can't say for sure. I'd assume it would fall into the same grey area the US systems are in up here.

Hope this helps. Any more questions, please feel free to ask.

PS: If you do decide to sub - I'd suggest Star Choice. Much better equipment and your not supporting Bell Canada/ExpressVU, who are killing the sat. industry in Canada.

[dbsdude]

I've got expressvu and you get a lot of cbc and ctv. It's basically glorified cable. I only watch about 10 channels. Star Choice is pretty much the same, but they have launched a new satellite with a "500 channel capacity", but with the CRTC regulating what we watch, this doesn't mean much. However, they have recently licensed a whole bunch of channels, but who knows how long it will take before we see them. I think expressvu offers 200 video channels, but i'm not sure. I've been to a couple canadian satellite boards and they're are a few people with expressvu in the states, but I think they do it through a friend or relative in Canada. I don't think there are stiff laws about canadian satellite in the states, but I don't think Bell will let anybody in the states subscribe, although I'm not sure.

[hick]

Express-vu is a little more than glorified cable. More like digital Cable. But if you like porn, express-vu is for you. Porn and Hockey must be all that canadians live for.

[joshl1018]

I can tell you that the best thing to do if you want any of the two Canadian systems is to make up a fake Canadian address and PREPAY an annual sub to which ever one that you choose ( presuming you live in the states )using your credit card. You would have to keep the reciever's ( either of them ) unplugged from your telephone which means that you cannot use the ppv because when the reciever dials out it would show your address which would tell your real territory you're in and there would be no correct address for them to send the ppv bill. That is all that you would loose in getting the Canadian systems.

[rangers00]

Originally posted by joshl1018
I can tell you that the best thing to do if you want any of the two Canadian systems is to make up a fake Canadian address and PREPAY an annual sub to which ever one that you choose ( presuming you live in the states )using your credit card.

Don't use fake Canadian address. When they send you mail,
either statements or promotions, and get returned, they
will turn off your subscription until you clarify why the
address isn't good.

So undelivered mail is a no-no.

Those who want to subscribe in the U.S. should use an
address of friend or family. If you have neither, use an
address broker, who basically provides an address and
activate the account for you, since you can't call from the
U.S.

[To The Real King!!]

Hi Megados,

Trust me you don’t really want one. Unless you like Pokemon, Digimon, Leave it to Beaver, Father knows Best and the oldest crap around, there is not much reason to want one.

I have one for my 7 year old daughter and honestly have watched it about 2 hours in 2 years for our election reports.

Neither ExpressVu or StarChoice could possibly survive if they had to compete with DirecTV®. In fact both are big money losers but Bell ExpressVu only continue so they can try to keep the cable companies out of the phone business, they hope, by trying to compete with Satellite TV. The problem is the CRTC makes Canadian satellite exactly like Canadian Cable. They are really waiting for 2 way and hope that Internet services may help them survive.

Each has less than 500,000 subs and are growing at a near zero rate now. Bell ExpressVu is being pirated across the country and are giving away their hardware for this. When Dish has 5,000,000 subs and DirecTV® 10,000,000 the maximum these guys could EVER expect is 10% of that or 1.5 million in all. Subtract 500,000 to 700,000 DirecTV® and Dish systems in the country (with all the problems) and imagine how THIS will grow once we get a Supreme Court ruling saying its lawful to receive International signals. The American systems will quickly double while the Canadian ones will probably half. Due to the CRTC censorship of good American programming (and the population to afford good quality productions), these guys haven’t a chance to survive with the crap they produce. Canada may have a small population, but we know good programming when we see it and we are all aware that its on DirecTV® and not the ----ty Canadian services.

They constantly BS that they are having more and more channels but its just the same crap, timeshifted for different parts of the country. The ONLY thing they have to offer is some limited French programming for Quebec and thats a very limited market. Thats where they do BEST however, certainly among folk who don’t speak much English. But thats even MORE limited due to the smaller production funding. Just no population (6 Million or so French speaking folks) to support it.

Sorry but that’s just reality and the way it is.:ttrk

http://www.legal-rights.org/images/niceday.gif
Thanks & Good Luck,

To The REAL King!!
-----------------------
Freedom has nothing to fear from the truth!

http://www.legal-rights.org/images/lrbanner.gif

[StarVu]

Its all about protecting...Protecting starchoice and expessvu...Six months ago I work as Gm for a large retailler, starchoice was one of our products. Reps from starchoice had no problem encouraging us to promote selling 2 systems to seniors who go south for the winter....they can take their second system down south so they can keep up with Canadian events.....Many heated agruements from me with this guy.......The 2 canadian sat companies don't seem
to have any problems with their stuff going south but cry like babies when the south comes north...
They realize that they are no threat to dtv and dish....and are protected from dtv and dish up here. Hopefully that will change soon.
Megados if you need a canadian address your welcome to use mine...i'll even forward you their junk mail. Starchoice could use another sub....infact they could use about another 500k subs just to come close to being in the black.

[megados]

Thanks for all the replies, guys! I was just wondering, and now it's pretty clear. I don't know for sure whether I'll get it, but now at least I know what it is I'd be getting!! :D

[davidnb]

I have a SC my self and am pleased with it. There are around 200 channels and there packages are setup for good selection. This includes time shifting which is nice. For all the major networks, they have stations from across Canada and the U.S. so if you miss a show at 8, chances are it will come on another channel a hour later. The PPV doesn't have much selection, but with SC's new satellite up and should be operation next month, more PPV channels will be added.

The growth is still strong, about 10,000 subs are being added every month for SC and when there new satellite comes into service, this should increase. You can't compare SC to cable, not in cost or in programming, SC would win hands down.

You may have noticed I haven't mention BEV which is owned by Bell Canada. The reasons are many but I wouldn't take it if I was offered free programming. The company wants it all, they sue everyone they can and have the bucks to do it.
They mislead their clients. They even by passed their own dealers and offered BEV systems to there own emeployes at a cost below what dealers get them for.

[PrinceLH]

I have had both, starting with Expressvu, a couple of years ago. After one year, I decided to put away the Expressvu and try a Starchoice 921. It is a hybred system similar to the 4DTV C/Ku Band GI 920. The only difference is the ability to subscribe to digital Canadian channels, opposed to the 920's U.S. digital subscriptions. It allows the use of a VC2+ board and analog U.S. subscription. It allows you to also scan the skies for other satellites that use analog or DC2 encrytion. I find the guides and hardware of the Starchoice line, to be better and quicker. They also provide digital outputs for Dolby AC3 (5.1). Starchoice is by far the better corporate citizen of the two. For my money, Starchoice is the only option! Like TTRK has been saying: They do try to stifle competition by suing anyone who stands in their way!

[StarVu]

Sorry but for the money, give me cable...starchoke and express puke only offer twice the crap for twice the money. Atleast with cable I get a cheaper price on ----TY programming and access to high speed internet....Remember those promises from the 2 sat companies....Cable and DTV - the only way to fly

[PrinceLH]

I see that Expresspuke is trying to f*ck over Starchoice this morning. Their partner Telsat, is trying to claw back, up to 11 transponders from F1, before they can even light up the bird. Talk about trying to eliminate the competition! First grey market and now this!!!

[gunsmoke2]

ExpressPuke and StarJerks suck BIG TIME..

Because of THEM they have turned Canada known for its democratic and free society into a country that makes Cuba.. Iran.. look like a free and democratic country in regards to viewing TV broadcast of their Choice..

Imagine a country with Pukeview ONLY.. no other alternatives including StarNoChoice..

That thought should make just about anyone sick..

Stop the PUKES NOW

PLEASE DONATE NOW OR BE SICK FOREVER

GS2