High definition television in Canada
The state of the HD war in Canada is is being dominated by one provider, long before most households have even gone digital.
When I initially went for HD about a year and a half ago (July 2005), the HD offerings were overpriced, and channel-wise it was slim pickings. I researched both providers available to me, Shaw Cable, and Bell Expressvu satellite. I called both companies multiple times to ask specific questions to help me decide on who to go with.
Shaw’s customer service people gave me three different answers to the same question. Bell was consistent. Shaw was “continually adding more HD channels”. Bell had every available channel in Canada. Shaw had one plain HD box to choose from. Bell was about to introduce a dual-tuner HD PVR.
The choice was an easy one to make. Bell did not disappoint. Picture quality was excellent, programming was good, service was consistent, the non-PVR box was stable, etc.
I have since moved from that house into a townhouse. This seriously limits your HD offerings. So now I’m a Shaw customer, and have been for nearly six months now. My experience has been different to say the least.
The picture quality is inferior to Bell’s and the dual tuner HD PVR (the best Shaw box available) isn’t worth its weight in gold (it ain’t light either). In fact, if you want to read some reviews on the box I have, search on the internet for the same box that Comcast uses in the United States (it’s a Motorola 6212 I believe).
Despite the boxes horrible interface, buggy operation, inferior quality, and higher price tag, what really gets me is the channel lineup. Shaw’s full HD offering includes 14 channels. That’s with the two new ones (National Geographic and Showcase). There’s basically no time-shifted channels (less important because of the dual tuner box), video on demand is not in HD (and arguably lower than SD too), even their Pay-Per-View is not in HD.
As I discovered when I called my friend with Bell Expressvu that I had received two new channels, he informed me that 14 channels is a joke. Bell, in the last few months (6-8) has added more for a total of 27! Nearly double what Shaw offers (not including their Pay-Per-View stations)! That included Mark Cuban’s HD-Net which I didn’t know was available in Canada at all.
So in review Bell has more HD channels, better looking HD and SD signals, better hardware (in every way), better customer service, no analog channels, and time-shifting channels. Need I say more?