History
In March 1991, Viewer's Choice Canada, a partnership between Astral, Rogers Pay Per View Inc. (a subsidiary of what is now called Rogers Media) and TSN Enterprises (now known as CTV Specialty Television Inc.), was granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for a broadcasting licence for a regional pay-per-view service serving Eastern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces).
The service launched in Late 1991 using the "Viewers Choice" name on-air.
Until 2007, the pay-per-view service now owned by Shaw Communications, which was originally restricted to Western Canada, shared the Viewers Choice name and used the same satellite feeds. On December 27, 2007, Shaw Broadcast Services switched all of their pay-per-view feeds to its own proprietary pay-per-view service, which is now licensed to operate nationally, displacing Viewers Choice from Shaw, Star Choice (now Shaw Direct), and any other system that receives its pay-per-view feeds via Shaw Broadcast. As a result, and since the only other satellite distributor, Bell TV, offers its own pay-per-view service (known as Vu!), carriage of Viewers Choice is now restricted to cable systems and other providers with a terrestrial fibre connection to Viewers Choice master control.
Viewers Choice Canada Inc. was originally the largest shareholder and managing partner (40%) in the French language pay-per-view service, Canal Indigo. However, on March 20, 2008, Groupe TVA announced it would be purchasing the remaining shares in the service from all other shareholders, including Viewers Choice Canada Inc. The sale was approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) later that year and Viewers Choice now no longer holds any interest in the service.
Since the service's launch in late 1991, it has been restricted to serve Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces; however, on March 6, 2012, the CRTC approved Viewers Choice's request to allow it to broadcast nationally.
Read more about this topic: Viewers Choice
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“When the coherence of the parts of a stone, or even that composition of parts which renders it extended; when these familiar objects, I say, are so inexplicable, and contain circumstances so repugnant and contradictory; with what assurance can we decide concerning the origin of worlds, or trace their history from eternity to eternity?”
—David Hume (1711–1776)