Switch To StarChoice

Campbell River always had a Co-Op Cable system called Campbell River Community TV Association. It delivered great programing at a cost of about half of surrounding communities served by Shaw Cable. The technology was not cutting edge and some people were unhappy about the lack of digital HD programming and eventually the pressure to sell CRTV grew.

There were meetings, arguments and presentations and the community was split right down the middle on the issue. We were all owners of CRTV and some of us did not like the idea of a big company moving in. They said they would not raise prices but we knew this was a lie. The sale went through and we were each paid $3,700 for our share in the old Co-Op.

When we got home this year we found we were only getting half the channels we got before we left. They had introduced a "tier" system and everyone was given the option to pay twice as much to keep the programming we had before the buyout. Not being around to "opt in" to the increased charges, we were placed on the lowest tier.

We have had StarChoice (ironically also owned by Shaw) for a few years to use in the motorhome and it was also wired into the big screen TV in the family room. We decided to get rid of Shaw Cable and switch over to StarChoice completely. Our TV costs will be cut in half, leaving plenty of budget room to add a few channels if we want to. The switch also requires buying a couple more receivers for the extra TV's in the house and bringing in a Co-Ax cable from the dish to each TV, something I am capable of doing myself. I will eventually have to install another dish as each dish has four outputs and we have five TV's. No problem, I have an extra dish.