CANCOM History
CANCOM was established as a Satellite Relay Distribution Undertaking to expand television programming choices for underserved and remote communities across Canada. The service was originally formed as a consortium of broadcasting companies, including Allarcom, WIC, Maclean-Hunter, Selkirk, and Telemedia. Over time, CANCOM underwent several ownership changes, culminating in Shaw Communications acquiring a controlling interest by late 2000. This timeline covers the period from CANCOM’s early development and pre-launch phase through to the introduction of its consumer direct-to-home satellite service, Star Choice, in 1997.
CANCOM Timeline
CANCOM began test operations in July 1981, with full-time service commencing in January 1982. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, additional television signals were progressively added, significantly expanding the range of programming choices available to the communities served by CANCOM
April 1981
CRTC decision 81-252 approved an application by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc (CANCOM) to provide television signals to underserved areas of Canada
July 15, 1981
CANCOM begins test operations with the following signals
- CHAN (BCTV/CTV - Vancouver)
- CITV (ITV - Edmonton)
- CHCH (Ind. - Hamilton)
November 1981
CFTM (TVA - Montreal)* replaced CHCH (Ind. - Hamilton)
January 1, 1982
CANCOM began full-time service with the following signals.
- CHAN (BCTV/CTV - Vancouver)
- CITV (ITV - Edmonton)
- CHCH (Ind. - Hamilton)
- CFTM (TVA - Montreal)*
*CFTM (TVA - Montreal) was often listed as TCTV Montreal up until 1990
March 8, 1983
CRTC decision 83-126 approved an application by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc (CANCOM) to distribute the following signals (3 commericial + 1 non-commercial) signals from Detroit.
- WXYZ (ABC - Detroit)
- WJBK (CBS - Detroit)
- WDIV (NBC - Detroit)
- WTVS (PBS - Detroit)
September 1, 1983
CANCOM adds the following US signals from Detroit.
- WXYZ (ABC - Detroit)
- WJBK (CBS - Detroit)
- WDIV (NBC - Detroit)
- WTVS (PBS - Detroit)
August 1, 1986
CRTC public notice 1986-183 issued a revised list of eligible service which added the following signals from Seattle
- KOMO (ABC - Seattle)
- KIRO (CBS - Seattle)
September 1, 1987
CANCOM begins distributing the following signals from Seattle.
- KOMO (ABC - Seattle)
- KIRO (CBS - Seattle)
September 1, 1988
CANCOM discontinues distributing the following signals from Seattle.
- KOMO (ABC - Seattle)
- KIRO (CBS - Seattle)
December 28, 1990
CRTC public notice 1990-115 removed the following signals to be distributed by CANCOM.
- KOMO (ABC - Seattle)
- KIRO (CBS - Seattle)
January 17, 1992
CANCOM begins dstributing the following signal to northern Canada communities upon channel launch.
- TV Northern Canada
March 9, 1994
CRTC decision 94-76 approved an aplication by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) to distrubute the following signals.
- WBZ (NBC - Boston)
- WGBH (PBS - Boston)
March 9, 1994
CRTC decision 94-77 approved an aplication by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) to distrubute the following signals.
- CITY (Citytv - Toronto)
CANCOM began distributing CITY shortly after approval.
August 29, 1994
CRTC decision 94-702 approved an aplication by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) to distrubute the following signal.
- WUHF (FOX - Rochester)
CANCOM began distributing WUHF shortly after approval.
November 28, 1994
CRTC decision 94-897 approved an application by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) to replace WJBK (CBS - Detroit) with the following signal due to affiliation change to FOX
- WTOL (CBS - Toledo)
December 10, 1994
CANCOM replaced WJBK (CBS - Detroit) with the following signal due to WJBK's affiliation switch to FOX
- WTOL (CBS - Toledo)
January 19, 1995
CRTC decision 95-20 approved an application by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) to add the following signals.
- WCCO (CBS - Minneapolis)
- KARE (NBC - Minneapolis)
- KOMO (ABC - Seattle)
- KIRO (CBS - Seattle)**
- KING (NBC - Seattle)
- KCTS (PBS - Seattle)
The above signals were added shortly after CRTC approval.
**KIRO switched from CBS to UPN on January 16, 1995
November 6, 1995
CRTC decision 95-803 approved an application by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) to add the following signals.
- CFCF (CTV - Montreal)
- CFJP (TQS - Montreal)
- CITY (Citytv - Toronto)
- WCVB (ABC - Boston)
- WBZ (CBS - Boston)
The above signals were added shortly after CRTC approval
March 7, 1996
CRTC decision 96-76 approved an application by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) to add the following signals.
- WHDH (NBC - Boston)
This decision also authorized CANCOM to replace KIRO with KSTW (CBS- Tacoma) due to KIRO affiliation switch the previous year. It's highly likely that CBS from the Seattle market was not available after KIRO switch to UPN OR CANCOM switched to KSTW and got approval after.
The above signals were added shortly after CRTC approval
August 9, 1996
CRTC decision 96-363 approved an application by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) to add the following signals.
- CJNT (Ind. - Montreal)***
- CFTU (Ind. - Montreal)
- CFTO (CTV - Toronto)
- CIII (Global - Paris)
The above signals were added shortly after CRTC approval
***CJNT would not become available until it launched on September 8, 1997
February 21, 1997
CRTC decision 97-81 approved an application by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) to add the following signals.
- CJON (NTV/CTV - St. John's)
The above signals were added shortly after CRTC approval
July 22, 1997
CRTC decision 97-359 approved an application by Canadian Satellite Communications Inc. (CANCOM) to add the following signal to replace KSTW Tacoma.
- KIRO (CBS - Seattle)
KIRO likely replaced KSTW on June 30, 1997 and got CRTC approval after the affiliation change.