Shaw's free satellite TV program will end August 31st, despite licence extension

By Steve Faguy

GATINEAU – A program Shaw Communications offered a decade ago to grease the wheels of its acquisition of Canwest's television assets will end before the CRTC makes an official final decision on demands that it be renewed.It's called the Local Television Satellite Solution, a free basic satellite subscription that was provided to people in areas that would have lost over-the-air TV service as a result of the digital television transition in 2011. It was funded with $15 million from the $180 million in tangible benefits Shaw proposed as part of its $2 billion acquisition of Canwest back in 2010.The decision...