CALGARY – This year the Star Choice brand will begin to disappear altogether, Shaw Communications executives said today.
In its place will come a new brand, Shaw Direct, which directly ties the direct-to-home satellite company to its cableco owner.
Shaw CEO Jim Shaw made note of the impending change Wednesday afternoon during a conference call with financial analysts discussing Shaw Communications’ fiscal 2009 second quarter results.
Some of the analysts questioned (again) whether the DTH division was a core asset and if it was looking to sell Star Choice and its nearly 900,000 subscribers.
“It is core to us and you’re going to see some new stuff come out on Star Choice. It’s going to be called Shaw Direct,” said Mr. Shaw. “We’re going to ramp it up and put a little more pressure on it.”
“We’re not looking to sell a $2 billion division off to anybody.”
The follows recent changes where the company’s satellite truck tracking company and distant TV signal provider dropped the Cancom brand in favour of Shaw Tracking and Shaw Broadcast Services, respectively.
While noting the branding change will be a slow rollout over the course of the year, the change will mean there’s now “no confusion for anyone. We’re 100% Shaw,” said Star Choice vice-president Jim Cummins.
– Greg O’Brien
