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Hugh at Digital Home has released his updated report listing what HD channels are available to Canadian consumers. I look forward to this report, but I find my self starting to feel as if the grass is greener on the other side of the country (I’m on the west coast), especially considering that Cogeco is now offering 25 HD channels in their Ontario line up.

[My commentary on the report follows after the jump]… 

A cursory glance at the chart shows Rogers and Bell ExpressVu neck and neck, they don’t have all the same channels, but with ExpressVu not adding any new channels in the last couple of months, Rogers could take the lead in Canada. ExpressVu needs to pick up a few more channels if they want to remain the dominant HD player in Canada. ShowCase HD has been out for quite a few months, and according to the charts, it has a medium ammount of content, and would be a great asset. (this is unlike A&E HD which is a total waste of HD bandwidth stretching an SD signal to HD — not any fault of Bell I might add).

Shaw cable has been making a few strides forward, which is good to see. I havn’t looked at a Shaw HD box in a while, so I am not sure if they have resolved some of their bandwidth issues yet. I do know quite a few Shaw employee’s who are on ExpressVu simply due to the ammount of HD Content.

Videotron and Cogeco have the most HD french channels, but who really cares about that, its a waste of bandwidth for most of the country. (kidding really).

SaskTel Max is really impressive, 27 HD channels over their ADSL 2+ based network is very impressive! Considering that SaskTel serves a much much smaller market than TELUS, they are the most technologically advanced ILEC in Canada. Telus really needs to take a look at SaskTel and roll up their sleves and get to work upgrading their network. Right now, you can’t really buy TELUS TV. I would like to review Telus TV once it makes its appearance in my area.

apeman HDTV, home theatre, rants, shaw, tech, video