Shaw Direct is a direct broadcast satellite

Direct broadcast satellite

Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception.A designation broader than DBS would be direct-to-home signals, or DTH. This has initially distinguished the transmissions directly intended for home viewers from cable television...

 television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 distributor in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 which is majority-owned by cable TV operator Shaw Communications

Shaw Communications

Shaw Communications is Canada's largest telecommunications company that provides telephone, Canada's fastest Internet and television services as well as broadcasting and soon Wifi. Shaw is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta...

 Inc. As of 2010, Shaw Direct had over 900,000 subscribers. It broadcasts on K_u band

Ku band

The Kμ band is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies. This symbol refers to —in other words, the band directly below the K-band...

 from two communications satellite

Communications satellite

A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications...

s, Anik F1R at 107.3°W and Anik F2 at 111.1°W; these satellites are owned by Telesat Canada

Telesat Canada

Telesat Canada is a Canadian satellite communications company founded on May 2, 1969. The company is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario as well as having offices in the United States and Brazil.On October 5, 2007 Loral Space & Communications Inc...

 and otherwise are used primarily to distribute programming to various Canadian cable TV companies. The company was formerly known as Star Choice until April 15, 2009.

A full list of channels carried by these two satellites is available from satellite-related sites such as Lyngsat: Anik F1 Anik F2.