The story
1990s: inception as ExpressVu
ExpressVu was conceived in 1994, at the time of American DSS systems launch, as a consortium of Ontario-based Tee-Comm Electronics, Canadian Satellite Communications (Cancom), Vancouver-based Western International Communications (WIC) and Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE), with a projected startup date of late 1995. High technology development costs and delays placed Tee-Comm in a severe financial position, prompting the remaining partners to pull out in 1996. Instead, U.S. satellite-TV provider Echostar Dish Network was chosen to provide the receivers and uplink equipment. The Hughes DirecTV system had already been optioned to Power Broadcasting, in Canada; it has since been withdrawn. Tee-Comm on its own managed to launch the first DBS service in Canada, AlphaStar, in early 1997; however, in a matter of months the company went bankrupt and the service was discontinued, leaving thousands of consumers with useless receivers (although with some reconfiguration, could be used to receive unencrypted FTA channels). ExpressVu launched service in September 1997, initially as "Dish Network Canada", followed by "ExpressVu Dish Network", in both cases using the Echostar logo. On November 5, it launched an advertising campaign featuring couples wearing ExpressVu dishes on their heads telling about its benefits, ending with the slogan "get your head on our dish". The campaign targeted a wide consumer demographic in order to prove that they were "better than the cable monopolies", according to marketing director Stuart Morris.
2000s: Bell purchases ExpressVu, later renames it Bell Satellite TV
Bell took over full ownership of ExpressVu by 2000.
The ExpressVu name was retired in August 2008 along with the Today Just Got Better advertising campaign. Bell's television services as a whole are now simply called Bell TV. When disambiguation is required, the satellite service is called Bell Satellite TV.
Plans have been shelved for any additional ExpressVu satellite expenditures assuming pending CRTC and Industry Canada approval for Dish Network to use all 32 transponders on Nimiq 5. As a result of this, SES has announced that they will not be replacing the ill-fated AMC-14 now that Dish Network has cut this deal with Telesat & BCE for Nimiq 5 usage.
In 2009, Telus reached a deal to resell a re-packaged version of the Bell Satellite TV service in parts of Alberta and British Columbia known as Telus Satellite TV. The agreement was designed to allow Telus the ability to "instantly" offer a quadruple play of services in markets where it has not yet deployed its IPTV services, while also allowing Bell to increase its television market share in Western Canada. The Telus-branded service co-exists with the Bell-branded version of Bell Satellite TV, which is still offered in the markets that Telus Satellite TV is offered. As of March 31, 2018 Telus Satellite TV is no longer available to new customers. Current subscribers can update their channels by calling 310-MYTV (6968).
2010s: discontinuation of SDTV receivers and traditional theme packages
In 2012, Bell changed satellite plans in Ontario. They are now sold in packages called "Good", "Better" and "Best" similarly to its competitor Rogers Cable in that region. Channels in the "Best" tier can still be purchased in theme packages, and existing customers with older plans are grandfathered. This also does not affect other regions such as Quebec, where there are different types of plans. Along with these changes, Bell discontinued sales and rentals of its final standard-definition television (SDTV) receiver, the 4100 model. Customers who still have an older SDTV with an AV input (or peripheral modulator) can use an HD receiver, but the quality will be limited to 480i due to technical limitations.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bell Satellite TV, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4