The Shopping Channel
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| The Shopping Channel | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| The Shopping Channel logo | |
| Launched | January 1, 1987 |
| Owned by | Rogers Media |
| Country | Canada |
| Broadcast area | National |
| Headquarters | Mississauga, Ontario |
| Formerly called | Canadian Home Shopping Network |
| Website | The Shopping Channel |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| Bell TV | Channel 660 |
| Shaw Direct | Channel 396 |
| Cable | |
| Available on most Canadian cable systems | Check local listings, channels may vary |
The Shopping Channel is a Canadian English language cable television home shopping channel. The Shopping Channel is a division of Rogers Media. The channel is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario. It showcases various products throughout the day of which viewers can purchase either by telephone or internet. TSC also distributes a catalogue twice per year and owns an off-air outlet store located in Toronto.
The only day that TSC sells no items is Christmas Day. Sale broadcasts are replaced by Christmas scenes with holiday music in the background. TSC usually goes dark for the Christmas holiday at about 4 p.m. EST Christmas Eve. They go back to standard broadcasting at 7 a.m. EST Boxing Day.
As with most home shopping cable channels, the products are mainly aimed at a female audience, such as jewellery, and dresses.
[edit] History
Founded by Canadian entrepreneur, John Goldberg, The Shopping Channel went on the air in January, 1987. It was originally known as the Canadian Home Shopping Network (CHSN), under the umbrella of the Canadian Home Shopping Club (CHSC), and was affiliated with the U.S. Home Shopping Network HSN. The channel was exempted from licensing by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), but for several years this was on the condition the channel not use live motion video to demonstrate its products. Animated graphics could be used, but otherwise CHSC was limited to a slide-show format. This restriction was lifted in 1995.
The first on-air host was Sandi Hall. Hosts from the first year included "Bargain" Bill Allison (husband to Betty-Jean Allison, a current host), Mike Banks, Craig Hamilton (Stash Cairo), Alexandra Elliot (Martha Zidel) and Rosemary Frasier. In January 1988 Rogers Communications acquired the organization from John Goldberg. Rogers then installed Simon Dean as the new president.
After adopting its current name, the channel commonly used the acronym "TSC", which had a stylized askew-square logo. Its use was cut back significantly after complaints from the hardware store chain TSC Stores, which used a vaguely similar logo.
