Star Choice Television Network, the latest Canadian dth satellite applicant, is playing down the impact of Telesat’s damaged Anik E1 satellite on plans to launch its service later this year, but the lame satellite is nonetheless contributing to the problems plaguing the looming Canadian dth industry.

Original plans for Star Choice dictated distribution on the Anik E2, Telesat’s second satellite which is now bearing the bulk of the channels displaced when Anik E1 short-circuited March 26 and left 19 of its 56 channels operational.

If the problems with E1 result in a continued shortage of satellite space, Star Choice will have to increase the percentage of its signals taken off American bird EchoStar. To date, the plan calls for 22% of its signals to come from the u.s. satellite and the remainder from Telesat properties.

EchoStar currently has one satellite up and running, one set to launch in June and a third in the building stages.

As for where Star Choice stands in Telesat’s order of priority listing for space on the Anik E2 and whether the reassigned Anik E1 channels have bumped it down the food chain, Guy Skipworth, vp business development, says they’re going to have to wait for Telesat to devise a new queue in the wake of the E1 events before they know.