[1] As Cancom, the service was originally owned by a consortium of several Canadian broadcasting companies, but ownership changes eventually consolidated Shaw as the primary owner.

The CRTC approved and, on 1 September 1983, CANCOM began transmitting the four Detroit affiliates of the three major commercial networks and PBS: WJBK-TV, WDIV-TV, WXYZ-TV and WTVS.

In 1985, senior vice president Steven D. Comrie struck a controversial deal with US cable operators to deliver Cancom's Detroit signals to remote villages and communities across Alaska.

Despite objections from various US copyright holders, Comrie and a group of Alaska cable operators led by Gordon Rock of Seattle, WA, won federal approval for statewide distribution of Cancom's Detroit channels.

Comrie later left Cancom to join Rock and US cellular industry pioneer Craig McCaw to co-found Netlink USA, and the Kirkland WA-based company launched its DBS lineup of Denver's ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates, plus PBS and independents at the Western Cable Show in Anaheim, CA in December 1986.

Cancom later picked up additional stations including Seattle's KING (NBC) and KOMO (ABC) to offer a greater diversity of time zone feeds for its primary Canadian market, as alternatives to WXYZ and WDIV.