Shaw and Shaw Direct Help Create "A World of Smiles" in Support of BC Children's Hospital

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - May 25, 2012) - Shaw Communications and BC Children's Hospital Foundation are excited to once again come together with British Columbia's South Asian community on May 27 for A World of Smiles, an annual telethon benefiting BC Children's Hospital.

Each year, nearly 200,000 children and families across the province rely on BC Children's Hospital for specialized, critical support that goes well beyond health care. Through the Excellence in Child Health Fund, the A World of Smiles telethon supports the most urgent needs of BC Children's Hospital, including essential services, critical research and advanced technology necessary to make leading pediatric care accessible to all of the province's children.

The 2012 A World of Smiles telethon will air live on May 27 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. from Shaw's Coal Harbour studios in Vancouver. Viewers can tune into the telethon on Shaw Multicultural Channel (SMC), channel 116 in Metro Vancouver, Squamish and Whistler. The telethon will also air on local Shaw TV stations throughout British Columbia and on Shaw Direct channel 299.

Hosted by Atish Ram, producer of the SMC television series Zindagi and SMC host Mana Mansour along with local personalities Sukhi Ghuman and Harmeet Gosal, the telethon will feature homegrown music and dance performances, local celebrity guest appearances and the inspiring stories of youth and their experiences at BC Children's Hospital.

This year, the telethon will include the world premiere of the Bollywood video 'Making Dreams Come True,' with production supported by Vancouver's local film community. The video will feature the Shiamak Vancouver dance team and special guest dancers in a choreographed performance at a very familiar Vancouver location. Other performers include classical tabla wizard Cassius Khan; hip hop sensation A-Slam; world music artist Will Blunderfield; young singing stars Shivangi Bhayana and Kirti Arneja; and great dance teams including the world-class Shiamak Dance Troupe and the Shan-E-Punjab Golden Boys.

For more information about the telethon and how you can donate, please visit www.aworldofsmiles.com.

About Shaw Communications Inc.

Shaw Communications Inc. is a diversified communications and media company, providing consumers with broadband cable television, high-speed Internet, home phone, telecommunications services (through Shaw Business), satellite direct-to-home services (through Shaw Direct) and engaging programming content (through Shaw Media). Shaw serves 3.4 million customers through a reliable and extensive network. Shaw Media operates one of the largest conventional television networks in Canada, Global Television, and 18 specialty networks including HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, History Television and Showcase. Shaw is traded on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges and is included in the S&P/TSX 60 Index (TSX:SJR.B) (NYSE:SJR). For more information about Shaw, please visit www.shaw.ca.

About BC Children's Hospital

BC Children's Hospital is the province's only full-service acute-care hospital dedicated to serving the one million children living in BC and the Yukon. All children who are seriously ill or injured are referred to Children's Hospital and are either treated at the hospital facility in Vancouver or, with consultation from Children's specialists, in their home community. Last year, more than 81,000 children were treated at Children's Hospital. Funds raised by the foundation are used to support BC Children's Hospital, Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children and the Child & Family Research Institute. For more information visit www.bcchf.ca and follow @BCCHF on Twitter.