Broadcast hours and hosts revealed along with details of CBC/Radio-Canada’s programming plans across television, radio and digital platforms including a first-ever virtual reality experience that will take Canadians inside the Olympics
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February 5, 2016 – With the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games exactly six months away, CBC/Radio-Canada, Canada’s Olympic Network through 2024, today announced the first details of its programming plans for this summer’s big event, as well as the first Olympic partners who have signed on in support of Canada’s Olympians. Rio 2016 — CBC/Radio-Canada’s 20th Olympic Games as Canada’s official broadcaster — will be the first Olympic Games hosted by a South American city and will take place from Aug. 5–21, with 306 medal events across 42 disciplines. Including Team Canada, approximately 10,500 athletes representing 206 countries will be in Rio de Janeiro to take part in these Games.
“The six-month mark is an exciting milestone on the road to Rio for all of us at CBC/Radio-Canada and through our Strategy 2020, we are proud to invest important signature events that bring Canadians together such as the Olympics,” said Greg Stremlaw, executive director, CBC Sports, and general manager and chef de mission for CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of Rio 2016. “As Canada’s Olympic Network, we take pride in connecting Canadians to the athletes and the Olympic Games through a digital-first strategy, allowing them to watch what they want, when they want, from wherever they want. Along with our broadcast partners TSN, RDS and Sportsnet and our Olympic partners on the corporate side, we continue to prepare for what will be one of the most innovative and accessible Olympic Games broadcasts ever provided to Canadians.”
Canadian viewers will have access to more than 1275 hours of television coverage from Rio 2016 throughout the Games across CBC-TV, ICI Radio-Canada Télé, and primary Olympic broadcast partners TSN et RDS, as well as Sportsnet. In addition, CBC Radio One et ICI Radio-Canada Première will provide special programming on the radio, with TSN Radio also carrying Olympic Games broadcasts as the Official Affiliate Radio Broadcaster. CBC/Radio-Canada’s broadcasts during the Games will be split into three programming blocks — Olympic Games Morning, Olympic Games Daytime et Olympic Games Primetime — in English and French starting at 7 a.m. ET (4 a.m. PT) each day.
For viewers of CBC/Radio-Canada’s English-language coverage, Ron MacLean will host Olympic Games Morning (7 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET/4 to 9 a.m. PT) followed by the duo of Andi Petrillo et David Amber for Olympic Games Daytime (12 to 6 p.m. ET/9 to 3 p.m. PT), with Scott Russell hosting the nightly Olympic Games Primetime block (6 p.m. to 1 a.m. ET/3 to 10 p.m. PT). In total, this veteran team has a combined experience of 23 Olympic Games as broadcasters for CBC/Radio-Canada. In addition to coverage on television, CBC Radio will have results, coverage, context and more every day throughout Rio 2016 with hosts Scott Regehr et Andie Bennett on Olympic Games Report.
French-language viewers will be greeted on Olympic Games Morning by Olympian Alexandre Despatie et RDI Matin Week-End’s Martin Labrosse each day (7 a.m. to 11 a.m. ET/4 to 8 a.m. PT), followed by ICI-RDI’s Alexis de Lancer (11 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET/8 to 10 a.m. PT) and Radio-Canada’s Guy D’Aoust (1 to 6 p.m. ET/10 a.m. to 3 p.m. PT) sharing hosting duties for Olympic Games Daytime, while familiar Radio-Canada Olympic host Marie-José Turcotte will be at the helm of Olympic Games Primetime (6:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. ET/3:30 to 9 p.m. PT). Marie-José Turcotte and Guy D’Aoust will host their 14th and fifth Olympic Games, respectively, as broadcasters for Radio-Canada. From a radio standpoint, Alain Gravel et Marie-Louise Arsenault will host daily special programming to French-language listeners along with journalist Robert Frosi. More details about the larger broadcast teams for CBC/Radio-Canada’s and its broadcast partners will be announced in the coming months.
On the digital front, CBC/Radio-Canada bring Canadians closer to the Games than ever before with an immersive 360-degree virtual reality experience allowing fans to see Olympic events live from inside the stadium and even on the field of play through VR headsets and iOS and Android devices. Canadian viewers will also have more access to Olympic coverage than ever before, across web and mobile platforms, including an enhanced Rio 2016 App, that will provide fans with more than 2000 hours of live streaming sport coverage — more than has ever been made available before in Canada for an Olympic Games — as well as fully accessible on-demand content, the ability to choose from a variety of camera angles, real-time results and video highlights, interactive medal standings, the latest news from Rio and more.
In keeping with CBC/Radio-Canada’s commitment as Canada’s Olympic Network to ensure that Canadians know each athlete before they step on a podium, the network will continue to establish and foster relationships with Canada’s Olympians through the #OurAthletes initiative in communities across the country. Established before the Toronto 2015 Pan Am Games, the #OurAthletes initiative, through CBC/Radio-Canada’s local news outlets, gives Canadians a platform to follow the journey of their local athletes online, on television, on the radio and in social media as they work toward and compete in Rio.
Corporate Canada has already begun to show support for CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of Rio 2016 with 11 Olympic partners signing on. The CBC/Radio-Canada Media Solutions group has developed customized, integrated solutions for each of these partners and will continue to work with interested advertisers on branded content, strategic media buys and overall partnerships in the lead-up to the Games.
Further details of CBC/Radio-Canada’s programming and broadcast plans for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be revealed in the coming months. In the meantime, cbcsports.ca/
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About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight aboriginal languages.
A space for us all is CBC/Radio-Canada’s new strategy to modernize the public broadcaster and ensure that it continues to fulfill its mandate for Canadians and for future generations. Through to 2020, it will increase its investment in prime-time television programming, and continue to create radio programs of the highest quality, while promoting the development of digital and mobile platforms and content.
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For further information, please contact:
Simon Bassett, publicist, CBC
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Marie Tétreault, chef de la promotion information et projets spéciaux, Radio-Canada