CBC reveals Sochi Olympics coverage plans
Broadcast teams introduced at 100-day celebration
CBC unveiled the network's coverage plans and broadcast team for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, at a public event Wednesday at the Canadian Broadcast Centre in Toronto.
The event, held to celebrate the 100-day countdown to the opening ceremony on Feb. 7, 2014, was hosted by Ron MacLean and Scott Russell, who introduced several members of a broadcast team that features CBC television and radio and news personalities from across Canada, and well-known Canadian athletes who will serve as analysts for their individual sports.
Hubert T. Lacroix, president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, and Neil McEneaney, interim executive vice-president of CBC English Services, were also on hand to officially kick off the network’s 100-day countdown celebration and welcome the broadcast team.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with the talented group of hosts, journalists, commentators and analysts we’ve assembled to bring the Olympic Games home to Canadians this February,” said McEneaney. “As Canada’s official broadcaster for Sochi 2014, CBC/Radio-Canada is covering the Olympic Games like never before. The breadth of knowledge and expertise of this incredible broadcast team plays a major part in allowing us to do just that.”
All-star team
CBC’s all-star broadcast team has attended more than 180 Olympic Games combined either as broadcasters or competitors and has won 30 Olympic medals.
Diana Swain of CBC’s The National pairs with CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada’s David Amber to host Olympic Morning from 6–10 a.m. ET (3–7 a.m. PT) followed by Russell as he hosts Olympic Daytime from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. ET (7 a.m. to 12 p.m. PT) every day throughout the Games.
MacLean hosts Olympic Primetime in the evenings from 7-11 p.m. across Canada outside of Alberta (6-10 p.m.) and British Columbia (5-9 p.m.) while Andi Petrillo from CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada teams with CBC News Montreal’s Andrew Chang to host Olympic Overnight in Pacific primetime from 12–6 a.m. ET (9 p.m.–3 a.m. PT). Together, this team will guide viewers through the events and storylines playing out each day.
In addition, the opening ceremony on Feb. 7 will be co-hosted by MacLean and The National’s Peter Mansbridge from Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi.
CBC News keeps Canadians informed of breaking stories from Sochi and around the world on The National with host Peter Mansbridge, and CBC News Network with Heather Hiscox and Ian Hanomansing and their respective teams of reporters. CBC Radio will also be well represented in Sochi with Jian Ghomeshi traveling to Russia to host Q while Olympic Report airs each hour throughout the day across Canada with hosts Matt Galloway and Scott Regehr, with updates from CBC News reporters.
New website
With more events and more hours of competition than ever before, Canadians won’t miss a minute of the action at the Games with coverage available on multiple platforms. CBC/Radio-Canada will provide access to live broadcasts, updates, news and more on TV, radio, online, on tablets and through mobile devices, allowing Canadians to access what they want when they want it, from anywhere in Canada.
To ensure Canadians can see every competition, CBC has partnered with TSN, TSN2, TSN Radio, Sportsnet and Sportsnet One to provide extended broadcast hours of CBC’s coverage of the Games. Further programming details and scheduling information will be made available closer to the start of Sochi 2014.
Canadians can engage with the broadcasts throughout the Games online in English at the newly redesigned cbc.ca/olympics, which officially launched earlier Wednesday. The website offers news, notes, results and analysis from pre-Olympic competitions around the world, featuring Canadian athletes as well as international competitors looking to make an impact in Sochi. Users will also find live streaming content during Sochi 2014 as well as informative and entertaining video content leading up to the Olympic Winter Games.
Closer to the start of Sochi 2014, the website will also include an interactive programming schedule that will ensure viewers will know exactly when and how they can watch the competitions and programming that are of most interest to them.
Viewers can also connect with the broadcast using Twitter in English @cbcolympics (#cbcolympics) and at facebook.com/cbcolympics, and in French at ici.radio-canada.ca/olympiques, on Twitter at @RC_Sports (#RColympiques) and on Facebook at facebook.com/radiocanada.sports.
CBC/Radio-Canada also introduced two interactive initiatives, designed to get Canadians in the Olympic spirit and increase the connection with and support for Canadian athletes via social media. The #OurAthlete initiative encourages Canadians to tweet inspirational messages to Olympic hopefuls, and to share how they are getting into the spirit of the Games via Twitter and Instagram using #OurAthlete.
The second initiative, called "Hoist the Flag," gives Canadians the opportunity to take a patriotic photo of themselves holding a Canadian flag in front of a Sochi 2014 backdrop that they then can share socially. Each CBC centre across the country will give Canadians the chance to "Hoist the Flag" at community events leading up to and throughout the Olympic Games in February.