Following yesterday’s announcement that CBC/Radio-Canada, as Canada’s Olympic Network, will be the official broadcaster of the Olympic Games through 2024, CBC Sports today renewed its commitment to connecting audiences with Canada’s high-performance athletes and their sports with the launch of ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES. This multi-platform program includes a 360-degree storytelling model that positions athletes and their stories at the centre. The launch of ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES coincides with a re-brand for CBC Sports overall that includes a new logo and a new look for cbcsports.ca, in addition to the emphasis on high-performance athletics.

 

“This re-brand represents a positive shift in direction for CBC Sports that we’re confident will resonate well with Canadians. By focusing on and elevating coverage of national and international high-performance competitions, CBC Sports can act as a connector between our audience , the athletes, and the national sporting organizations,” said Greg Stremlaw, executive director, CBC Sports. “Through our coverage and storytelling model we strive to reach new heights and by doing so will help to elevate the profile of Canadian sport while uniting our audience through the pride we all share in our remarkable athletes.”

 

ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES will chronicle the athlete’s journey on and off the field of play to ensure Canadians know them and hear from them in their own voice, never meeting them for the first time on the podium. The program consists of a weekly television program, formerly CBC SPORTS WEEKEND, as well as a microsite within cbcsports.ca and the CBC Sports app for iOS and Android devices.

 

The ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES television program will be hosted by the team of Scott Russell and the newly-added Andi Petrillo, who will be joined by a stable of expert commentators and analysts. The show will feature national and international competitions in winter and summer sports featuring well-known and up-and-coming Canadian and international athletes competing at the top levels of their sport each weekend. In addition to event coverage, the program will include features and interviews with athletes, coaches, officials, and other newsmakers from the worlds of national and international sport. The season premiere of ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES will air Saturday, Oct. 24 at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) and will feature coverage of Skate America, part of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating.

 

Analysts and commentators who will be part of ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES event coverage include:

•Todd Brooker - Alpine analysis

•Kurt Browning - Figure Skating analysis

•Deidra Dionne - Freestyle Ski (Aerials) analysis

•Perdita Felicien - Contributor

•Mike Harris - Curling analysis

•Jennifer Heil - Freestyle Ski (Moguls) analysis

• Mellisa Hollingsworth - Contributor

•Brenda Irving - Equestrian, Gymnastics and Freestyle Ski play-by-play

•Rob Keith - Ski Jumping analysis

•Pj Kwong - Contributor

•Carol Lane - Figure Skating analysis

•Catriona Le May Doan - Speed Skating analysis

•Mark Lee - Curling play-by-play

•Kerrin Lee-Gartner - Alpine analysis

•Kevin Martin - Curling analysis

•Joan McCusker - Curling analysis

•Craig McMorris - Contributor

•David Pelletier - Figure Skating analysis

•Deanna Phelan - Equestrian analysis

•Kyle Shewfelt - Gymnastics analysis

•Rob Snoek - Ski Jumping play-by-play

•Kelly VanderBeek - Contributor

 

Fans in the Toronto area are invited to join CBC Sports on Saturday for the live broadcast at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre at 250 Front St. W. from 4-6 p.m. Those in attendance will see the show live and have the chance to meet members of the broadcast team and receive a souvenir item.

 

The microsite at cbcsports.ca and through the CBC Sports app will provide an extension of the TV program with news, real-time results and statistics from the competitions featured each weekend, as well as web-specific features. One such feature is the POV (Players’ Own Voice) series of long-form articles written from the athlete’s perspective. These articles provide an avenue for the athletes to connect with Canadians through first-person accounts of anything from competitions, challenges, triumphs, to off-season activities, their relationships with coaches, to their family and community life. This and other athlete-focused features will be a hallmark of ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES heading into Rio 2016 and beyond.

 

cbcsports.ca will continue to carry streaming coverage of national and international events. Through a partnership with the Canadian Paralympic Committee, cbcsports.ca will carry daily live streaming coverage of the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships from Doha, Qatar, today through Saturday, Oct. 31. Coverage will be available beginning each morning throughout the competition.

 

CBC Sports has a reached multi-year partnership agreement with Petro-Canada, a Suncor business, in support of ROAD TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES, as well as other branded content platforms that will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

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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.

 

For more information including series synopses, press releases, hi-res images, video clips and bios, please visit the CBC Media Centre at cbc.ca/mediacentre. Follow CBC’s publicity team on Twitter @CBC_Publicity.

 

Simon Bassett, publicist, CBC

416-205-8533 (office) 416-988-1590 (mobile)