Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium at Vancouver 2010

As part of its ongoing commitment to deliver inclusive coverage of Vancouver 2010 that embraces the country’s multicultural heritage, Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium today unveils its 63-member multilingual broadcast team that will deliver the Games in a total of 22 languages. Consortium broadcast partners OMNI Television, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and Asian Television Network (ATN) will air a combined total of 421 hours of multilingual coverage throughout the 17 days of the Games.

“We have recruited and trained a dynamic group of broadcasters who will deliver the Games in their native languages. Hosting the Games on home soil gives us the perfect opportunity to celebrate the country’s diversity and share in the magic of the Games like never before,” said Keith Pelley, President, Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.

Training for first-time broadcasters included workshops with broadcast veterans, in-studio prep work, and online instruction through a portal and website specially created by the Consortium.

**Media Note – bios of the multilingual broadcast team are attached and available at CTVMedia.ca/Olympics and CTVMedia.ca/olympiques

In addition to live event coverage, the multilingual broadcast team will deliver the Opening and Closing Ceremonies in a record 13 languages. Olympic Games highlights will air in news broadcasts on OMNI Television, APTN and ATN in multiple languages. OMNI News and APTN National News will also be on location in Vancouver throughout the Games to provide stories of particular interest to their respective audiences.

The Consortium’s coverage of the Games will be delivered in the following 22 languages: Bangla, Cantonese, Cree, Dene, English, French, Gujarati, Hindi, Inuktitut, Italian, Mandarin, Mechif, Mi’Kmaq, Mohawk, Ojibway, Oji-Cree, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Tamil, Ukrainian and Urdu.

OMNI Televsion

OMNI Television, Canada’s broadcast leader in multilingual/multicultural programming, has assembled a 20-member broadcast team, bringing together well-known talent from OMNI News and Diversity programming and experts in Winter Games sports. OMNI will deliver 100 hours of coverage in a total of seven languages across five stations.

“As part of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, we at OMNI are excited to contribute multilingual live coverage to this ambitious Canadian media initiative,” said Madeline Ziniak, National Vice President of OMNI Television. "We’ve put together a solid broadcast team of hosts and experts for this unique opportunity to deliver the 2010 Winter Games in seven languages and share the collective dreams of a nation for our first Olympic gold medal on home soil."

The OMNI broadcast team is as follows:

· Cantonese: Alex Chum, (Host), Bill Tang (Expert, Hockey)

· Italian: Vincenzo Somma (Host), Dino Cavalluzzo (Host), Mike Rosati (Play-by-Play, Hockey), Giuseppe Busillo (Expert, Hockey)

· Mandarin: Wei Lee (Host), Dr. Yang Meijuan (Expert, Figuring Skating), Wei (Cherry) Zhang (Expert, Figure Skating), Cary Luo (Expert, Skiing and Curling)

· Polish: Wojciech Sniegowski (Host), Bogdan Poprawski, Ph.D (Co-Host)

· Portuguese: Lidia Ferreira (Host), Susan Trindale (Co-Host), Kelly Oliveira (Expert, Figure Skating)

· Punjabi: Jasdip Wahla (Host), Jatinder (Jett) Bassi (Play-by-Play, Hockey), Bhupinder Hundal (Play-by-Play, Hockey)

· Ukrainian: Iryna Korpan (Host), Ihor Bokiy (Co-Host).

APTN

APTN, the first ever Aboriginal network worldwide to broadcast live coverage of the Games, has rallied a 36-member broadcast team which includes veterans as well as newcomers. The network will produce three distinct hosted shows for its Aboriginal, English and French broadcasts. APTN will deliver 214 hours of coverage in a mix of English, French and eight Aboriginal languages on its standard definition channel and in High Definition on APTN HD.

“To find our 36 multilingual broadcasters, APTN embarked on a nationwide search for talent fluent in their native languages who had some broadcasting experience; some didn’t but had the will to learn and become part of the team. We held several training sessions with successful candidates – many of whom are brand new to sports broadcasting. The scope of this undertaking was enormous, and we’re thrilled with the result,” said Jean LaRose, APTN Chief Executive Officer. “It is truly our privilege to share some of our languages and cultures with all of Canada and to provide the world’s first Aboriginal language coverage of the Games live and in HD.”

The APTN broadcast team is as follows;

· Aboriginal language show: Rick Harp (Host), Waneek Horn-Miller (Vancouver Host)

· Cree: Barry Ahenakew (Analyst, Alpine Skiing and Freestyle Skiing – Aerials), Abel Charles (Analyst, Alpine Skiing and Freestyle Skiing – Aerials), Robert Merasty (Analyst, Speed Skating, Nordic Combined and Curling), George Nakogee (Play-by-Play, Hockey), Harry Opikowkew (Play-by-Play, Speed Skating, Nordic Combined and Curling), Jules Spence (Play-by-Play, Hockey)

· Dene: Alan Adam (Play-by-Play, Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon)

· English: Mike Beauregard (Host), Waneek Horn-Miller (Co-Host, Vancouver), Keith McMahon (Play-by-Play, Curling), Arnold Asham (Analyst, Curling), Al Hackner (Analyst, Curling), John Chabot (Analyst, Hockey), Sharon Firth (Analyst, Cross-Country Skiing), Marek Beaudoin (Analyst, Biathlon), Wendy Lumby (Analyst, Alpine Skiing), Chelsie McCutcheon (Analyst, Alpine Skiing and Snowboard)

· French: Charles Clement (Host), Janelle Wookey (Co-Host, Vancouver), Richard Daneault (Analyst, Curling), John Chabot (Analyst, Hockey), Marek Beaudoin (Analyst, Biathlon)

· Inuktitut: Karliin Aariak (Host, Opening Ceremony), Abraham Tagalik (Host, Opening Ceremony; Play-by-Play, Hockey), Pujjuut Kusugak (Play-by-Play, Hockey)

· Mechif: Robert Merasty (Play-by-Play, Ski Jumping)

· Mi’Kmaq: Cousins Brian (Host, Closing Ceremony), Justin Francis (Host, Closing Ceremony), Darren Stevens (Play-by-Play, Hockey), Foster Augustine (Play-by-Play, Hockey)

· Mohawk: Tiorahkwathe Gilbert (Play-by-Play, Alpine Skiing), Wesley Miller (Play-by-Play, Alpine Skiing)

· Oji-Cree: Harry Mawakeesic (Play-by-Play, Hockey), Bernard Mekanak (Play-by-Play, Hockey)

· Ojibway: Colin Mousseau (Analyst, Alpine Skiing; Play-by-Play, Hockey), Frank Beaulieau (Analyst, Alpine Skiing, Play-by-Play, Hockey), Barbara Nepinak (Play-by-Play, Figure Skating), Clarence Nepinak (Play-by-Play, Figure Skating)

ATN

ATN, Canada’s largest South Asian broadcaster, has convened a seven-member broadcast team to deliver 107 hours of live Games coverage in six languages across seven channels.

“ATN is delighted to make history by broadcasting the Olympic Games in six South Asian languages on seven of our Canadian channels. The energy level among our broadcast team and their willingness to learn and perform has been commendable,” said Shan Chandrasekar, President and CEO of ATN.

The ATN Language Broadcast Team is as follows:

· Bangla: Suman Rahman (Host, Snowboard and Luge)

· Gujarati: Dharmesh Tanna (Host, Bobsleigh)

· Hindi: Abhizar Badani (Host, Alpine Skiing), Rajinder Lamba (Host, Alpine Skiing)

· Punjabi: Amarjit Sangha (Host, Biathlon and Figure Skating), Rajinder Lamba (Host, Biathlon and Figure Skating)

· Tamil: Ratnathurai (Host, Skeleton and Ski Jumping)

· Urdu: Ashfaq Hussain (Host, Freestyle Skiing and Speed Skating)

About Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium

Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium is a unique relationship between leading media conglomerates CTV Inc. and Rogers Media Inc., which together will provide unprecedented coverage and consumer choice in English, French and multi-languages on multiple platforms for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and the London 2012 Games of the Olympiad. Official brands include CTV, TSN, RDS, RIS Info Sports, Rogers Sportsnet, OMNI, OLN, V, APTN, ATN, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca, The Globe and Mail, Corus Québec and select Rogers radio stations across the country.