TORONTO and VANCOUVER – The official “digital hubs” for live coverage of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games – websites CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca – went live on Monday, pledging to provide 2,400 hours of live coverage from Vancouver 2010 in both English and French.
The sites, to be rolled out in five phases over the next year, will feature embedded video, user generated content, interactive and participatory games, information about Canadian Olympic athletes, and “exclusive live online coverage of every single moment of Olympic Games competition”, the press release detailed.
During the Games, which run February 12 – 28, 2010 in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., up to 14 concurrent live streams will be available. This will include live feeds of five TV networks – CTV, TQS, Rogers Sportsnet, TSN, RDS – plus live host broadcast streams of every sport/discipline. All live streaming will be in enhanced definition and available on-demand, including full-event, replays, highlights, features and interviews.
“We are seeing an evolution in the way Canadians consume media. It’s all about choice and customization,” said Keith Pelley, president of Canada’s Olympic broadcast media consortium, in the release. “We, as content providers, are offering consumers the opportunity to experience the Games how they want and when they want, whether it be on our dedicated Olympic websites, one of our official 11 television networks or 10 radio stations, or all at the same time. We are redefining how Canadians consume content and putting them in control of their own personal Olympic Games experience.”
In other Olympic news, CTV’s B.C. bureau kicks off its one year countdown to the Games this week, by handing out eight commemorative CTV Olympic Pins at various events and locations across metro Vancouver, leading up to and during the Games.
Its news coverage will have a week-long focus on the road to the 2010 Winter Games, including the unveiling of the Olympic Torch on Thursday.
