Commonwealth Games: CBC unveils coverage plans
Includes 12 hours of live streaming every day
The road to the 2016 Rio Olympics goes through Glasgow, Scotland, and CBC will have multi-platform coverage as Canada's top high-performance athletes face the world's best at the XX Commonwealth Games from July 23 to Aug. 3.
The network will provide daily live streaming of events at cbcsports.ca/glasgow2014, live TV coverage of the opening and closing ceremonies, a nightly highlight program and extended weekend coverage on CBC-TV, plus daily updates on CBC Radio and through CBC News outlets.
- Commonwealth Games: Canada aims for top 3
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- Photos: International athletes to watch
The Commonwealth Games is the only international multi-sport event that has both able-bodied and para-athletes competing during the same window. The XX Commonwealth Games will be the largest multi-sport event Scotland has ever hosted, with more than 4,500 athletes competing in 17 sports.
Canada is sending 265 athletes — its largest ever team for a Commonwealth Games held outside the country — and is aiming to be in the top three in the overall medal standings after a fourth-place finish at the 2010 Games in Delhi, India.
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Glasgow 2014 and the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games in Toronto represent the next major steps for Canadian athletes on the road to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. CBC/Radio-Canada is the official broadcaster of each of these events, providing Canadians with an ongoing look at the athletes and their path to the top of the podium.
"We are committed to providing Canadians with the best multi-platform coverage of major national and international sporting events that showcase our homegrown athletes and teams competing against the best in the world," said Jeffrey Orridge, executive director for sports properties and general manager of the Olympics for CBC. "It's important to us that our viewers are able to share in the victories and struggles that these athletes face on their path to excellence and our in-depth coverage online, on TV and on the radio will tell the competitors' stories beyond their results on the field of play."
Scott Russell (@SportsWkndScott) will host CBC's coverage on-site in Glasgow, and will be joined by co-hosts Brenda Irving (@BrendaCBCSports) and Mark Lee (@MLeeCBC) from the CBC studio in Toronto. In addition to their hosting duties, Irving and Lee will provide commentary for the opening ceremony on July 23 (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 3:30 p.m. ET).
CBC's broadcast team will feature some of Canada's most decorated athletes and most experienced Olympic broadcasters as guest analysts, including Perdita Felicien (@perditafelicien) and Michael Smith for athletics events, Kyle Shewfelt (@kyleshew) for gymnastics, Byron MacDonald and Steve Armitage for swimming and Russ Anber (@RussAnber) for boxing.
Daily live streaming & highlight show
Weekday competition coverage throughout the 12-day event will feature live online streaming of the Glasgow 2014 host feed at cbcsports.ca/glasgow2014 from approximately 4 a.m. ET to approximately 5:30 p.m. ET, beginning with Day One on July 24th. The host feed will feature Canadian athletes as well as competitors from 71 Commonwealth nations participating in events across the 17 sports.
Each weekday, coverage will conclude with a highlight show featuring top performances and major competitions. The highlight show will air online immediately following the end of each day's live coverage, as well as on CBC-TV at midnight local time. On-demand video of select events featuring Canadian athletes will also be made available throughout the Games.
Expanded coverage will be available on weekends with a live afternoon television broadcast with hosts Russell and Irving, alongside CBC's roster of guest analysts, providing a Canadian-focused look at the day's competition. The first such show will air on Day Three, Saturday, July 26, at 4 p.m. ET.
In addition to competition coverage, the weekend broadcasts will include athlete profiles and interviews with Russell as well as retrospective features from past Commonwealth Games competitions. The full online and television broadcast schedule is currently available here.
In addition to live streaming and on-demand video, CBC's Commonwealth Games website features in-depth analysis, news, previews of each sport highlighting Canadian athletes to watch, photos and a live Twitter feed. CBC has also partnered with Commonwealth Games Canada to produce a free Team Canada app for iOS and Android featuring event schedules, up-to-the-minute competition results, athlete biographies and more.
Canadians are encouraged to engage with CBC leading up to and throughout the XX Commonwealth Games by following @cbcsports on Twitter usinand g #Glasgow2014.