CBC – With 100 days until the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, CBC unveils its most ambitious multiplatform production plan to date ensuring Canadians never miss a medal moment

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April 27, 2016 – CBC/Radio-Canada today announced additional details of its multiplatform programming plans for this summer’s coverage of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games which includes, for the first time in Canadian Olympic Games history, 100 hours of immersive virtual reality and 360 video programming.

In addition to this innovative way to enjoy the Games, Canadians will be able to consume more than 850 combined hours on English-language television and more than 4000 live streaming hours, resulting in more access to Olympic Games coverage than ever before. In partnership with TSN – CBC’s primary broadcast partner – as well as Sportsnet, Canadians will not miss a medal moment, a Canadian performance or any of the day’s top stories from Rio.

Some of the key Canadian stories being followed in the lead-up to the Games include:

• Canada’s Women’s Soccer Team kicks off its medal run prior to the Opening Ceremony. Round robin action begins on Wednesday, Aug. 3 with Canada facing Australia at 1:30 p.m. ET (10:30 a.m. PT) on CBC
• Andre De Grasse launches his Olympic Games career following a spectacular breakout season in 2015. His pursuit of the podium begins on Saturday, Aug. 13, with the men’s 100m final scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 14
• Canada’s only gold medallist from 2012, Rosie MacLennan, has earned the right to defend her Trampoline title on Friday, Aug. 12

Some of the overall Olympic Games stories to be covered include the return of Rugby and Golf, as well as Beach Volleyball on Copacabana Beach, arguably the game’s sporting mecca:

• Rugby 7s returns to the field of play with the women’s competition led by medal favourites Team Canada in the spotlight on the first day of competition, Saturday, Aug. 6
• Golf is back after a century away from the Games. With Canadian Brooke Henderson’s fantastic start to her 2016 season, Canada will have reason to cheer
• On the sand of Copacabana Beach, both Canadian men’s and women’s teams could quiet the boisterous hometown crowds as they face the historical favourites from Brazil

CBC prides itself on its internationally-focused athlete storytelling and Rio 2016 will not lack international stars that Canadian audiences will have the opportunity to watch as they add to their Olympic Games legacies:

• Michael Phelps: The most decorated Olympian in history seeks to silence the doubters as he attempts to add more Olympic Games medals to his total
• Usain Bolt: He looks to do what no sprinter has ever done before by winning three gold medals at an Olympic Games for the third time
• Team Refugee Olympic Athlete: A group of 43 promising candidates identified as eligible athletes who, because of their refugee status, cannot represent their homelands are receiving help from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to form their own Olympic team and compete under the IOC flag.

Broadcast partners TSN and Sportsnet will provide long-form event coverage for individual sports such as marathon, road cycling and triathlon, and team sports like basketball, soccer and volleyball while CBC will focus on every Canadian Olympic Games result and all medal moments.

CBC’s coverage of Rio 2016 will be the most digitally-accessible Games experience in Canadian history, available across more platforms than ever before. These Games will find Canadians wherever they are, on their favourite device. CBC will share live and on-demand content, along with stats and results with Canadian-based users in real time on a wide variety of social media platforms, including Facebook, Vine, Snapchat, Google and YouTube.

To support Canada’s connection to the Games even further, CBC’s free online live streaming channels (up to 23 daily) will be available on the desktop website at cbc.ca/olympics and through an app dedicated to Rio 2016 for iOS and Android devices.

Staying ahead of the curve for multi-sport coverage in Canada, CBC/Radio-Canada, in partnership with Visa and the IOC, will offer a virtual reality experience for the first time ever. CBC Virtual Reality, exclusively brought to Canadians by Visa, will provide viewers with both a 360-degree motion-sensitive stream as well as an immersive virtual reality stream for use with compatible headset technology. Visa, a global leader in sports marketing, has always brought fans new ways to pay. Partnering with CBC Virtual Reality, Visa is now bringing viewers a new way to watch CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of the Olympic Games. These exclusive immersive and 360-degree streams will allow Canadians to get closer to the Games than ever before through more than 100 hours of Olympic Games event coverage.

From the Opening to the Closing Ceremony, CBC will be Canada’s primary source for Olympic Games coverage throughout the events in Rio with daily broadcasts from 7 a.m. – 1 a.m. ET (4 a.m. – 10 p.m. PT) divided into three main programming blocks throughout the day.

In celebration of today’s 100-day countdown to Rio 2016’s Opening Ceremony, CBC Radio has posted the latest episode in its Back Story podcast series that recounts major events, happenings and personalities from the past through the perspective of someone who experienced it behind the scenes. The latest episode features Canada’s longest-serving female soccer player, Karina LeBlanc, discussing the heartbreak of the loss suffered by the Women’s Olympic Team at London 2012 due in large part to a questionable call.

In support of CBC’s coverage of Rio 2016, cbcmusic.ca is getting into the spirit of the Games with today’s launch of a new streaming music channel of classic Brazilian Bossa Nova and Samba. Classic artists such as João Gilberto, Antônio Jobim and Elis Regina and many more legends of Brazilian music are featured within the stream. In addition, cbcmusic.ca has included an editorial piece to accompany the new channel regarding the history of Bossa Nova music to help listeners learn more about the culture of this year’s Olympic Games host country.

CBC/Radio-Canada also announced today further details of its French-language programming plans for Rio 2016. With the combined effort of both networks, this is the largest games production in CBC/Radio-Canada history. Information pertaining to that announcement can be found here.

Additional details of CBC/Radio-Canada’s programming and broadcast plans for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be revealed in the coming weeks. In the meantime, cbcsports.ca/olympics and ICI.Radio-Canada.ca/jeuxolympiques remain Canada’s best source for the latest news and information related to Canada’s athletes on the road to the Olympic Games.

Social Media links:

• Twitter: @cbcolympics, @cbcsports, @RC_Sports, #cbcolympics, #rcolympiques
• Facebook: facebook.com/cbcolympics, facebook.com/cbcsports, facebook.com/radiocanada.sports
• Instagram: @cbcolympics, @cbc.sports, @rc_sports
• Snapchat: CBCSports 

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About CBC/Radio-Canada

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For further information, please contact:

Simon Bassett, publicist, CBC

simon.bassett@cbc.ca

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