CTV Plans 9 Hour Torch Relay Special Leading Up To Olympics Open Ceremony

To show that it’s really committed to showing the Olympics in Vancouver, home network CTV is going to go all out on the day of the Opening Ceremony and show a whopping 9 hours of coverage devoted to the torch relay as it approaches Vancouver. Here’s the press release:

CTV To Start Vancouver 2010 Coverage Early With Newly Announced, Nine-Hour Live OlympicTorch Relay Special, Feb. 12 

• Day-long special TORCH RELAY: THE JOURNEY HOME invites Canada to Vancouver in the hours before Games begin –
• Lui Passaglia, Stan Smyl, Rolly Fox, Walter Gretzky among notable torchbearers –
  OLYMPIC PREVIEW SHOW kicks off Vancouver 2010 coverage at 7 p.m. PT with live interview with John Furlong –

Vancouver, BC (February 10, 2010) – CTV announced today it will begin its 17-day coverage of Vancouver 2010 early, with the nine-hour special TORCH RELAY: THE JOURNEY HOME. Beginning Friday, Feb. 12 at 6 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET, CTV marks the final, magical moments of the Olympic Torch Relay with a live CTV News Special direct from Vancouver. The day-long special kicks off CTV’s coverage of the 2010 Winter Games as the Olympic Torch Relay draws to a close after a breathtaking and emotional 106-day journey that has ignited the spirit of Canadians from coast to coast.

TORCH RELAY: THE JOURNEY HOME will be followed by local news at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET before the 12 networks of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium go live to air with OLYMPIC PREVIEW SHOW/LE GRAND DECOMPTE at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m. ET, the official debut of the Consortium’s Olympic Games coverage. The preview show is followed by the VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES OPENING CEREMONY at 5:45 p.m. PT/8:45 p.m. ET.

TORCH RELAY: THE JOURNEY HOME
Produced by CTV British Columbia and hosted by CTV 2010 Olympic Reporter Mike Killeen and CTV supper hour anchor Coleen Christie, TORCH RELAY: THE JOURNEY HOMETORCH RELAY: THE JOURNEY HOME promises to kindle non-stop excitement for viewers across the country. Covering more than 42 kilometres along 65 Vancouver streets, will give viewers a West Coast look at the final leg of the Olympic Torch Relay route. CTV will also have coverage of many special guests and torchbearers throughout the day, including Walter Gretzky, Rolly Fox, Gareth Rees, Stan Smyl, Bob Lenarduzzi, Lui Passaglia, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

CTV’s coverage picks up with the Olympic Torch Relay on Vancouver’s famed Lions Gate Bridge and follows it around Stanley Park. From there the torch travels through Vancouver’s West End and into the downtown core, with stops at the iconic Inukshuk on English Bay and the Olympic Games countdown clock at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Then it’s off to the East Side of the city, before heading into the final home stretch though Granville Island, over False Creek and ending at the Four Host First Nations Pavilion.

Thanks to CTV’s exclusive Torch Cam and its revolutionary cellular technology, CTV will have continuous video images from a web cam travelling aboard the Olympic Torch Relay pace vehicle. CTV News will also capture the runners and the audience with satellite and microwave television trucks and a “boat cam” as the Olympic Torch is carried by canoe across False Creek. Every second of the Olympic Torch Relay is streamed live online at CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca, the official websites of Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium.

OLYMPIC PREVIEW SHOW
Hosted by OLYMPIC DAYTIME’s James Duthie and Lisa LaFlamme, OLYMPIC PREVIEW SHOW will air across all of the Consortium’s English-language television and web assets, and live at Cineplex Entertainment theatres across the country. The two-hour show will feature the debut of the striking set at the International Broadcast Centre, and introduce viewers to what they can expect over the next 17 days of the Games.

Duthie and LaFlamme will throw to the Consortium’s English-language hosts of the OPENING CEREMONY at BC Place stadium, Brian Williams, Lloyd Robertson and Catriona Le May Doan. The show features a special documentary on VANOC CEO John Furlong, followed by a live interview with Furlong by Brian Williams.

OLYMPIC PRIME TIME’s Whistler host Jennifer Hedger along with sliding sports commentator Rob Faulds are on the ground at BC Place to interview athletes before they enter the stadium, along with ETALK’s Leah Miller, who reports from the red carpet as VIPs and celebrities attend the ceremony.

In Whistler, OLYMPIC DAYTIME’s host Michael Landsberg is live from CTV Mountain Square with an alpine skiing overview with Olympians Brian Stemmle, Kelly VanderBeek and John Kucera, while MuchMusic VJs Sarah Taylor and Jesse Giddings introduce viewers to the MOD LIVE @ THE BASE set and the Whistler vibe at the Garibaldi Lift Co. Bar & Grill.

LE GRAND DECOMPTE
Claude Mailhot, Jean Page and Yvan Ponton lead this two-hour show on V and RIS Info Sports and joined in progress by RDS following the conclusion of the Canadiens/Flyers game. The show will also air live on RDSolympiques.ca and in Cineplex Entertainment Theatres. With reporters everywhere it counts at BC Place and around Vancouver/Whistler, viewers are sure to get all the excitement of the preparation of the Opening Ceremony and a peak of what the Games will bring with RDS specialists and anchors.

OLYMPIC PREVIEW SHOW/LE GRAND DECOMPTE is followed by the Consortium’s live coverage of the VANCOUVER 2010 OLYMPIC WINTER GAMES OPENING CEREMONY at 5:45 p.m. PT/8:45 p.m. ET.

CTV, Canada’s Olympic Network, is also Canada’s largest private broadcaster. Featuring a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming, CTV is Canada’s most-watched television network. CTV Inc. also owns radio stations across the country and owns or has interests in leading national specialty channels, featuring news, sports, factual, arts, entertainment, music, youth and fashion programming. CTV Inc. is owned by CTVglobemedia Inc.Canada’s premier multi-media company, which also owns Canada’s national newspaper, The Globe and Mail. CTV is the official broadcaster of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and London 2012 Games of the Olympiad. More information about CTV may be found on the network’s website at www.ctv.
ca.

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.

One more CTV press release coming up.