 | |
| Division of | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |
|---|---|
| Owner | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |
| Key people | Chris Wilson (Executive Director) |
| Headquarters | Canadian Broadcasting Centre, Toronto, Ontario |
| Major broadcasting contracts | Hockey Night in Canada (controlled by Rogers Media beginning 2014) Olympics IAAF Golden League Grand Slam of Curling |
| Official website | cbcsports |
CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-language Radio-Canada network also produces sports programming.)
Once the country's dominant sports broadcaster, in recent years it has lost many of its past signature properties – such as the Canadian Football League, Toronto Blue Jays baseball, Canadian Curling Association championships, the Olympic Games for a period, the FIFA World Cup, and the National Hockey League – to the cable specialty channels TSN and Sportsnet. The CBC has maintained partial rights to the NHL as part of a sub-licensing agreement with current rightsholder Rogers Media (maintaining the Saturday-night Hockey Night in Canada and playoff coverage), although this coverage is produced by Sportsnet, as opposed to the CBC itself as was the case in the past.
As a result of funding reductions from the federal government, increased costs for licensing, and decreased revenues, in April 2014, the CBC announced it would no longer bid for professional sports broadcasting rights.[1] The CBC has since used its digital platforms to provide overflow coverage of events not on television, and simulcasts of television coverage. Since then, the CBC's in-house sports coverage has been largely focused on Olympic sports, other domestic amateur and semi-professional competitions such as the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), along with coverage of Spruce Meadows' show jumping competitions.
The majority of CBC Television's sports coverage is broadcast on weekend afternoons, under the blanket title CBC Sports Presents (formerly Road to the Olympic Games from 2015 to 2022, and CBC Sports Weekend prior to 2015).[2][3] CBC Sports also streams all of its programming, as well as other event coverage not shown on television, via its website and digital platforms.
Former CEO of Curling Canada Greg Stremlaw was the head of CBC Sports from April 10, 2015[4][2] to January 2019.[5]
- ^ "CBC to cut 657 jobs, will no longer compete for professional sports rights". CBC News. April 10, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
- ^ a b "CBC Sports launches Road to the Olympic Games". CBC Sports. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
- ^ CBC Public Relations (October 20, 2022). "CBC SPORTS TO PROVIDE EXTENSIVE COVERAGE OF THE ISU GRAND PRIX OF FIGURE SKATING SEASON, BEGINNING OCTOBER 21". Retrieved July 7, 2023.
CBC SPORTS PRESENTS will be live on location to provide broadcast coverage on CBC TV and CBC Gem.
- ^ "Greg Stremlaw Appointed CBC's Head of Sports". CBC.ca. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
- ^ "'Opportunity knocks': Greg Stremlaw leaves CBC Sports for United Soccer League". CBC.