COC unveils plan to launch TV channels
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 | 3:13 PM ET
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The Canadian Olympic Committee unveiled its plans Wednesday for its own English and French-language digital TV channels that will focus solely on broadcasting amateur sports.
The COC formally applied to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for licences for the two channels — Canadian Amateur Sports Network (CASN) and le Réseau du sport amateur Canadien (RSAC) — in early December.
The application, which asks for mandated distribution of the networks on the basic digital service of all cable and direct-to-home satellite carriers, must first be approved by the CRTC before the COC can launch the channels.
If approved, the channels would be the first of their kind in Canada and according to the COC they would contribute more than $100 million to amateur sport over the first seven years of operation.
The COC believes such channels are long overdue.
"(We have) long recognized the need for dramatically increased television coverage of Canadian amateur sport on a consistent and regular basis," said Chris Rudge, the chief executive officer of the COC.
"These networks would finally bring our athletes into the spotlight and also motivate young people everywhere in Canada to get up out of their seats and engage in sport and a healthy lifestyle."
Dick Pound, an International Olympic Committee member and chairman of the two proposed channels, echoed Rudge's sentiments.
"The opportunity here is to provide a service that fills a programming niche that exists today," said Pound. "Between Olympic Games it is as if there are no Canadian athletes. Our networks will bring more sports and more young Canadians to the attention of Canadians."
The COC said it hopes that public hearings on its applications will take place in the near future and the CRTC will render a decision as soon as possible after the hearings.
The COC isn't the only organization looking to launch a channel dedicated to amateur sports.
Last week, the CBC announced its intention to apply to the CRTC to launch a new television sports channel dedicated to amateur and high-performance sport.
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