Related
Internal Links
Veteran CBC sports broadcaster Brian Williams will join CTV in December 2006 and will anchor the Olympic coverage of the 2010 Winter Games from Vancouver-Whistler.
Williams advised Nancy Lee, executive director of CBC Sports, of his resignation Monday morning.
He was introduced at CTV's 2006 Fall Upfront presentation in Toronto later in the day.
Brian Williams will join CTV's Olympic broadcast team in the lead up for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.
(CBC)
"For more than 30 years, I've enjoyed tremendously my role with the CBC," said Williams. "Now, I look forward to joining the CTV/TSN team and the opportunity to play a role in shaping coverage for Vancouver 2010."
No decision has been made whether Williams will continue in his role as host of the CFL on CBC, which kicks off its season June 17 with a game between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts.
"Because it's just today, we're still in internal discussions to figure out what will become of his departure," Lee said. "We just have to evaluate the situation and figure out what's best for us."
It will also mean changes for CBC's coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, of which CBC owns the broadcasting rights.
"Brian had a tremendous career at CBC. This is an opportunity for him, but it's a great opportunity for CBC as well," Lee said.
"We have tremendous depth, both on air and off air, in the department and this is an opportunity for us. We're going to have a fresh look in terms of seeing someone new on the air."
The hiring of Williams is the first move CTV has made since wresting the Canadian Olympic broadcasting rights from CBC in February 2005. CBC has been the Canadian broadcaster for every Olympic Games since 1996.
"Brian Williams has been the face of the Olympics for Canadians for decades and we're delighted that he will bring this legacy to CTV for 2010 and 2012," said Rick Brace, the president of CTV Inc.
Considered the dean of Canadian sports commentators, with more than a quarter of a century of broadcast experience, Williams has covered virtually every professional and major amateur sports event around the globe. Thirty years ago, Williams reported on his first Olympics, the 1976 Summer Games from Montreal.
His broadcasting style has won numerous awards and praise from critics, including six Gemini Awards and two Foster Hewitt Awards.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Drummond report on Ontario calls for cutbacks
- The Ontario government must curtail its spending with the kind of cuts not seen since the Mike Harris years, according to a report by former TD Bank chief economist Don Drummond. more »
- Children of immigrants challenged at school, home
- By 2016, foreign-born youth and Canadian-born youth from immigrant families will make up a quarter of the country's population, according to predictions by the Canadian Council on Social Development. As their numbers grow, more attention is being paid to their successes and failures. more »
- B.C. house party trial hears from tearful teens
- Two teenagers cried as they testified at the trial of a B.C. woman who was charged after a teen died while her son was hosting a party at her house in 2008. more »
- Whitney Houston funeral to be livestreamed
- Whitney Houston's funeral will be livestreamed, to satisfy the desire of fans to grieve alongside family members at the Saturday memorial. more »
- Drummond report on Ontario calls for cutbacks
- Barefoot girl's icy trek not blamed on babysitter
- Immigrants the proudest Canadians, poll suggests
- Honduras prison fire kills hundreds
- NDP MPs urged to scrap gun registry in final vote
- Canadian housing market cools in January
- Legalize pot, say former B.C. attorneys general
- Russians' abusive plane tirade to cost them $19K
- Bodyguard hired for bully victim in Fredericton
