Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium Announces its Multilingual Broadcast Team for London 2012

- OMNI Television and ATN to provide 223 hours of coverage -

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TORONTO, July 20, 2012 /CNW/ - Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium is pleased to announce its multilingual broadcast team for the London 2012 Olympic Games. In total, the Consortium's multilingual broadcast partners OMNI Television and the Asian Television Network (ATN) will air 223 hours of coverage during the 17-day event with a 28-person broadcast team. The London 2012 Olympic Games takes place July 27 to August 12.

**Media Note - bios of the multilingual broadcast team are available here in English and here in French. A breakdown of talent by language is available below.

The Consortium's broadcast team will deliver live event coverage in 11 different languages: Bangla, Cantonese, English, French, Hindi, Italian, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Tamil, and Urdu. Olympic Games highlights will also air in news programs on OMNI Television.

As Canada's broadcast leader in multilingual and multicultural programming, OMNI Television will deliver 103 hours of coverage in five different languages: Cantonese, Italian, Mandarin, Portuguese, and Punjabi. Their broadcast team consists of 23 commentators - a variety of studio hosts, play-by-play announcers, renowned sports analysts, athletes-turned-broadcasters, and news anchors - all dedicated to providing multilingual coverage of London 2012.

"Our outstanding broadcast team will deliver a unique experience, bringing the thrill of the Games in languages of comfort for OMNI Television audiences, along with inspiring stories for Canada's multilingual communities," said Madeline Ziniak, National President, OMNI Television.

The OMNI Television broadcast team is as follows:

• Cantonese: Alex Chum (Host), Fiona Law (Host), Raymond Li (Play-by-play, Badminton), Karen So (Host, Opening Ceremony), Paul Wan (Host), Ximing Yao (Analyst, Badminton)
• Italian: Dino Cavalluzzo, (Host), Giorgio Mitolo (Host)
• Mandarin: Wei Lee (Host), Gen Mei Liu (Analyst, Aquatics), YJ Liu (Analyst, Table Tennis), Shawn Wang (Host), Lisa Wu (Host), Ann Wang (Analyst, Aquatics), Tony Xiang (Analyst, Table Tennis), Bowen Zhang (Host, Opening and Closing Ceremonies)
• Portuguese: Lidia Ferreira (Host), Adalberto Thomaz (Play-by-play, Soccer)
• Punjabi: Surinder Pal Chahal (Analyst, Wrestling) , Nick Sandhu (Analyst, Field Hockey), Amarinder Singh (Play-by-Play, Field Hockey), Harnarayan Singh, (Play-by-Play, Wrestling), Jasdip Wahla (Host)

ATN, Canada's largest South Asian broadcaster, will deliver 120 hours of Games coverage during the London 2012 Olympic Games in five different languages including: Bangla, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Urdu. ATN will have five full-time broadcasters during the Games.

"We consider it a privilege to partner with Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium," said Dr. Shan Chandrasekar, President and CEO of ATN. We are very proud to give our community this wonderful opportunity to cheer on the Canadian Olympic team and others from around the world to develop an appreciation for the Games. By offering badminton in Hindi, field hockey in Punjabi, athletics in Tamil, gymnastics in Urdu, and boxing in Bangla, we are at the forefront of multilingual sports coverage."

The ATN broadcast team is as follows:

• Bengali: Suman Rahman (Play-by-play, Boxing and Gymnastics)
• Hindi: Rajinder Lamba (Play-by-play, Badminton)
• Punjabi: Amarjit Sangha (Play-by-play, Field Hockey and Weightlifting)
• Tamil: Vasakan Ratnathurai (Play-by-play, Athletics and Shooting)
• Urdu: Ashfaq Hussain (Play-by-play, Archery and Gymnastics)

For Consortium scheduling information, including OMNI Television and ATN, visit the Bell Viewers' Guide at CTVOlympics.ca/guide, RDSolympiques.ca/leguide, or download the CTV Olympics London 2012 App.

About Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium

Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium is a unique relationship led by Canada's #1 broadcaster, CTV with 80% interest, along with Rogers Media Inc. with 20% interest. The Consortium will provide unprecedented English, French, and multilingual coverage, as well as consumer choice on multiple platforms during the London 2012 Olympic Games, taking place July 27 to August 12, 2012. Official brands include CTV, TSN, RDS, RDS Info, Sportsnet, OMNI Television, OLN, V, ATN, CTVOlympics.ca, RDSolympiques.ca, and select Rogers radio stations across the country. The Consortium delivered the Top 5 most-watched events in Canadian television history during its revolutionary coverage of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Amy Doary, Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, 416.384.2593, [email protected]
Renee Rouse, Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium, 416.384.7599, [email protected]
Charmaine Khan, OMNI Television, 416.764.3071, [email protected]
Pramod Israni, ATN, 905.836.6460, [email protected]