Canadian Curling Association in Four-year Agreement with CBC
OTTAWA, July 20, 2004 - The Canadian Curling Association (CCA) today announced that it has awarded the television rights for the CCA's Season of Champions events to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC-TV), from 2005 through 2008.
'We are extremely pleased to confirm that an extensive agreement has been reached with CBC-TV,' said CCA President Barry Greenberg. 'It certainly puts the CCA and our Season of Champions events in an enviable position as we move towards the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. On behalf of the CCA, I want to thank CBC for its great interest and hard work in bringing this four-year contract to reality.'
'We are pleased to be continuing CBC's long association with the Canadian Curling Association and we know this will benefit not only Canadian curling fans, but the development of the sport as well,' said Nancy Lee, Executive Director for CBC Sports.
The Season of Champions events currently consist of the Continental Cup, Kärcher Juniors, Scott Tournament of Hearts, Brier, Strauss Canada Cup of Curling, Ford Worlds and the Canadian Curling Trials. Under this new deal, CBC will broadcast a minimum of 180 hours of live coverage each Season of Champions between the main network and the CBC digital channel, Country Canada. There will be additional hours for the 2005 season which includes the Canadian Curling Trials expanding the total coverage that year to over 215 hours.
The CCA indicated the four year agreement will allow the Association to invest in various curling programs and services to benefit community level through to elite curlers across Canada to ensure the continued growth, popularity and success of the sport.
The relationship between CBC-TV and curling in Canada dates back to the early 60's. During the past 10 years, CBC has televised the finals of the Kärcher Juniors, the final of The Scott Tournament of Hearts, the semi-final and final of the Brier, the women's and men's finals of both the Ford Worlds and the Canadian Curling Trials.
In addition, during the past two years, the network also aired the finals of the Strauss Canada Cup of Curling, a new curling competition, which brought the total number of hours of live curling coverage on CBC to approximately 30 hours annually.
The CCA's goals in these negotiations were to ensure its Season of Champions' sponsors and partners would continue to receive the high levels of coverage and value they had come to expect; to increase the investment in curling programs for all curlers across Canada, and lastly, to provide Canadian curling fans continued enjoyment of quality television coverage throughout the Season of Champions.
'I would like to extend a special thanks to TSN for the tremendous support it has given the CCA and curling during the past 20 years,' added Greenberg. 'There is no doubt that we enjoyed a great, mutually beneficial relationship.
We now look forward to a new era of curling coverage and to forging an expanded partnership with CBC-TV.'
The 2005 Season of Champions schedule is as follows:
Kärcher Juniors, February 5-13, Fredericton, NB
The Scott Tournament of Hearts, February 19-27, St. John's, NL
The Brier, March 5-13, Edmonton, AB
Strauss Canada Cup of Curling, March 15-20, Kamloops, BC
World Women's Curling Championship, March 19-27, Paisley, Scotland
Ford World Men's Curling Championship, April 2-10, Victoria, BC
Canadian Curling Trials, December 3-11, Halifax, NS
The first event to be covered by CBC under the new television agreement will be the Kärcher Juniors (Canadian Junior Curling Championships) in Fredericton, New Brunswick. CBC will air the junior men's final on Saturday, February 12 and the junior women's final on Sunday, February 13.
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For further information, please contact:
Dave Parkes
Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Curling Association
dave@curling.ca
613-834-2076
Warren Hansen
Manager of Event Operations and Media
Canadian Curling Association
warren@curling.ca or warrenhansen@telus.net
Cell: 604-329-9850
Jeff Timson
Tel/fax: 905-881-8322
'We are extremely pleased to confirm that an extensive agreement has been reached with CBC-TV,' said CCA President Barry Greenberg. 'It certainly puts the CCA and our Season of Champions events in an enviable position as we move towards the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. On behalf of the CCA, I want to thank CBC for its great interest and hard work in bringing this four-year contract to reality.'
'We are pleased to be continuing CBC's long association with the Canadian Curling Association and we know this will benefit not only Canadian curling fans, but the development of the sport as well,' said Nancy Lee, Executive Director for CBC Sports.
The Season of Champions events currently consist of the Continental Cup, Kärcher Juniors, Scott Tournament of Hearts, Brier, Strauss Canada Cup of Curling, Ford Worlds and the Canadian Curling Trials. Under this new deal, CBC will broadcast a minimum of 180 hours of live coverage each Season of Champions between the main network and the CBC digital channel, Country Canada. There will be additional hours for the 2005 season which includes the Canadian Curling Trials expanding the total coverage that year to over 215 hours.
The CCA indicated the four year agreement will allow the Association to invest in various curling programs and services to benefit community level through to elite curlers across Canada to ensure the continued growth, popularity and success of the sport.
The relationship between CBC-TV and curling in Canada dates back to the early 60's. During the past 10 years, CBC has televised the finals of the Kärcher Juniors, the final of The Scott Tournament of Hearts, the semi-final and final of the Brier, the women's and men's finals of both the Ford Worlds and the Canadian Curling Trials.
In addition, during the past two years, the network also aired the finals of the Strauss Canada Cup of Curling, a new curling competition, which brought the total number of hours of live curling coverage on CBC to approximately 30 hours annually.
The CCA's goals in these negotiations were to ensure its Season of Champions' sponsors and partners would continue to receive the high levels of coverage and value they had come to expect; to increase the investment in curling programs for all curlers across Canada, and lastly, to provide Canadian curling fans continued enjoyment of quality television coverage throughout the Season of Champions.
'I would like to extend a special thanks to TSN for the tremendous support it has given the CCA and curling during the past 20 years,' added Greenberg. 'There is no doubt that we enjoyed a great, mutually beneficial relationship.
We now look forward to a new era of curling coverage and to forging an expanded partnership with CBC-TV.'
The 2005 Season of Champions schedule is as follows:
Kärcher Juniors, February 5-13, Fredericton, NB
The Scott Tournament of Hearts, February 19-27, St. John's, NL
The Brier, March 5-13, Edmonton, AB
Strauss Canada Cup of Curling, March 15-20, Kamloops, BC
World Women's Curling Championship, March 19-27, Paisley, Scotland
Ford World Men's Curling Championship, April 2-10, Victoria, BC
Canadian Curling Trials, December 3-11, Halifax, NS
The first event to be covered by CBC under the new television agreement will be the Kärcher Juniors (Canadian Junior Curling Championships) in Fredericton, New Brunswick. CBC will air the junior men's final on Saturday, February 12 and the junior women's final on Sunday, February 13.
-30-
For further information, please contact:
Dave Parkes
Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Curling Association
dave@curling.ca
613-834-2076
Warren Hansen
Manager of Event Operations and Media
Canadian Curling Association
warren@curling.ca or warrenhansen@telus.net
Cell: 604-329-9850
Jeff Timson
Tel/fax: 905-881-8322