TORONTO – Look forward to seeing every grain of sand in the bunkers – not to mention every drop of sweat rolling down John Daly’s thick neck – as TSN and CTV will show every minute of the Bell Canadian Open golf tournament in high definition.
The Bell Globemedia TV channels today announced live coverage of the first two rounds will air September 8 and 9 beginning at 1 p.m. ET on TSN and TSN HD. The third and final rounds on September 10 and 11 will be seen live on TSN and TSN HD from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., followed by live coverage on CTV, and in HD on CTV HD East and CTV HD West at 3 p.m. ET.
The joint TSN-CTV production will utilize 20 high definition cameras – including an aerial view provided by a blimp – to capture the action from the 7,010-yard, par 70 course at Vancouver’s Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club. Some 80 production and technical staff will use more than 25,000 metres of camera cable, 10,000 metres of audio cable, and 60 on-course microphones throughout the four-day tournament.
"High definition is television’s newest frontier, and implementing this state-of-the-art technology as part of our coverage of the Bell Canadian Open sets a new industry standard," said Rick Chisholm, vice-president of programming and production, TSN, said in the press release.
TSN alone will show more than 800 hours of HD programming from more than 300 national and international events by the end of the year. In addition to the golf, TSN is offering HD broadcasts for its CFL coverage (23 games), home Blue Jays broadcasts (26), NASCAR races (21), NBA (26), NFL (25), and others.
CTV meanwhile is set to broadcast virtually every prime-time hour of its upcoming fall 2005 schedule in HD. No less than 37 Canadian and U.S. series, another 13 movies and more specials are available in HD. In all, CTV’s high definition content represents more HD hours than any other broadcaster.
TSN HD is available on Bell ExpressVu channel 850, Rogers Digital Cable channel 503, Cogeco Cable channel 278, Videotron channel 660, Access Communications channel 506, and Southern Ontario-based Mountain Cable channel 641. Viewers can tune in to CTV HD East and CTV HD West on most Canadian digital cable and satellite provider offering HD service.
