Olympics TV Schedule 2010: CTV and NBC Official Rights Holders

Just finished watching CTV's coverage of the speed skating event from the Richmond Oval. It was disappointing and far below par. Commercials really interrupted the flow of the entire event. Not a good start.

Once again all the Torontonians are cashing in on the west.  Who are all these broadcasters and where are they from because I live in BC and don't recognize any except the ones that have always covered the Olympics in other countries and not well I may add. I have turned to TSN for more coverage - very disappointing. All the focus on the weather and the tragedy make me wonder if the broadcasters aren't doing more than the protesters to project a poor image. It is obvious most of the broadcasters don't know squat about BC and so ask stupid questions. Why do we entrust the reputation of the West to the East?

Lay off the talk of pressure. The atheletes are trained to handle it. Like the sorts pycologist father of one of the atheletes said. You win gold because you WANT to not because you HAVE to. All this talk may cause them to doubt that

I think you should spend alot less time talking and spend alot more time on showing events even if they are taped events. I like to watch the sport not the talk. You can show other countries event even if there is no Canadian teems in the event. I had the ctv show on Sunday morning from 8 oclock till 9:20 than had to go and there was nothing on excert talk, no sports no tape sports. To much talk. Thank you John Kiezebrink

Re: interview after our first medal - CTV interviewers should begin with ," Congratulations on your win. Canada is proud of you. Thank-you for your hard work," instead of going on and on about the lack of gold. She won a Silver medal, second place in all the world. We ARE proud!

I am an extremely proud Canadian and have been enjoying the Olympic coverage on CTV for the most part. I do have one bone to pick though... Why does Michael Landsberg not wear some Canadian clothing when he's out and about covering things?! Is he not a proud Canadian like the rest of the on-the-street commentators?

Give that man a Canadian flag pin at the ver least... Or get someone who actually wants to proudly represent our country.

Thank you...

I agree with all of the comments I've read. Very poor interviewing. Reporters talk way too much and are very boring. It's GREAT to have a silver medal, please be more positive,  encouraging and proud. This is BC where we are positive and proud! Like to see our own CTV BC reporters! Depressing to watch and listen to old men like Lloyd Robertson. Shouldn't  he be retired by now!?  Brian Williams has passed his "use-by-date".Don't enjoy the eastern reporters male and female.Lilian Eh 

This coverage is horrible! I'm watching CTV HD and watching online from the website. I haven't seen one shred of olympic coverage on CTV so far, just 2 replays. Then I find out that there is a live ski jump going on live. What the hell are the directors doing? Live ski jumping and you air 2 people talking all morning talking about weather? Stop talking and put on the sports people want to see. 

CTV stop the fluffy, schmaltzy, rah rah Johnny/Josee Canuck, feel good inteviews form your sterile/ neo scandanavian studios. Stop the we are so hip/ tres fly street interviews from Whistler. Stop the human interest/insider/behind the scenes highlights.

This is the Olympics! Start showing some sports!

DUH!!

The CTV coverage and  Olympic web site is the worst I have ever seen. I could not believe on the pre opening show they showed kids ( they looked to be about 12) doing body shots, sitting in hot tubs and drinking.   Who wants to see this ? Then we had to listen to commentary about movie star sightings. What kind of trash is this ?  We won a silver medal and it was downed planned. Is there no one with CTV with any sport broadcasting experience?  It is clear that CTV is only interested in the entertainment value of the Olympics and of course making money. I certainly don,t have a problem with them making money but it is at the expense of the viewing public getting trash.  This is unfair to the public who have supported the Olympics through our tax dollars and private dollars. Our government should have properly funded the CBC bid  so Canadians could have received Quality coverage that would highlight the sport and the competitors. We are now left with American style television , something CTV is known for.   Come on CTV get with it before its too late.  

Hear hear all those taking CTV to task for its dismal coverage. CBC always placed a high respect on not only our athletes, but the entire competitive field. I was always left with a deep appreciation for the dedication of the athletes, and often new insight into the event itself. These wax turkeys on CTV ain't cutting it. I just about vowed off the entire broadcast (something I have been looking really forward to) last night after the bimbo party girl correspondent in Whistler made a reference to the male athletes on Team Canada pursuing "golden showers" as much as Olympic gold. I sat there thinking, "DID THAT REALLY JUST HAPPEN ON NATIONAL TELEVISION?" for about five minutes until I turned off the television dejected. These folks have little credibility and their likeability factor is nil. CBC had a really great formula and I pray they pick up the next Olympics. What a shame. C'mon CTV - keep it real. The cooler you try to be, the lamer you look.

I find it very unprofessional when your announcers do not properly pronounce the names of the competitors.  Very poor journalism, indicating they are not doing their most basic homework.I skied and coached internationally, and reporters and announcers always came around in advance to clarify name prononciation, in addition to other statistics.  If CTV / TSN event announcers did that, they just may learn a bit more information to fill their telecasts with accurate and relevant facts.  If they are working from some network handbook, shame on you.  It is garbage and should be ditched immediately.

I am sure CTV is making every effort within its capacity to cover OLYMPIC events. So far, however, the commentary lacks depth and fullness of description. Worse, there seems little information about the efforts of other countries. And what commentary we do get is shallow and mean-spirited. In the pairs competition, I heard the CTV commentator make a snide remark about some other country's skaters choice of dress, the awfulness of their blue suits etc. That the competition dressed them!? This type of remark is unacceptable in a national broadcaster. I am a proud Canadian, one who believes in civility, and I felt ashamed to hear one of us, the host country, make such a remark. And this is not the only questionable remark I've heard. You are not capturing the spirit of the Olympics. The Olympics is more than raw competition. It's about human excellence and respect, and taking delight the accomplishments of ourselves and others. Please try to do better.

If you are not into Sports or the Olympic Games CTV is the coverage to watch.  It is more Entertainment TV than anything.  I could tell you what every one is weaing, who they are dating and when any celebraties are in town. It is like they are not prepared and they are talking about anything to fill time.  Proud to be Canadian and dispointed on coverage.  Can not wait to go to work and wait to watch the highlights on the news.   Really miss the CBC coverage.  

We are avid figure skating enthusiasts are are disappointed with the coverage of our skating so far.  There are two very good pairs in the pairs event.  Annabelle and Cody are never mentioned or considered in the commentary and they are only one place behind Jess and Bryce.  Annabelle and Cody are coming back after a year of healing from a serious injury and they had a clean short program which is a huge success for anyone skating at the Olympics.  We had to cut to the American programming on NBC to watch Annabelle and Cody skate their short which wasn't even mentioned on CTV - very disappointing.  As well, the commentary Monday morning about the pairs skaters was very unprofessional and rude, there was no need to dissect the moves in the programs and tie it to whether the skaters were dating or not.  I was appalled with that chatter - totally unnecessary.  Clean it up CTV.

I'm always captivated by the events and the individual competitors whatever the country; I totally support all the work that each individual puts into their sport. I live on the west coast of the US and I have to agree with everyone here: NBC (in the States) has terrible coverage of this major wold uniting sports event. GO WORLD ATHLETICS!!! Run for the hills broadcasters; you get no metal of any kind for your lack of performance in reporting or journalism.

This is the worst coverage of the Olympics I have ever seen - why do these announcers believe we want to listen to them instead of watching ANY of the events!  I have never been more annoyed during an Olympic event.  I know that in years before, the events were more important than the overblown egos of those announcers!  Smarten up and start showing us what we all came here to watch!

Poor coverage, commentary and little respect for the events and athletes as stated! Incredibly unprofessional and amateur. I have mixed feelings on the opening ceremonies and believe we missed fantastic angles and shots due to the poor direction of the cameras. For fuller and more interesting coverage I check the BBC sports website. It's all covered not just one country, athlete or team.

I suppose I should not have expected professional, international-grade reporting/showcasing of the Olympic games (CBC style).  CTV's coverage of the games is abysmal.  The many questionable comments, and lack of actual games coverage is shocking.  Honestly, had I wanted to watch this type of television - I would tune to MTV or TVTropolis.  I must admit, I have been watching quite a bit of NBC, and internet games coverage.  As a result of this breach of trust with the Canadian people, and many of their other foibles - I am signing off of CTV.  If I want to watch a big American production - I'll watch them on American TV - might as well get what you expect.  

I'm 63, love Olympics both Winter and Summer and am a BIG sports fan.CTV dosen't seem to have the announcers to cover the events like CBC and ABC ( Summer) or NBC.  There certainly seems to be a lot of 'fill' with worthless information, all costing big $$$$.However, we don't have any choice so we have to make the best of it or switch to NBC completely.Maybe once the hockey / curling starts, it'll get better.Barry

The coverage is awful.  The journalists like the sound of their own voices.  WE WANT TO SEE THE SPORTS, all we've seen is reruns and commercials; it's embarrassing and we're ready to switch the t.v. off.

I would like to contact the person(s) responsible in selectingthe person to sing 'Oh Canada' at the opening ceremonies ofthe 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.  I have never heard such aterrible rendition.  It was so bad, that I was continually changingthe TV channels so I wouldn't have to listen to it. I was born inCanada with, Irish, First Nations descent and have heard 'OH CANADA'more times than I can count. ...this was the worst version yet.  It soundedlike it should have been sung in a night club.This should have been sung in the way it was meant.  The national anthemshould be sung with pride and in such a way that 'EVERYONE'  wants to andis able to sing along.  Who could sing along with this version?It would have been better if it had been an instrumental version with ALL people singing.?I have heard from many other people who share my sentiment .  Although it has been 3days since this occurred, I am still terribly upset about it.  I want to write a letter to theto the decision makers responsible for this.  Could you please provide me this contactinformation?Thank you,Shirley SawyersToronto, OntarioCANADAFebruary 16, 2010 , 10:43PMAlso, since we are on the subject...the hosts of CTV in Whistler are absolutely terrible.Is this the best you can get?...I  also keep watching the American channels .  ....We want to watch the competitions, NOT listen to their dribble.They come accross like they are the 'center of attention. I hope the person(s) in charge\at CTV takes these comments seriously and get MORE professional personnel to coverthese events..

Why did CTV divert the camera away from  the Canadian champion Alexandre Bilodeau before he stepped onto the medal's podium?  History was being made, but they seemed more interested in showing the home viewers the audience's reaction.  What a waste of a moment.

Opening Ceremony - horrible rendition of O Canada - disgusting.... the entertainment was awful (except for the dancing/fiddling that showed some talent -- the flying around on cables and all the songs were totally irrelevant and uninteresting. CTV coverage -- too bad CBC didn't get to do this -- they at least know how to cover events... way too much chit chat  and foo foo that isn't important... Brian Williams is dreadful (he is condescending and self-important as if HE is the object of everyone's viewing) -- we just want to see the athletes and their events... for goodness sake, have some sense for when to put on commercials (it's nuts -- right in the middle of a riveting performance, CTV puts on commercials!)... and this one really gets me -- why is CTV all about men's hockey???!!! even to the point of showing these guys arriving at the airport, then a big focus on their practice and their line up -- oh brother, give me a break!  If you really want hockey, take a look at the women!!  They truly love what they're doing, aren't being paid big bucks, model great sportsmanship, and are better players anyway -- it's sickening to see the men being pumped up like they're gods.  And then the gall to suggest the women should not have trounced their opponents in the first game -- bravo to them, let them play their best, because when they meet real competition, they will need to know what they CAN do!  Who was the idiot sportscaster constantly criticizing the figure skating pairs' outfits??  CTV really needs to find some people who have some integrity and tact.  We also take issue with the months of advertising and pumping specific Canadian athletes as if CTV could predict who will win Gold -- this has been and continues to be detrimental to those specific athletes (ie we would have been happy with Jen Heil's Silver if CTV hadn't made her and the public feel like only Gold would do), it is detrimental to the public, and certainly unfair to all the athletes who don't even get a mention (until the "fair-haired" "chosen" one fails... ie like Manuel Osborne-Paradis -- then they start talking up all the others that had no publicity before).  And believe it or not, we'd be interested in seeing events even if there are no Canadians in them...