Bell, a Premier National Partner and the Exclusive Telecommunications Partner to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, today announced an agreement with Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium that will give Bell customers unprecedented access to Olympic Games content on both Bell Mobility and Bell TV.
The most ambitious and all-encompassing media package ever assembled in Canada for a single Olympic Games, it gives Bell exclusive media sponsorship rights and exclusivity in the Fixed and Mobile Telecommunications Products category.
The Consortium, which is the official Canadian broadcaster of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, will provide Bell with content from 10 Consortium networks in 22 languages. Bell TV will carry all 10 Consortium networks (in high definition for Bell TV HD subscribers) and Bell Mobility will feature seven networks for fans to watch the Games live on enabled handsets wherever they go. Consortium stations include English networks CTV, Sportsnet, TSN, and OLN, French networks V, RDS, and RIS Info Sports, and multi-language networks OMNI, APTN and ATN.
For the first time, customers will also be able to access dedicated broadcast feeds from nine competition venues on their mobile phones and through Bell TV. These dedicated mobile venue feeds provide unedited, uninterrupted coverage of the competitions as they take place and are exclusive to Bell customers.
“With Bell, Canadians can truly be ready for the 2010 Winter Games and follow them anytime and anywhere,” said Wade Oosterman, President of Bell Mobility and Chief Brand Officer for Bell. “This partnership provides Bell customers with unprecedented access to the Olympic experience, something no other telecommunications company in Canada can offer. This is the ultimate front-row seat at the Games.”
Bell Mobility clients will be able to watch exclusive mobile content through live streams and exclusive web video content through the Consortium’s mobile sites CTVOlympics.ca and RDSolympiques.ca. With Bell TV HD, subscribers will also be able to experience all of this in high definition, further solidifying Bell’s position as the country’s leading HD channel provider.
“Today’s announcement marks a watershed moment in Canadian media. Together with Bell, we are offering consumers complete control of their Olympic Games experience,” said Keith Pelley, President, Canada’s Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium. “The appetite for media consumption across multiple platforms has never been stronger in Canada, and at Vancouver 2010, the demand for content will be at an all-time high. With this partnership, the most ambitious content deal in Canada for an Olympic Games, we will deliver unparalleled choice enabling Canadians to watch what they want, when they want and how they want.”
For the ultimate hockey fan, Bell TV will offer two “player-cams” focusing on individual players for every men’s hockey game during the Olympic Winter Games, and will also offer pre-packaged hockey-related content, such as post-game Team Canada highlight features. Every day throughout the Games, Canadians will have the opportunity to vote on the Bell Fan Choice Awards, a daily award in which fans select the “best of” from a variety of Games-related categories. The winners will be announced during Olympic Prime Time on CTV and V.
Bell is the exclusive carrier of the Samsung OMNIA II, which is the Official Mobile Device of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The Samsung OMNIA II will be the ultimate device for accessing Bell’s comprehensive offering of 2010 Winter Games mobile content. OMNIA II owners will also be able to download Samsung’s Wireless Olympic Works (WOW) communications platform, designed to provide real-time information to keep Olympic fans connected and informed during the Games.
During the 2010 Winter Games, every image seen on television, every story read around the world and every real-time score transmitted will traverse a communications solution designed by Bell. Bell’s dedicated 2010 Winter Games network will deliver the Games to Canada and to more than three billion viewers around the world.
