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Home | Rogers OMNI Television Celebrates TWO Firsts: First-ever Multilingual Coverage of UEFA Euro 2008
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Rogers OMNI Television Celebrates TWO Firsts: First-ever Multilingual Coverage of UEFA Euro 2008
Digital Over-the-air for Toronto on Rogers OMNI.1 & OMNI.2
Beginning: Saturday, June 7th at 12 NOON ET
TORONTO (May 8, 2008) – Rogers OMNI Television is pleased to announce the beginning of a new era for Diversity Television in Canada, marked by two firsts: the kick-off of its exclusive multilingual coverage of this summer’s UEFA European Football Championship™ AND the launch of Digital over-the-air transmission for Toronto-based viewers of Rogers OMNI.1 and OMNI.2.
The action begins Saturday, June 7th at 12:00 p.m. ET with the LIVE, tri-lingual coverage of the competition’s first match, between Switzerland and the Czech Republic, simultaneously on:
- OMNI.1 – in Italian; play-by-play and colour commentary by Vito Caressa and Sandro Piccinini;
- OMNI.2 – Chinese bi-lingual play-by-play and colour commentary by: Alex Chum in Cantonese and Ran Tao in Mandarin.
“Rogers OMNI Television once again leads the way, now building on our reputation for covering sports in multiple languages, with the combined launch of our first UEFA Euro 2008 ™ coverage and our eagerly anticipated, Digital* over-the-air transmission,” says Malcolm Dunlop, Executive Vice President, Programming, for Rogers Media Television “We’re proud to usher in this new technology ‘OMNI-style’ with tri-lingual coverage of the first game followed same day by another match for Portuguese language viewers – plus, we’re introducing coverage in Greek and Polish for soccer enthusiasts in those language communities.”
Following the opening match at approximately 2:45 p.m., Portuguese speaking soccer fans are invited to tune into OMNI.1 for the Portugal vs. Turkey match with LIVE Portuguese language play-by-play and colour commentary by Fernando Sousa.
Upcoming matches in OMNI’s exclusive multilingual coverage of UEFA Euro 2008 ™ include:
DATE |
START |
STATION |
TEAMS |
LANGUAGE: |
Sunday, June 8th |
11:30 AM |
OMNI.1 |
Germany vs. Poland |
Polish |
Monday, June 9th |
12:00 PM |
Romania vs. France |
Italian |
2:45 PM |
Holland vs. Italy |
Tuesday, June 10th |
11:30 AM |
Greece vs. Sweden |
Greek |
Wednesday, June 11th |
12:00 PM |
Czech Repub vs. Portugal |
Portuguese |
Thursday, June 12th |
2:45 PM |
Austria vs. Poland |
Polish |
Friday, June 13th |
12:00 PM |
Italy vs. Romania |
Italian |
2:45 PM |
Holland vs. France |
Saturday, June 14th |
2:45 PM |
Greece vs. Russia |
Greek |
Sunday, June 15th |
2:45 PM |
Switzerland vs Portugal |
Portuguese |
All scheduling is subject to change, especially as the championships proceed from quarter through semi and then final rounds; viewers from the Chinese community can look forward to further coverage of the UEFA Euro 2008 ™ on OMNI.2.
In the meantime, OMNI.1’s Euro 2008presents a weekly preview of European Soccer Championship action for Portuguese language audiences (Saturdays at 11:30 a.m.) -- and for Italian (Sundays at 9:00 a.m.).
Background information on the UEFA Euro 2008 ™, including player and team profiles, is available online @ http://www.omnitv.ca/ontario/tv/eurocup2008 with scheduling information to be posted as it is confirmed.
About Rogers OMNI Television:
Rogers OMNI Television is a free over-the-air system consisting of regional broadcasters with the collective mandate to reflect Canada’s diversity through the airing of inclusive and accessible programming: multilingual/multicultural stations OMNI.1 (CFMT) and OMNI.2 (CJMT), along with the recently acquired (April, 2008) channel m in Vancouver BC, and two newly granted (June, 2007) licences for similarly mandated ethnocultural stations in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta; all are owned and operated by Rogers Communications in the Rogers Media division.
* (Digital over-the-air transmission in Toronto on channel: 64 for OMNI.1 and 44 for OMNI.2)
OMNI Television Media Contact:
Sandy Zwyer – Programme Information Coordinator, 416-260-3590
sandy.zwyer@rci.rogers.com
