TSN and RDS Join Forces with Rogers Sportsnet for Complete Live Coverage of Canada/Russia Super Series

TSN and
its sister network, RDS, are teaming up with Rogers Sportsnet to provide wall-to-wall
live coverage of the highly anticipated Canada/Russia Super Series, starting August
27. Together, the three sports networks have secured exclusive Canadian
broadcast and digital media rights, in both English and French, to the
eight-game hockey tournament.

English-language
coverage will be divided between TSN and Sportsnet, with TSN televising Games
1, 4, 5 and 6 and Sportsnet airing Games 2, 3, 7 and 8. RDS will
broadcast all eight games in French (see broadcast schedule below). All
games will also be available live and on-demand on Broadband at TSN.ca, sportsnet.ca
and RDS.ca.

As part of
the deal, TSN and Sportsnet will create one shared broadcast team and
production crew. This marks the second co-production between TSN and
Sportsnet following joint coverage of last summer’s 2006 FIFA World Cup, and
represents another joint venture leading into the 2010 Olympics from Vancouver
when the networks’ parent companies, CTVglobemedia and Rogers Media Inc., will
provide multi-platform coverage of the Games.

“We
are able to best serve Canadian viewers by teaming up and combining our
resources to provide live coverage of all the games from this event,” said
Phil King, President, TSN. “And as we’ve seen from the FIFA World
Cup, this partnership has proven to be very successful.”

“We
are pleased our partnership will give Canadians another chapter in this storied
hockey rivalry between
Canada
and

Russia,”
said Doug Beeforth, President of Rogers Sportsnet. “Once again the
big winner is the sports fan, and that’s what this joint venture is all
about.”

Sportsnet’s
Peter Loubardias will provide the play-by-play alongside TSN game analyst
Pierre McGuire and TSN’s Ryan Rishaug as rinkside reporter. The networks’
pre-games and intermissions will be from a shared broadcast studio. For
RDS, St phane Leroux will handle the play-by-play with game analyst Norman
Flynn, while Michel Lacroix will host the studio show alongside analyst Gaston
Therrien.

The
Canada/Russia Super Series will be held from August 27 to September 9, with the
first four games taking place in
Russia
and the final four games in

Canada.
This one-time series, organized by Hockey

Canada in partnership with the
Canadian Hockey League, features the best Under-20 players.
Canada’s 26 player roster includes four players
who won gold with

Canada
at the 2007 World Juniors (Karl Alzner, Sam Gagner, Leland Irving, Brad
Marchand), 18 players with Under-18 program experience and 10 players that have
taken part in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

“The
Canada/Russia Super Series will be an historic event,” said Scott Smith,
Hockey

Canada’s
Executive Senior Vice-President of Business Operations. “We’re proud
that all eight games will be shown on Canadian television. Hockey fans
throughout the nation will be able to tune into all of the live action from
Russia and

Canada thanks to our partnership
with TSN, RDS and Rogers Sportsnet.”

The
historic hockey rivalry between young players from
Canada
and

Russia
has produced massive audiences for TSN. In fact, the Top 3 most watched
programs of all time on TSN were the Canada/Russia gold medal games from the
2003, 2005 and 2006 IIHF World Junior Championship (2003 – 3.5 million viewers;
2005 – 3.2 million viewers; 2006 – 3 million viewers).