Warming Up For The Big Show

In less than two year's time, they'll be kings of the rings.
But one more time, TSN will play the good partner to CBC for coverage of an Olympic Games. Beijing 2008 marks the final chapter in their five-Games shared arrangement, which began back in Sydney in 2000. A partnership, we might add, that has served Canadian viewers more than well over the past dozen years.
Come 2010 in Vancouver, CBC is out and CTV Globemedia (TSN's parent company) will team up with Rogers Communications (which includes Sportsnet, among others) — a consortium that also holds rights to the London 2012 Summer Games. But that's a blog post for another day.
So what's the deal for TSN in Beijing? Look for 150 hours of coverage (50 of them in prime time), the majority of it live and all of it in high-definition format (these being the first all-HD Olympics ever).
For the most part, TSN hits the air between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. ET, with its morning coverage running as late as noon. Prime-time action generally begins at 7 p.m. Among the sports you'll see along the way: Rowing, canoe-kayak, basketball, soccer, boxing, tennis, baseball, softball and beach volleyball.
Gino Reda is TSN's early-morning host; Dave Randorf takes over in prime time. You'll also hear the voices of TSN's Vic Rauter and Russ Anber (boxing) throughout the Games, along with network alumni Paul Romanuk (basketball) and Jim Van Horne (baseball and softball).
Check out the complete TSN schedule in Beijing here.