Sports
2010 Olympics in Punjabi
From News Report by CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI
The upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, will be broadcast in Punjabi - as well as in 21 other world languages - with sports commentary and play-by-play analysis to be delivered in a wide range of tongues.
Punjabi is the most spoken language in Canada, after its official languages, English and French. Chinese, split between its two languages - Cantonese and Mandarin - follows close behind.
Keith Pelley, president of the broadcast consortium in charge of the coverage, says unprecedented efforts are underway to represent Canada's diversity.
"The demand for coverage of these Games is certainly at an all-time high and our philosophy has always been, 'You can watch what you want, when you want and how you want,' and you might now be able to add, 'in whatever language you want,"' Pelley told The Canadian Press.
"These languages are certainly representative of Canada's multicultural diversity and we're pretty excited about being able to deliver such comprehensive coverage."
Multilingual commentators and analysts will be drawn from a consortium of media outlets.
The consortium was to officially announce the details Monday, but in an interview with The Canadian Press, Pelley outlined an ambitious plan that in many cases will involve rookie broadcasters attempting sports play-by-play for the first time.
The multicultural OMNI Television, with five stations in British Columbia, Calgary, Edmonton and Ontario, plans coverage in seven languages including Cantonese, Italian, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi and Ukrainian.
ATN will cover the Games across seven specialty channels and in six languages including Punjabi.
Pelley, who heads a media consortium led by CTV and Rogers Media, said the scope of multilingual coverage was determined by APTN, OMNI and ATN, which crafted their plans based on the communities they served and the terms of their broadcast licences.
"We went to all three of our partners and looked at it and said, 'You know your audience best, you know your languages best, you know your sports best. It's not for us to make that (decision).' " Pelley said.
OMNI said coverage plans were determined by the makeup of its viewers.
"OMNI chose the languages based on the key community groups currently reflected on our schedule," the over-the-air channel said in a statement.
"The choice of these languages also leverages OMNI's existing talent, writers and producers for the coverage of the Games."
Not every Olympic sport will get multilingual coverage. However, each of the 22 languages will be paired with a sport that holds the most appeal for the community involved, said Pelley.
A schedule detailing which sports will be handled in which language will be announced in early January. Pelley said outlets will focus on providing live, prime-time coverage where possible.
Broadcasters speaking 13 languages will cover the opening ceremony when the Games kick off February 12, 2010.
[Courtesy: Canadian Press]
November 20, 2009
Conversation about this article
1: Gurmeet Kaur (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), November 21, 2009, 10:26 AM.
I love Canada for the Salad Bowl it is! Also, Punjabis back home (both East and West Punjab) who are shying away from the beautiful Maa Boli should be inspired by Canada's Punjabis.
2: Jessie Singh Parmar (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada), November 21, 2009, 6:42 PM.
We are proud of Canadian values. Thank you, Canada. Long live, Canada.
3: Harinder (Banglaore, India), November 21, 2009, 10:17 PM.
God bless Canada!