The past 25 years have delivered some of the most intriguing, riveting and controversial moments in sports.
Hearts were broken. Dreams were realized. Legends were born.
And through it all, TSN was there – capturing the triumphs and tears of athletes from across Canada and around the world, and delivering these indelible moments in sports history to Canadian fans from coast to coast.
It was 25 years ago when TSN founder and former president Gordon Craig revolutionized the way Canadians watch sports, creating a national TV platform for amateur and professional athletes to showcase their skills. As Canada’s first 24-hour all-sports network, TSN faced its share of challenges and critics who believed this network would never succeed.
However, TSN is now available in 9 million homes since it launched on September 1, 1984, and the network remains a leading force behind the transformation and innovation of Canada’s sports television landscape. TSN has morphed into a multi-platform provider of sports programming, news and information through its industry-leading sports website, TSN.ca, and the website’s portable version, TSN Mobile, on Internet-ready wireless devices. In 2008, TSN launched its new digital network, TSN2, giving Canadians more live sports coverage than ever before. Together, the networks also deliver more sports programming in High Definition than any other network in Canada.
Along with expanding its operations, TSN has also bolstered its cache of marquee sporting events since it went on the air – growing from a service that showcased niche sports to a network that delivers an all-encompassing schedule of major league events to fans across the country. Still, TSN has remained uniquely Canadian, focussing on the talented athletes and passionate fans that are a part of the nation’s grassroots sports mosaic. Over the years, TSN has raised the profile of properties such as the CFL, the IIHF World Junior Championship and curling so that they stand side-by-side with the NHL, NFL, NBA, golf, tennis and auto racing events on the network.
Next year, TSN will also deliver more than 300 hours of live coverage from the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, featuring the best high-performance amateur athletes in Canada as they compete on the world’s most prestigious sports stage. TSN first covered the Olympic Games in 1988, when the network teamed up with CTV to televise the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary. With 115 hours of coverage, the Calgary Games were a sports television coup for TSN, garnering the network international acclaim and recognition as it became the first specialty network ever to televise the Olympic Games.
For TSN, its Silver Anniversary represents more than just 25 years of bringing some of the most provocative and entertaining sporting events to Canadian fans. TSN’s 25th anniversary is a testament to the network’s foresight to tap into a Canadian market hungry for around-the-clock sports coverage and a tribute to the network’s dedication to revolutionizing the way sports are delivered to fans in Canada.
As TSN embarks on the next 25 years of its existence, it continues to move forward and further establish itself as the industry benchmark for all other Canadian sports networks to follow.
TSN is Canada’s Sports Leader.