Brian Williams (sportscaster)

Brian Williams (born 1946 in Winnipeg, Manitoba and raised in Hamilton, Ontariocite press release| title = Celebrity High: Westdale Secondary Alumni (Brian Williams)| publisher = The Hamilton Spectator| date = 2006-05-19| url = http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1147989017565&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1014656511815| accessdate = 2006-07-17] ) is a Canadian sportscaster who is best known for his coverage of the Olympic Games.

Biography

Williams was long associated with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's sports coverage since joining the network in 1974, after radio employment at Toronto's CFRB and CHUM.

Career at CBC

Williams served as the studio host for the CBC's CFL coverage for many years and formerly announced Toronto Blue Jays baseball games for the network. Along with Terry Leibel and Ron MacLean, he was a regular studio anchor for CBC's Olympic Games coverage, and will serve a similar role at CTV in 2010, which will be held within Canadian borders, in Vancouver, and 2012, but will be limited to hosting TSN's cable coverage, at most, in 2008. He also covered the 2002 FIFA World Cup for CBC.

Williams also worked with Peter Mansbridge during "CBC 2000 Today", CBC's coverage of the millennium. He also currently co-hosts "Don Cherry's Grapeline", along with Don Cherry.

Unique quirks

His unique voice and quirks such as frequently announcing the time, sometimes in several different time zones at once, has made him one of Canada's most distinctive broadcasters. He is a frequent subject of parody on Canadian comedy shows such as "Royal Canadian Air Farce".

Departure from CBC

On June 5, 2006, he announced plans to move to rival CTV, and its sports network TSN, in December 2006. However, on June 8, 2006, the CBC fired Williams, thereby clearing him to join CTV/TSN effective immediately, and will initially serve as on-site host of TSN's Canadian Football League coverage. (This position should not be confused with the "studio host" position that remains held by Dave Randorf.) [ [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060610.WILLIAMS10/TPStory/TPSports/OtherSports/ globeandmail.com ] ]

References

External links

Multimedia

* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-116-1403-8808/1980s/1989/ CBC archives] - Brian hosting the opening of SkyDome in Toronto.
* [http://www.fan590.com/features/grapeline.jsp Grapeline archives] - Brian co-hosts Grapeline with Don Cherry.

Websites

* [http://www.tsn.ca/tsn_talent/bio/?fid=79 TSN profile]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/ns/agalley/williams.html The Brian Williams Satire Page]
* [http://www.speakers.ca/williams_brian.aspx Speakers' Spotlight: Brian Williams]
* [http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/June2006/05/c9891.html CTV PR: "Going For Gold. Brian Williams To Join CTV, TSN"]
* [http://www.ctvmedia.ca/tsn/releases/release.asp?id=8741&yyyy=2006 TSN PR (June 9): "Brian Williams Makes CTV/TSN Debut June 16 During CFL Season Opener"]