Source : CBC News

The CBC will attempt to launch a new television sports channel dedicated to amateur and high-performance sport, the public broadcaster told staff Thursday.

CBC has received the approval of its board of governors to submit an application for a proposed all-sports digital channel that would provide a national English-language specialty television service dedicated to covering Canadian athletes, with an emphasis on amateur sport.

Before the CBC can officially launch the channel, it must first have its application approved by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

"We feel there is a need for more Canadian sports on the air. With our history of providing coverage of high-performance sports and other professional sports, we think the CBC is in the best position to deliver it," Scott Moore, executive director of CBC Sports, told CBCSports.ca.

Moore added: "We think we have two of the best brands in sports television - CBC Sports and Hockey Night in Canada - and while we don't expect to have NHL hockey on this new channel, we would look to do hockey news programming on it, under the brand of Hockey Night in Canada."

Currently, the CBC airs several sports, including curling, alpine skiing, and figure skating, on its digital television channel, CBC Country Canada. Eventually, Moore sees those sports programs airing on the new CBC Sports channel.

"We're already producing hundreds of hours of cable sports programming on CBC Country Canada. We would migrate that, at some point, over to this new channel if the CRTC approves it," Moore explained.

The CBC's announcement comes 24 hours after the Canadian Olympic Committee revealed it has applied to the CRTC for English and French television channels that would air original programming focused solely on amateur competition.

The CRTC will likely rule on the COC's application in the spring.

© CBC