CBC rolls out sked as Caribana media partner

Back in 2006, Rogers OMNI Television was the media partner and sponsor of the Caribana Festival in Toronto. This summer, the Ceeb is taking the reins as the media partner with multiplatform coverage.
By Jesse Kohl
July 10, 2008

CBC is heading into the Scotiabank Caribana Festival as the officially media partner this year. The pubcaster will cover the festival with special programming across television, radio and the web – dubbing itself ‘Caribana Central.’

For those who don’t know, the festival celebrates the rhythms and revelry of the Caribbean, filling the city with the music, dance, art, culture and food of the islands.

Sponsors of this year’s Caribana festival, aside from Scotiabank and the CBC, include the Toronto Sun, the City of Toronto, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Westin Harbour Castle Toronto, the governments of Ontario and Canada, State Farm Insurance, enable, Breyers, GraceKennedy, The Bay, TLN Television, Yorkgate Mall, the Liberty Grand, TicketBreak.com, the Canadian Diamond Traders and Atourz.

Coverage kicks off on Tuesday, July 15 with the festival launch at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square. In addition to regular segments during the CBC’s 6 pm news in Toronto, CBC Newsworld will air national segments throughout the festival, and the Ceeb’s also set up a microsite to feature content at CBC.ca/Caribana.

The official Caribana Parade on Saturday, August 2 will get coverage across CBC properties, including live online streaming of the event. At 1 pm ET, CBC Television in Toronto and the pubcaster’s digital channel, bold, will air live coverage of the Caribana Parade, hosted by Christine Birak and Andrew Craig, with CBC Radio’s Garvia Bailey reporting live from the parade route. CBC Newsworld will provide highlights of the parade to the rest of the country throughout the day, from 10 am to 6 pm ET. Highlights will also air Sunday, August 3 at 11 pm ET.

On Wednesday, July 30, CBC Radio 2 hosts CBC’s First Annual Calypso Tent, a concert at Glenn Gould Studio featuring nine former Caribana Monarchs. CBC Radio 2’s CANADA LIVE will broadcast the concert on Monday, August 4, at 8 pm.

The net will also cover the masquerade at the Caribana Junior Carnival on Saturday, July 19, and the late-night battle at the Caribana King & Queen Show on Thursday, July 31.

CBC Radio One 99.1 will feature interviews and updates on Metro Morning (weekdays 6-8:30 am ET), Here & Now (weekdays 3-6 pm ET), Fresh Air (weekends 6-9 am ET) and Big City Small World (Saturdays 5 pm ET). 94.1 CBC Radio 2 will air the Calypso Tent concert on July 30 at 8 pm ET, while Canada Live will air the full event on Monday, August 4 at 8 pm ET.

Caribana’s previous media partner was Rogers OMNI Television in Toronto.