Linsanity returns: OMNI to broadcast Friday’s Knicks-Raptors game in Mandarin

peter236

http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/sports/article/194749--linsanity-returns-omni-to-broadcast-friday-s-knicks-raptors-game-in-mandarin

03/20/2012  | Erin Criger, CityNews.ca

New York Knick Jeremy Lin celebrates after his game-winning 3 pointer against the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 14, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn.
OMNI Television will broadcast Friday’s New York Knicks game when the team – and Jeremy Lin – come to town to take on the Toronto Raptors.

Veteran basketball commentator Weiping Zhang will call the play-by-play in Mandarin, the station said Tuesday.

“The level of enthusiasm for Jeremy Lin from the Chinese and Taiwanese communities has been extraordinary over the past month,” said Madeline Zinak, national vice-president at OMNI Television.

“It’s clear that his Cinderella story and stellar performances are inspiring youth in these communities across Canada.”

Lin was an undrafted Harvard grad sleeping on his brother’s couch when a brief appearance with the Knicks made him an international star. He is the NBA's first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent

The game will be broadcast live on OMNI.2 at 7 p.m. Sportsnet ONE will also be providing English-language coverage.

peter236

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com ... mpts-canadas-301726

Jeremy Lin Linsanity Prompts Canada's
First All-Mandarin NBA Telecast

3/19/2012
Etan Vlessing

TORONTO – Linsanity has caught on in Canada.

Canadian broadcaster Omni Television has hired former Chinese national basketball team player and basketball commentator Weiping Zhang to call its first-ever NBA game in the Mandarin language when Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks play the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.

“The level of enthusiasm for Jeremy Lin from the Chinese and Taiwanese communities has been extraordinary over the past month, and it’s clear that his Cinderella story and stellar performances are inspiring youth in these communities across Canada,” Madeline Zinak, national vp of Omni Television, said Monday as her network taps into Linsanity to broaden its Mandarin-language TV audience in Vancouver and Toronto.

Canada in recent decades has enjoyed a steady stream of Chinese immigrants, leading to advertisers targetting growing Mandarin- and Cantonese-speaking TV audiences in Toronto and Vancouver.