At a time when online sports media are facing new levels of competition for advertiser dollars, CBCSports.ca has launched a bold new design.
The revamped site showcases new and improved features including tweaked visitor navigation, up-to-the-minute sports news, and live and on-demand video streaming.
Sports fans aren’t the only ones who will benefit from the upgrade; advertisers now have new formats and opportunities on the site, such as a push-down ad unit, in-show product placement, social TV engagement and branded content.
According to Dan Tavares, executive producer at CBCSports.ca, the redesign was not a reaction to Sportsnet.ca’s recent redesign – one of several moves in the sports media world in 2011.
“Our redesign was in the works for several months before we became aware of the Sportsnet changes,” said Tavares. “Our design was driven by our desire to create a better experience for our users… Being a best-in-class site is our objective, regardless of what the competition is doing.
“We wanted a site that better reflected what is being done with CBC Sports’ look and feel on air and to create branded destinations for our key properties like Hockey Night in Canada and Coach’s Corner… We also wanted to create more advertising opportunities. I believe we satisfied those objectives,” added Tavares.
Will viewers and advertisers be sampling new offerings on other CBC sites? Michka Mancini, director of digital sales for the revenue group, said that in the coming weeks, “CBC will be introducing several new products and advertising opportunities across CBC digital platforms with a focus on increasing our engagement with youth-minded audiences, in addition to expanding our local presence.”
Does the CBCSports.ca upgrade put the public broadcaster on par with its online competitors? Post your thoughts in our comment section.
