Draft:ORTO Courier (magazine)

ORTO Courier was the official magazine of the CBC and its Olympic arm ORTO, an acronym for Olympics Radio and Television Organization and L'Organizme de radio et television olympique (French). Published quarterly in English and French, its content was a mix of official news and information about the status of venue sites and state-of-the-art broadcasting equipment for transmitting the Games as well as more in-depth features on past Olympics Games, particularly those with advanced technologies, beginning with the 1936 Berlin Olympics; 1960 Rome Olympics; Tokyo (1964); Mexico City (1968); and Munich (1972). Contributing writers were engineers, technicians, journalists, and government administrators with a wealth of experience and expertise in their respective fields.

Some 3,000 broadcasters from 115 nations worldwide joined the CBC in relaying the excitement and spectacle of the Games around the world. It was estimated that one billion people watched and listened to the 1976 Olympics on television and radio.

Throughout the two-week period of the 1976 Summer Olympics, CBC-ORTO successfully provided other, visiting broadcasting organizations with comprehensive live coverage of all events for broadcast to their home countries. At the same time in Canada, CBC-ORTO anticipated the Games with a variety of programs about their history, their major sports and events, and the people who took part in them.

The ORTO organizational structure included: General Manager Marcel Deschamps; B. D. McCorquodale, Assistant General Manager; G. DesOrmeaux, Director of Program and Production Services; M. Morais, Director of Engineering and Technical Services; L. Chapple, Director of Administrative and Hosting Services; P.M. Gagnon, Director of Planning; P. Paquet, Director of Public relations; and R. Gauvreau, Director of Financial Services.

Titled "ORTO Courier|Courrier"., the bilingual magazine was conceived in late 1974 and early 1975 with the task of keeping world broadcasters abreast with the plans, the operations and the achievements of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the host broadcaster for the Olympic Games, utilizing a specially formed CBC unit for the occasion. ORTO's well-defined mandate was to assist Canadian and foreign television and radio broadcasters in reporting the Games of the XXI Olympiad at Montreal in July 1976, a task achieved with aplomb

The magazine was internationally circulated every third month over a two-year (1975-1976) period for a total of six editions at the time when construction and preparations were in progress. ORTO Courier was published in two Canadian official languages -- English and French -- and had a circulation of 15,000 to 20,000, mailed specifically to broadcasting institutions across the globe. The magazine was sent free of charge to all foreign broadcasters who were also preparing to broadcast Olympic events from different sports venues in Montreal, as well as sailing events in Kingston to their home country. It offered insights on the progress of the construction of the venues, particularly the stadium, designed by Roger Taillibert, as well as the technical side with the commentator's unit called la consolette -- known as "the star of the grandstand" -- used for the dissemination of broadcast. Plus, other particulars in the latest, state-of-the-art technological advancements, facilities, housing for athletes, and other important news from past Olympics were also featured in the magazine.

The magazine was published by the Olympics Radio and Television Organization (ORTO) of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the host broadcaster for the Games of the XXI Olympiad at Montreal in 1976. The Public Relations Services was responsible for writing and producing the six issues over a two-year anxious period leading up to the great event. ORTO Courier's Editor-in-chief was Philippe Paquet, a former government communications officer, and Michael M. Petrovich (aka Michel Petrovich), the editor and writer.