Rod Black (born September 28, 1962) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

sports announcer In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...

best known for his work with

CTV Sports CTV Sports was the division of the CTV Television Network responsible for sports broadcasting. The division existed in its own right from 1961 to 2001; between 1998 and 2001, CTV Sports also operated a cable sports network, CTV Sportsnet, now owned ...

and TSN from 1990 to 2021. He is now a host and brand ambassador for NorthStar Bets, a brand of NorthStar Gaming.

Education

Black was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. Prior to coming onto the national scene, Black studied Creative Communications at Red River College.

Career

Black got his start as a sports announcer at the age of 19 at the local

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

affiliate (now owned station)

CKY-TV CKY-DT (channel 7) is a television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. The station is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, and maintains studios on Graham Avenue (adjacent to the Canada Life Cent ...

where he soon became host of the Winnipeg Jets’ NHL broadcasts. He also hosted ''CKY Sports Sunday''. By 1990, Black moved to the network's Toronto-based CTV Sports division. There, he anchored events including CTV's coverage of the 1991 Canada Cup. He worked CTV's coverage of the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

and

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fr ...

, as well as the CTV-led consortium's coverage of the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy Greene Wayne G ...

and the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

. He also called events for

CTV Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Canadian English-language sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture between CTV, Liberty Media, and Rogers Media. CTV parent Bell Globemedia then was re ...

from its launch in 1999 until CTV's acquisition of TSN, and sale of Sportsnet to Rogers, in 2001. After being reassigned to TSN, Black's broadcasting duties included play-by-play announcing for the ''

CFL on TSN The ''CFL on TSN'' is TSN's presentation of the Canadian Football League. The Sports Network (TSN) has broadcast CFL games since the 1987 season and has been the exclusive broadcaster of all CFL games (including the playoffs and Grey Cup) sin ...

'' and ''NBA on TSN'', TSN golf coverage and international hockey. He has also called Canadian-based golf tournaments for the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

bowling Bowling is a target sport and recreational activity in which a player rolls a ball toward pins (in pin bowling) or another target (in target bowling). The term ''bowling'' usually refers to pin bowling (most commonly ten-pin bowling), though ...

tournaments,

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

, and

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

. He was known as the voice of

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

in Canada, as he covered the sport as commentator for CTV and TSN coverage of figure skating. In April 2002, Black guest starred on the Canadian animated series '' D'Myna Leagues'' as Rod Blackbird, a documentary filmmaker. In addition to his sports roles, Black briefly served as a co-host of ''

Canada AM ''Canada AM'' was a Canadian morning television news show that aired on CTV from 1972 to 2016. Its final hosts were Beverly Thomson and Marci Ien, with Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports. The program aired on weekdays, an ...

'', and in that capacity broke the news of the terrorist attacks on the United States to CTV viewers on September 11, 2001. Black announced his departure from CTV/TSN on October 14, 2021 after spending over 30 years with the CTV /

Bell Media Bell Media Inc. (French: ) is a Canadian company formed by the amalgamation of several companies. Establishment (2011–13) On December 9, 2011, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan announced the sale of its majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports ...

family of networks. On March 24, 2022, it was announced that Black would join NorthStar Gaming as a host and brand ambassador for NorthStar Bets, providing hosting commentary for the company's social media and in-app content.

Toronto Blue Jays coverage

Black called Toronto Blue Jays games for

from 1999 to 2000 alongside

Joe Carter Joseph Chris Carter (born March 7, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue ...

and on TSN from 2002 to 2009 with

Pat Tabler Patrick Sean Tabler (born February 2, 1958) is an American former Major League Baseball player. After retiring professional baseball, he became a color analyst for the Toronto Blue Jays on the Canadian sports television networks TSN and Sports ...

. Black also co-hosted CTV's pregame coverage of the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

World Series with

Rob Faulds Rob Faulds (born September 29, 1955) is a Canadian sportscaster on Sportsnet. Faulds graduated from Western University and started his broadcasting career at CFPL (AM) in London, Ontario. He then worked for CKSO radio and covered the 1992 Summe ...

Awards

In 2005, Black won the Sports Media Canada Award as Outstanding Sports Broadcaster and has earned five

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

nominations for Best Sports Broadcaster. In 2008, he was named to the roll of honour of the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. In 2013, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his volunteer work with

Plan Canada Plan International Canada is the Canadian arm of the relief organization Plan International, a not-for-profit global movement that promotes social justice for youth and their families in more than 65 developing countries. Plan International and ...

Personal life

Black's son Tyler was drafted in the first round of the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The ...

by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

. Black is a spokesperson for

(formerly Foster Parents Plan).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Rod 1962 births Living people Bowling broadcasters Boxing commentators Canadian Football League announcers Canadian radio sportscasters Canadian television sportscasters Curling broadcasters Figure skating commentators Golf writers and broadcasters Major League Baseball broadcasters National Basketball Association broadcasters National Hockey League broadcasters Winnipeg Jets announcers Sportspeople from Winnipeg Toronto Blue Jays announcers Toronto Raptors announcers Olympic Games broadcasters Gymnastics broadcasters CTV Television Network people