Craig, Gordon

Year Inducted / Année Intronisé:

2005

Province / Province:

Manitoba

Category / Catégorie:

Builder, Media

Biography / Biographie:

Toronto’s Gordon Craig got his start in television in Winnipeg when he opted to join CBC rather than continue his university studies. It wasn’t long before he was moved to Toronto and into the TV sports department, where he soon began to produce curling shows under a variety of titles.

In the 1950s, he produced and directed CBC Championship Curling, introducing the game to TV audiences. In 1968, as deputy head of CBC-TV Sports, Craig was primarily responsible for obtaining the broadcast rights to the newly minted Air Canada Silver Broom.

He was recruited by Labatt Breweries to become president of a new sports network, TSN, and was instrumental in building the network into a powerful sports entity. One of Craig’s passions was curling and with his encouragement and direction, TSN provided wall-to-wall coverage of the Brier, Hearts and world championships.

Craig retired as a chairman and CEO of TSN’s parent company, Netstar Communications, later to become part of CTV and Bell Globe Media.