TSN teams up with W5 to investigate how easy it is for young Canadian athletes to purchase steroids online. A special TSN and W5co-production, CHEATING THE GAME premieres Friday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. ET on TSN’s SPORTSCENTRE, before airing as part of W5’s all-new episode thisSaturday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, CTV GO, and CTVNews.ca.
In CHEATING THE GAME, TSN Senior Correspondent Rick Westhead introduces viewers to former University of Waterloo football player Matt Socholotiuk, who explains why he turned to illegal steroids in order to gain an edge while pursuing his athletic dreams. Socholotiuk’s hopes of playing professional football were shattered in 2010 after he tested positive for steroid use while playing for Waterloo.
A widespread problem on Canadian campuses, eight Canadian university football players have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in the past two years alone – with police seizing a record $10 million worth of illegal PEDs in one bust.
Westhead visits the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to examine their effectiveness in stopping illegal drugs from being shipped into Canada, and then puts the CBSA’s vigilance to the test. After easily finding and placing orders for a variety of substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency from three online sources, Westhead’s packages arrive by express courier in about two weeks – completely evading customs detection.
When the products in question are tested at a World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Montréal, they reveal the dangerous and illegal contents of Westhead’s online purchases, and the cancer-causing chemicals inside.
Following its premiere on TSN, CHEATING THE GAME is available on TSN.ca. The full W5 documentary will be available online on CTV News GO.
Saturday’s W5 broadcast also features the program’s Host and Chief Correspondent Lloyd Robertson with an exclusive portrait of Canada’s legendary COWBOY POET, Ian Tyson. The Canadian singer-songwriter, best known for his song Four Strong Winds and remembered as half of the hit duo Ian & Sylvia, remains a favourite among fans for his unique brand of music: songs about the west, cowboys, and a slowly vanishing lifestyle. Tyson discusses the literal “lucky break” – his thwarted attempt at becoming a rodeo cowboy when he was thrown by a bucking bronco – that ushered in his musical career in the 1950s.
Tyson recounts moments from five decades in music: from his early days with musical collaborator and first wife Sylvia Fricker; his pot-smoking days in New York when he hung out with Bob Dylan; and the inspiration behind his most famous song,Four Strong Winds. W5’s COWBOY POET offers viewers a rarely seen glimpse at the contemplative and politically engaged artist, as Tyson weighs in on the debate surrounding the legalization of marijuana, and how his music today acts as a platform for defending western Canada from unbridled resource development and uncontrolled population growth.
Last Saturday’s broadcast made W5 the #1 program in primetime with its investigation into the Alberta government’s controversial capture of wild horses, and a look at WWII’s Elite Canada/U.S. Military Force the Devil’s Brigade.
In addition to airing Saturdays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, W5 airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET and Sundays at 5 p.m. ET on CTV Two, and at 7 p.m. ET on CTV News Channel. W5 can also be seen on Investigation Discovery on Tuesdays at 11 p.m. ET, and Wednesdays at 12 noon ET; on demand at CTVNews.ca/W5, on the CTV NEWS GO app, the CTV Mobile channel on Bell Mobile TV, and through video on demand partners, such as Bell Fibe TV (visit CTV.ca for local listings).
Source: Numeris, Total Canada, P2+, preliminary overnight data with playback +2 days, Includes CTV Sat 7p + CTV Two Sat 10p + CTV News Channel Sun 7p airings
