CBC's television and online news coverage, long-running documentary series The Nature of Things and TSN's coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games are among the big winners at the Canadian Screen Awards.

The awards, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, celebrates homegrown TV, film and digital productions.

Wednesday night's ceremony was the first of three CSA galas and focused on honouring the country's news, sports, documentary and lifestyle programming.

CBC was a major news winner, earning awards in categories including:

Breaking news coverage: CBC News Now — Jack Layton's Death.

Breaking reportage, local: CBC News Toronto — Mariam Makhniashvili.

Breaking reportage, national: CBC News: The National — Reports from Attawapiskat.

National newscast: CBC News: The National.

News information series: the fifth estate.

Canada Award (TV programming that "reflects the racial and cultural diversity of Canada"): CBC Saskatchewan — Blind Spot:What happened to Canada's Aboriginal Fathers?

Truth & Lies: The Last Days of Osama bin Laden, an investigative multimedia project produced by CBCNews.ca and the fifth estate won a Canadian Screen Award on Wednesday night.

The project, a first for CBC, won in the Cross-Platform Project, Non-Fiction category.

"We're incredibly flattered to win in this category," said Marissa Nelson, acting director of digital media at CBCNews.ca.

"We used the incredible investigative prowess of the fifth estate and the unique tools of digital storytelling to bring investigative reporting to a new and broader audience."

CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, meanwhile, was lauded for its coverage of Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, winning the trophy for best live sporting direction.

Venerable CBC documentary series The Nature of Things was also a multiple winner. It picked up a trophy for best doc program, while host David Suzuki nabbed the award for best host or interviewer in a news information program.

TSN picked up several CSAs for coverage of the 2012 London Olympics, including for sports analysis, live sporting event and sports play-by-play announcer (Rod Smith).

Gala to be broadcast by CBC on Sunday

The evening also included tributes to this year's special honourees: Jeanne Beker, Flashpoint, Ian Greenberg, Victor Loewy, Andra Sheffer, Laurier LaPierre, Heather Conkie and IMAX.

The CSA celebration continues on Thursday evening with a second industry ceremony honouring the winners of drama, youth, comedy and variety categories.

The celebration ends with a televised gala hosted by Martin Short and broadcast by CBC on Sunday. Altogether, the CSAs will present awards in 120 categories.

In May 2012, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television announced it would consolidate the existing Genie and Gemini Awards, honouring English-language film and television respectively, into one omnibus event that would also celebrate digital media production.

In September, the group revealed the new event would be known as the Canadian Screen Awards and unveiled a logo design that has been reflected in the new CSA trophy.

CSA winners — Industry gala #1