Sportsnet and CBC announced that the public broadcaster will not carry NHL broadcasts moving forward (Sportsnet). The decision means that “Hockey Night in Canada” will “not return to the public broadcaster” after nearly 75 years. A sub-licensing agreement between Rogers Communications and the CBC that allowed the program to air on the network “expired at the end of the Stanley Cup playoffs,” and the two sides did not renew for the upcoming campaign, which will be the first year of Rogers’ 12-year, $7.7B rights deal with the NHL (CP, 6/16). The CBC received “no advertising revenue from the ‘Hockey Night’ telecasts,” but also did not “pay Rogers Sportsnet for the rights to the Saturday night games under the deal” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/16).
In its place, CBC will “launch a new Saturday night prime time show on CBC and streaming on CBC Gem, featuring Canadian athletes competing at home and at the biggest events around the world” (CBC.ca, 6/16).
