Pour one out for another Canadian institution.
CBC announced Tuesday its Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts have come to an end, placing the network’s airings of NHL hockey games in the same category as the Hudson’s Bay Company, Eaton’s, the penny, Mr. Dressup and gas below $1.50 per litre: beloved, and no more.
But as Canadians grapple with the loss of a show that some say is woven into our very fabric, others are asking what might replace it. Given the rising value of women’s sports — with the PWHL, WNBA and Northern Super League (NSL) all setting viewership records — some experts say it’s time for the focus to shift.
“Sport fandom and sport offerings on a viewership level in this country have changed so dramatically in five years that the media needs to and must respond,” Cheri Bradish, director of the Future of Sport Lab and sport initiatives at Toronto Metropolitan University, told CBC News.
“We need a bit of a refresh in the way that sport media looks and feels in this country.”
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In a follow-up announcement Tuesday, CBC announced it would launch a new Saturday night primetime show, “highlighting Canada’s athletes as they compete at home and around the world.”
This will “absolutely, 100 per cent” include more coverage of women’s sports, confirmed Chris Wilson, the executive director of CBC Sports.
“The PWHL and NSL are important properties for us, and our existing sports media rights include the most of the best Canadian and international women athletes,” Wilson said Wednesday.
“We’re proud of our equal coverage and intend for Saturday nights to feature women’s sports prominently.”
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On Tuesday, CBC announced it will no longer show NHL hockey games after the public broadcaster and national rights-holder Rogers Sportsnet were unable to come to agreement on a new sublicensing deal that would have allowed CBC to air games on its Saturday program Hockey Night in Canada.
CBC, which began televising NHL games in 1952, had operated under that agreement since Rogers Sportsnet acquired the league’s Canadian rights in 2013 for $5.2 billion. Rogers Sportsnet renewed those rights with a 12-year, $11.2-billion deal to begin in October. CBC previously aired national games on Saturdays, along with all four playoff rounds each year.
While CBC still holds the Hockey Night in Canada trademark and could incorporate the brand into future coverage, it’s the first time the program won’t be available to Canadian viewers via the public broadcaster.
“It’s a sad day for Canadian sports fans … very much the end of an era,” Jeff Marek, a hockey analyst and host of The Sheet podcast, told CBC News Network Tuesday.
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“I think for a lot of Canadians, a lot of our childhoods were sort of mixed in with the family gathering together on Saturday nights to watch hockey games.”
But just because a brand evokes nostalgia doesn’t mean it can’t be reimagined for a new audience, Bradish, with the Future of Sport Lab, told CBC News.
And the next generation of fan is more diverse and more female, she added, citing an increased interest in sports beyond just hockey, baseball and basketball, as well as in women’s leagues. She sees the shift as the network trying to better reflect the average fan’s identity and desires.
Wilson, with CBC Sports, cited several world championship and global events that could be included in that primetime coverage, including the Commonwealth Games, another season of PWHL hockey, the World Figure Skating Championships, World Aquatic Championships and World Athletics Championships.
CBC doesn’t have media rights for the WNBA, he added.
Women’s sports are becoming increasingly popular — and lucrative. The PWHL, for instance, experienced record attendance growth in its third season this year, and recently announced four new expansion teams in Hamilton, Detroit, Las Vegas and San Jose.
On April 4, the PWHL set a U.S. attendance record for women’s ice hockey when a sold-out crowd of 18,006 fans watched the New York Sirens host the Seattle Torrent at Madison Square Garden. For comparison, the Vancouver Canucks drew 18,001 to Rogers Arena in late March amid a disappointing season.
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While the NHL says this spring’s Stanley Cup playoffs were its most watched on record in the U.S., according to ESPN, its viewership in general has been declining. In 2025, Sports Business Journal reported the NHL’s regular-season viewership was its lowest yet.
“I would suggest the NHL has lost some fan base,” Bradish said, citing recent events that have brought so-called hockey culture under the spotlight.
That could include the Hockey Canada sexual assault trial last summer — though all five players involved were acquitted — and U.S. President Donald Trump’s locker room call with the men’s Olympic hockey team, in which he joked he’d “have to” invite the gold medal-winning women’s team to the White House, too.
“At the same time, the level of play in women’s professional sport is so strong,” Bradish said.
More than 1.1 million Canadians tuned into the NSL final between the Vancouver Rise FC and AFC Toronto last November. And the WNBA has seen explosive growth over the past few few years, setting viewership records, expanding its season from 44 to 50 games, and expanding its league — including the new Toronto Tempo.
As for the Hockey Night in Canada brand, Wilson says it’s too early for specifics, but the CBC intends to use it in “some fresh new ways.”
“The NHL may not be on CBC, but we still have a hockey strategy that already includes PWHL, USports, Olympic and Paralympic hockey, with the potential for more to come.”
