After 90-odd years, Hockey Night in Canada is no longer. What was once a national institution, the tradition of the NHL on CBC on Saturdays, has come to an end. Even as the digital world began to take hold and broadcasting shifted away from free-to-air public television globally, Hockey Night remained a cherished Canadian staple.
End of an Era
In 2026, the Hockey Night in Canada brand will no longer be tied to the NHL. On Tuesday, Sportsnet and the CBC jointly announced the end of their 13-year partnership. With a new TV rights deal set for this fall, NHL games will no longer air on the national public broadcaster, and the HNIC name will not continue. The CBC owns the name, and Sportsnet does not. While hockey will still air on Saturdays, it will no longer carry the iconic title used since Foster Hewitt called games on the radio from Maple Leaf Gardens in 1936.
A Shift Years in the Making
The transition to a purely Sportsnet broadcast has been building for years. In 2013, Sportsnet won the lead national contract and struck a subsidiary deal with CBC to keep HNIC on the public broadcaster. While that deal involved no money, CBC's reach still mattered at the time, putting Sportsnet's programming in front of far more viewers than if it had been confined to its own channels. Even in Canada, one of the most connected TV markets globally, this reach was significant.
Other countries had already seen their national sports move to subscription TV—soccer in the UK, for instance, has been largely pay-to-view since the early 1990s. In Canada, however, CBC was on basic cable tiers, and that mattered immensely. But by 2026, that dynamic has shifted. A Sportsnet source confirmed that in recent seasons, the viewer split has moved heavily toward Sportsnet's own channels, whether on cable or streaming. This marks a stark change from a decade ago, when the bulk of Hockey Night viewers tuned in via CBC.
Technical and Strategic Changes
There have been technical shifts as well. Until 2021, Hockey Night was produced from CBC's downtown Toronto studios. But starting with the 2021-22 season, all broadcasts—HNIC or otherwise—have originated from the Rogers campus in Toronto. The CBC has stated it will focus its sports efforts on events like the Olympics, which remain a reliable draw, and on growing homegrown Canadian sports and leagues such as the Northern Super League. In the fragmented streaming era, this is a challenging endeavor, but the CBC believes it is essential for Canada to see its sporting stage more prominently.
Perhaps the final point is how much times have changed. This column was written on a phone while commuting on a SkyTrain to cover a World Cup training session. Technology has evolved, and delivery can happen anywhere. Hockey will continue, and fandom will endure, but the traditions that defined Hockey Night in Canada will be missed. Saturdays will still feature hockey, but it will not be quite the same.
