CBC Ends 12-Year NHL Partnership as Sportsnet Starts $7.9 Billion Rights Deal
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 17
CBC Ends 12-Year NHL Partnership as Sportsnet Starts $7.9 Billion Rights Deal
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 17
Summary
CBC and Sportsnet said the public broadcaster will stop carrying NHL games after this season, ending a 12-year sublicensing arrangement that kept Hockey Night in Canada on free over-the-air TV.
The split follows CBC's shift to a new sports programming strategy after the Milano/Cortina Olympics, while Sportsnet moves into a new 12-year, $7.9 billion NHL rights agreement.
Under the outgoing deal, CBC paid no rights fees and received no advertising revenue, making the partnership a low-cost way to keep Saturday-night hockey on its schedule.
Hockey Night in Canada began on radio in the 1930s and moved to television in the 1950s, becoming Canada's longest-running broadcast; CBC still owns the trademark and could reuse it.