Hockey Night in Canada Isn't on CBC Anymore — After 74 Years

CBC and Rogers Sportsnet confirmed they did not extend their broadcast partnership for the 2026-27 NHL season, meaning Hockey Night in Canada — a Saturday-night tradition on the public broadcaster since 1952 — will not air on CBC when the season begins.

Why You Should Care

If Saturday-night hockey on CBC has been part of your household's weekly rhythm for as long as you can remember, this is the end of something, even if the games themselves aren't going anywhere. Sportsnet will keep broadcasting NHL hockey across its own channels and streaming platforms, so nothing about watching the actual sport changes practically — but the specific institution of watching it on the public broadcaster, alongside the cultural weight the brand carried for generations, is genuinely gone.

Complex to Simple

Think of it like your favourite local diner losing its lease in a strip mall it's occupied for 70 years — the food isn't disappearing, because the owner is just opening a new location down the street. But the specific building, the parking lot everyone knew, the version of the place tied to your own memories growing up? That part doesn't transfer, no matter how good the new location turns out to be.

What Both Sides Are Saying

Sportsnet and CBC's joint statement frames this as a mutual, amicable shift, with CBC moving toward a "new sports programming strategy" following what it called the "unprecedented success" of its Winter Olympics coverage from Milan-Cortina. Media analysts, including a media professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, describe the split more bluntly — as a recognition that CBC's hockey coverage had become "almost indistinguishable" from Sportsnet's own product, making the public-broadcaster premium harder to justify as ad revenue tightens.

What's Next

CBC still owns the Hockey Night in Canada trademark and hasn't ruled out reviving the brand in some other form — worth watching whether it resurfaces attached to amateur hockey, women's hockey, or international tournaments as the 2026-27 season approaches in late September.