Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition will not return to the airwaves, concluding an 18-year broadcast run that made National Hockey League games accessible to Punjabi-speaking fans across the country. Rogers Sportsnet, the national rights-holder for NHL games, cited low audience numbers as the driving factor behind the difficult cancellation decision, noting that the program averaged just 1,500 viewers during its final season, with more than half of all games drawing fewer than 1,000 viewers.
The pioneering Saturday night sportscast, which aired on OMNI Television, a multilingual free over-the-air channel in Canada, announced its closure on its official X account. “For 18 years, this show brought our community closer to the game we love,” the program stated, thanking its viewers for their unwavering loyalty and highlighting its role in sharing the stories of South Asian players and families.
As a spinoff of the long-standing Hockey Night in Canada franchise, the Punjabi-language broadcast broke new ground by cultivating a unique space in Canadian sports media. The show launched in 2008 to serve the South Asian diaspora by providing professional hockey commentary, analysis, and play-by-play coverage in Punjabi.
Impact of Harnarayan Singh and Trailblazing Broadcasters
Throughout its nearly two-decade tenure, the program helped launch and elevate several prominent South Asian broadcasters and analysts within the professional hockey sphere. Among them was Harnarayan Singh, whose energetic call of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Nick Bonino’s game-winning goal in Game 1 of the 2016 Stanley Cup Final against the San Jose Sharks went viral globally.
The broadcast also featured host Randip Janda, who subsequently expanded his work with Sportsnet on Vancouver Canucks game broadcasts, becoming the first full-time radio commentator of South Asian descent in NHL history. Other key contributors included analysts like Gurp Sian, who helped establish a relatable bridge between traditional hockey culture and the expanding South Asian community in Canada.
Fans and cultural advocates voiced significant disappointment following the cancellation announcement on social media. Viewers emphasized how the program fostered representation and a sense of belonging for individuals who previously saw few figures reflecting their heritage within mainstream hockey coverage.
Broadcasting Landscape Changes and Audience Figures
The closure of the Punjabi-language broadcast arrives amid a period of substantial structural shifts in Canadian hockey media. In June, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation announced that traditional Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts would end after a 74-year run on the public broadcaster, following the expiration of the sublicensing agreement between CBC and Rogers Communications.
Rogers is set to begin a new 12-year national broadcasting agreement this fall. That new arrangement includes Amazon Prime Video carrying Wednesday night games and select Stanley Cup playoff games in the spring, while the CBC retains ownership of the Hockey Night in Canada brand for future use, according to CBC head of public affairs Chuck Thompson.
Despite the end of the television broadcast, the cultural footprint left by the show remains a significant chapter in the history of sports broadcasting in Canada. Supporters and former staff continue to highlight the broadcast’s success in broadening the reach of the sport to new generations of fans.
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