After 18 years of broadcasting, “Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition” has been canceled, as announced by the show on Friday. The Punjabi-language sports program expressed gratitude towards its viewers for their unwavering loyalty and stated that it had brought the South Asian community closer to their beloved game since its inception in 2008.
Rogers Sportsnet, the national NHL rights-holder, described the decision to cancel the show as a challenging one. Despite acknowledging the significance of the program to Punjabi-speaking hockey fans, the company mentioned that the audience levels were insufficient to sustain long-term production.
Jagraj Lalli, a commentator on the show, expressed shock at the cancellation, emphasizing the lasting impact and diversity the program brought to families. He vowed to maintain the connections and bridge between the Punjabi language, community, and North American sports.
Online reactions from fans lamented the cancellation, with many expressing their fond memories and appreciation for the show’s representation of the South Asian diaspora in the sport of hockey. The last season of the show garnered an average viewership of 1,500, with most games attracting fewer than 1,000 viewers, according to Sportsnet data.
Former show contributor Bhupinder Singh Hundal reflected on the positive influence of “Hockey Night Punjabi,” highlighting the doors it opened for him in his career and the platform it provided for Punjabi language, culture, and community on a national scale.
The cancellation of “Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition” follows CBC’s decision to end its nearly century-long broadcast of “Hockey Night in Canada” due to the inability to reach a new sublicensing agreement with Sportsnet. Rogers Sports and Media also shut down Vancouver’s Sportsnet 650 radio station after nearly ten years on the air in July.