Sportsnet has confirmed that Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi has been cancelled after 18 years.

According to the network, audiences for the broadcast weren’t sustainable, with game broadcasts averaging just 1,500 viewers last season overall, and more than half of those garnering an average audience of less than 1,000.

“We’ve made the difficult decision to end our Punjabi-language NHL broadcasts,” a Sportsnet spokesperson told Broadcast Dialogue in an emailed statement. “While audience levels aren’t strong enough to sustain the production long-term, we know these broadcasts have meant a lot to many Punjabi-speaking hockey fans.”

“We’re grateful to the on-air team, production staff and viewers who supported the show over the years,” the statement continued.

Thank you for 18 wonderful years. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/IYH9UtHvrn

— Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi (@HkyNightPunjabi) August 14, 2026

The Punjabi edition of HNIC was launched in 2008 as a pilot project to reach Canada’s growing South Asian community. CBC produced and broadcast the pioneering program in its early years, before production shifted to Rogers Sports & Media’s OMNI Television in 2014 along with the primary NHL broadcast rights.

It comes to an end amid ongoing upheaval in the hockey landscape, as NHL games and the Saturday night Hockey Night in Canada tradition leave CBC after 74 years. Rogers has announced a 12-year sub-licensing agreement with Prime Video in Canada to exclusively broadcast Wednesday night regular-season NHL games in English and French, with more changes anticipated.

Arun Srinivasan, Managing Editor of The Leafs Nation, wrote in an op-ed that the decision to cancel HNIC: Punjabi was “inane and foolish.”

“During a year in which South Asian prospects are making inroads within the OHL, WHL, while organizations such as the Hockey Diversity Alliance and Hockey Equality scale their elite programming upwards, with more players of colour emerging as future pros, this is an inane decision by CBC, Sportsnet and every other actor involved,” wrote Srinivasan, who acknowledged that he is not a Punjabi speaker. “Once again, the NHL fumbled the ball without getting hit. The decision to cancel Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, and Hockey Night in Canada in Punjabi in short order, illustrates that CBC has abandoned its responsibility as the public broadcaster, operating in the Canadian citizen’s best interest.”

Bhupinder Singh Hundal, who has held roles with the broadcast from studio host to play-by-play and colour commentator, said in a post to X that he is proud of what HNIC: Punjabi represented.

“Punjabi language, culture and community had a place on a national stage, alongside Canada’s game,” wrote Hundal, who is now Station Manager and News Director at Global BC. “That matters. Programs end, but the impact doesn’t.”