Rogers, CBC sign seven-year agreement to air Hockey Night in Canada, Stanley Cup

[December 20, 2017]  (Reuters) - Canada's Rogers Communications on Tuesday signed a seven-year licensing agreement with the country's public broadcaster CBC for English broadcasts of 'Hockey Night in Canada' and Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The agreement between Rogers Media, a unit of Rogers Communications, and CBC follows a previous four-year sub-licensing deal and one-year extension.

The deal runs through the end of the 2025-2026 season, when Rogers' agreement with the wildly popular National Hockey League is set to expire.

Broadcasts will start from 2019-2020 season of NHL. Sportsnet, a Canadian English language sports service, will continue to produce the games, retain editorial control and manage advertising, Rogers said.

CBC will continue to broadcast regular season games and all four rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Saturday nights, Rogers said.

'Hockey Night in Canada' will be aired on CBC and on all platforms of Rogers Media on Saturday nights, the company said.

Stanley Cup is awarded yearly to the playoff winner of the NHL, one of the most popular ice hockey leagues of North America.

Since it first signed a deal with NHL four years ago, 'Hockey Night in Canada' has reached an average of 7.5 million Canadians each week, the company said.

Rogers had also partnered with CBC to broadcast the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

(Reporting by Anirban Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.