CBC is already re-running TV programs because of federal cutbacks earlier this year and the NHL lockout threatens to create a bigger hole in the public broadcaster's winter season.

Kirstine Stewart, executive vice-president of English services at the CBC, says the broadcaster had foreseen labour difficulties in the NHL as early as this spring and adjusted its fall schedule. But if the lockout continues, CBC revenues will be affected.

“We'll see what happens as of January, how that affects us. But certainly it does affect our revenues,” Stewart said.

“It is a situation we certainly hope comes to a resolution. We also don't want hockey being off the schedule for long because I think it’s important to the fans.”

Stewart couldn’t say how much the CBC might lose in ad revenue if there is no hockey season.

“A lot of advertisers have been holding back on their money not knowing what's going to happen. It hasn't gone to other places yet. So there's still an opportunity should hockey return to actually make up the difference in that revenue,” she said.

Layoffs in sports

The overall costs of sports programming are down and CBC has saved money by not employing some freelancers who work on Hockey Night in Canada. However, Stewart said there may be layoffs ahead in the sports department if hockey does not resume by January.

When the federal Conservatives removed $115 million from CBC’s parliamentary allocation over the next three years, the network was forced to cut 175 hours from its primetime schedule.

Some of the ways it has coped in the fall schedule:

  • Dragon’s Den is being repeated once a week.
  • Old shows, such as Who Do You Think You Are, have been re-aired.
  • Murdoch Mysteries, that formerly ran on another network, is being repeated.
  • Fewer movies and mini-series.

In the winter season, hit shows such as Arctic Air, Republic of Doyle and Mr. D return and a new show, Cracked, debuts. But without Hockey Night in Canada, Saturday evenings may feature more reruns.

“So, it's a lot of being very flexible and trying to figure out the best way to present things so that the viewer doesn't necessarily miss it as much as we miss it. That's going to be difficult to maintain as we go forward — but we're doing the best we can,” Stewart said.