An inquiry into the political economy of Hockey Night in Canada: Critically assessing issues of ownership, advertising, and gendered audiences

Abstract

Background This article employs a political economic analysis of the CBC's Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) program. It critically investigates both the recent Rogers Communications takeover of the popular public broadcasting program and the history of HNIC's gendered audiences. Analysis Utilizing a feminist version of Dallas Smythe's theory of the audience commodity, the author argues that the Rogers takeover represents the most recent manifestation of the complicity between patriarchy and capitalism that has persisted throughout the history of HNIC. Conclusion and implications It is also argued that the general political economy of HNIC represents a site of analysis that has been largely ignored by communications scholars, and that the program's significance as a Canadian institution thus merits further critical inquiry.