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CBC will continue to air the program on Saturday nights and for playoff games for the next four years, but the revenues will disappear. Losing the NHL rights, along with other high-profile sports rights in recent years, leaves a gaping hole in the CBC’s budget, which has already been hit hard by government funding cuts.

CBC President Hubert Lacroix, is set to address a town hall meeting of all CBC and Radio-Canada employees on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. and Heather Conway and Louis Lalande, executive vice-presidents of English- and French-language services, respectively, will join him.

“The focus of that meeting will be about our financial pressures and how we’re going to go forward,” spokesman Chuck Thompson said Monday, adding that the loss of Hockey Night in Canada is one of the pressures facing the broadcaster but that he could not go into further detail.

Sources say Mr. Lacroix is also likely to share a rough number of layoffs and cuts to the sports division. It will take several weeks for specific job losses to become clear as various departments make decisions about what roles to eliminate and union seniority will also play a role. The Canadian Media Guild represents the majority of the corporation’s workers, with about 5,000 permanent, contract and temporary members. A number of other unions represent employees in Quebec.

This would be the third major round of job cuts in five years after the CBC announced plans to lay off up to 800 workers in 2009 and about 650 employees in 2012.