CBC and Rogers have signed a deal that will see Hockey Night In Canada stay on the CBC's airwaves until at least 2026, and permit games to be streamed online and via numerous CBC apps for at least that long as well.

The two sides announced an agreement on Tuesday that expands on a previous deal that saw Rogers produce and broadcast NHL games, airing some of them on CBC on Saturday nights during the regular season, and other days during the playoffs.

This past season, Hockey Night in Canada was the most watched television program in Canada every Saturday night, reaching 18 million Canadians, or 50 per cent of the country's population.

Rogers secured exclusive national broadcast rights for all NHL games in a 12-year deal that began in the 2014-2015 season. The two sides had partnered from Day 1 of that deal, an agreement that was set to expire in June 2019.

But the extension announced Tuesday expands it even more by cementing the current arrangement on the broadcast side and giving the CBC the right to stream all nationally broadcast NHL games on the CBC Sports app, the forthcoming "over-the-top" CBC TV app and on the CBCSports.ca website.

Games will also stream on various Rogers digital streaming properties, but the deal gives the CBC the rights to digitally stream the games until 2026. Those digital rights include the current NHL season, in addition to the seven seasons that follow.

"CBC has been an excellent partner over the years, and we are excited to extend our relationship," Rogers Media president Rick Brace said in a release.

"Hockey Night in Canada is the most celebrated hockey brand in the country and is steeped in tradition. We are committed to working together to ensure it reaches the widest possible audience."

Financial terms of the deal were not released, but the CBC did not pay to have hockey on the network. If the deal lapsed in 2019 as originally planned, CBC would have had to replace more than 300 hours of prime time content to compete against the popular Saturday night (and weekday playoff) hockey games.