Hockey Night in Canada to now NBA in Punjabi

During the past few years, Parminder Singh, a Canadian broadcaster has been commentating on sports in Punjabi

At Oracle Arena's broadcast booth, two men in turbans sat in headsets with a wall behind them that had an official National Basketball Association, NBA poster. The poster had a mix of dark blue and violet shade background with a repetition of the NBA logo and “in Punjabi” in a think large Gurmukhi style font beside. As the first Punjabi commentators in NBA history, Parminder Singh and Preet Singh Randhawa have succeeded in breaking cultural barriers and achieving life-long goals.

Parminder remembers the in-person experience after the games, and being on NBA League Pass made the whole experience even more immersive. He is the founding host of Hockey Night in Canada: Punjabi Edition and is now a sports reporter for the NBA. 

“I did the Punjabi coverage for the NBA, certainly such an amazing opportunity that we got a chance to interview movie stars, movie producers, other celebrities and policymakers,” says Parminder. 

It was the time when everyone was watching the Raptors make team history on the court. At the same time, Parminder and Preet’s voices were broadcast around the world as they called game four in Oakland between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors. 

Parminder says, “The moment when I got my NBA contract, and I should probably put this up on social media, it's like when you see your name, the NBA logo, and you gotta sign the contract.” 

“I think I am where I am because I had my willingness to be teachable and that's why I got the opportunity. I did that actually without having a formal education background in journalism,” Singh says. 

But behind the concept of the NBA being broadcast in Punjabi is a broader story — one about diversifying the voices of mainstream sports broadcasting, starting with Hockey Night in Canada. 

It started back in 2007, when Marc Crawford, the head coach for Vancouver Canucks, told CBC that the Punjabi fan base for sports was large and devoted. Since there were so many advocates for getting a new segment of commentary in Punjabi for Hockey Night in Canada. 

Back in the day, a young Punjabi broadcaster in the Greater Toronto Area used to host a Sikh specialty show on OMNI Television called Chardi Kalaa, where he would talk about the local Sikh community. 

It was no other than Parminder Singh who was a second-year university student back then. 

After a year-long wait, Parminder auditioned for the role to become a Punjabi broadcaster for CBC News. He was hired as he matched the energy level needed to call these games in Punjabi and became the founding host of Hockey Night in Canada. 

He remembers that he needed someone to assist him with the color commentary since Punjabi is such a tonal and pitch language that when he is out there calling plays, he has to shout at the top of his lungs. 

It was a unique situation where they needed people who spoke Punjabi fluently but also knew hockey as a sport especially well. It was Scott More, who was the vice-president at CBC News at the moment, and Joel Darling, one of the directors of sports for CBC News Canada who got both Parminder and Harnaryan in as the lead commentators for Hockey Night in Canada. 

Parminder recalls the events and says, “I've got a guy who already works with CBC broadcast [out ] in Calgary, someone who speaks the language and is willing to come to Toronto [to call the games].” 

It was Harnaryan Singh, a sports announcer from Calgary, and Singh from Toronto, who were the first color commentators to broadcast hockey in Punjabi.

“It was common knowledge within the CBC that I was obsessed with hockey in that I was always pitching hockey stories as a part of the news,” says Harnaryan. 

The next thing Singh remembers was sitting in Toronto at the CBC Hockey Night in Canada headquarters, in a tiny booth with Parminder calling the games. 

It was 2008 when the Stanley Cup final was announced. All the previous games were high stakes, and it was an honor for Harnaryan to be doing this as it was his childhood dream. 

There were a lot of people that Harnaryan met along the way who told him that this would be unrealistic. But it had the opposite effect on him. 

He says, “Because there wasn't any diversity on TV and radio, especially in the world of sports, and so I knew I was preparing myself for that.” 

When it comes to diversity and what gives Parminder and Harnaryan hope in the sense of the future of mainstream live journalism, Harnaryan says, “As a Sikh, I encounter people who feel that I am different, and I don’t belong.”

“It is disheartening to see people in mainstream media talking about racism and discrimination," adds Harnaryan. 

He explains that racialized members in the community continue to speak out and hope that people are willing to listen about their experiences about being othered. 

Parminder says, “The NBA culture is what I grew up with and I created my own experiences that mesh well with it [the NBA culture].”

They are highly inspired by Nav Bhatia, the Toronto Raptors Superfan and his induction into the Hall of Fame, which inspired them to start broadcasting NBA in Punjabi 

Harnaryan says, “I don't think you could come up with any other name who's had a greater impact on our community, in terms of the sport… the respect that Nav Bhatia gets from the players and the and the NBA as a league speaks for itself.” 

It’s the continued work of immigrant pioneers like Nav Bhatia, that brought South Asians' representation to the mainstream level. 

“It has been a push not only for myself but for everyone to get other young Sikh men and women involved in mainstream media,” Parminder says. "I believe that if you don't tell your story, you're letting others do it for you. But we need to be the ones who write our story.”

As Parminder sat in his office and talked about South Asian Canadians taking center stage in a sport that has been predominantly white, his eyes sparkled with hope. Wearing a pink office shirt and a contrasting gray turban, he reflected upon his journey to success.  

He sat upright, took a deep sigh, and said, “I think one thing that excites me now is the opportunity for further diversity in areas where we haven't seen the broadcast is too white.” 

“I think the next revolutionary step if you ask me, would be to have a diverse face in English broadcast television."