June 9 (Bloomberg) -- CTVglobemedia Inc., the Canadian television broadcaster, bought the rights to the ``Hockey Theme'' song after the country's public broadcaster failed to renew its license for the jingle that's considered the country's second national anthem.

CTV reached an agreement with Copyright Music & Visuals for the rights to play the song on its TSN and RDS sports channels, according to a statement today. CTV spokeswoman Bonnie Brownlee declined to comment on financial terms.

Penned in 1968 by Vancouver composer Dolores Claman, the song is known as ``Canada's second national anthem'' according to Copyright President John Ciccone. The tune, with its ``dunt- da-DUNT-da-dunt'' refrain, has been played for four decades at the start of CBC's National Hockey League games.

The song is ``ingrained in the hearts and minds of hockey fans across the country,'' Rick Brace, CTV president of business planning and sports, said in the statement.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. paid C$500 ($489) for each broadcast of ``Hockey Night in Canada,'' according to Ciccone.

CTV competes with the CBC, which was unable to agree to terms on a new contract for the song, the corporation said on June 6. The CBC said it will conduct a nationwide search for a new theme song for its hockey games, and will award C$100,000 to the winner.

CBC spokesman Jeff Keay didn't immediately return a phone call today seeking comment.

CTV, which owns the Globe and Mail newspaper, will also air the song when it broadcasts hockey games during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Toronto-based CTV said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Fournier in Montreal at cfournier3@bloomberg.net; Christopher Donville in Vancouver at cjdonville@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 9, 2008 17:07 EDT