But again, if the CBC or CITYtv ends terrestrial broadcasting, taking all hockey coverage with it, most people with antennas will reluctantly buy cable or satellite or wireless just to watch hockey. Thus they would also receive all the other broadcast stations via their new means, lessening the need for those transmitters as well.

I'm not happy to see the conventional way of broadcasting go the way of analogue broadcasting, but maybe the frequencies can be put to better use.
The reason why Sinclair Broadcasting Group is apposed to the relinquishing of their frequencies in the upcoming reverse auction is because they are, in part, developing the next stage of the ATSC 3.0 Physical Layer. Here are 2 links to an interesting read on the future of wireless.

[Link: c2meworld.com]
[Link: atsc.org]