Chicago Sports Network finally coming to Comcast, but on higher-priced plan
Chicago sports fans, get your TV clickers – and your checkbooks – ready.
Eight months after launching, the Chicago Sports Network will finally hit the airwaves Friday on Comcast, but it's going to cost subscribers more to watch the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks.
The nascent sports network is joining the Comcast lineup on the higher-priced Ultimate tier as part of an inaugural carriage agreement with the cable giant. CHSN will be live for Friday night's play between the Kansas City Royals and the White Sox at Rate Field, making the home team's 64th game of the season the first one available to one million Chicago-area Comcast subscribers.
Terms of the carriage deal, announced Friday morning, were not disclosed.
'We are excited to bring the White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks to fans across the region with the launch of CHSN for Xfinity TV and Comcast Business customers,' Chris Smith, senior vice president of Comcast's Chicago region, said in a news release.
CHSN will be on Channel 200, where the NBC Sports Chicago resided until pulling the plug last fall. For Comcast customers on the lower-priced basic plan, Channel 200 already bears a message that CHSN requires a subscription upgrade to watch.
The Ultimate tier costs an additional $20 per month, on top of the $20.25 regional sports network fee Comcast charges Chicago-area subscribers each month. Comcast has been issuing a monthly $8.85 credit to partially offset that fee during the ongoing negotiations with CHSN. For basic subscribers that don't choose to upgrade, the $8.85 credit will become a permanent adjustment, bringing the regional sports fee down to $11.40 per month.
The Marquee Sports Network, the pay-TV home of the Cubs, remains on the lower-priced basic tier, at least for now.
The CHSN carriage deal ends a protracted TV blackout for frustrated Chicago-area Comcast subscribers, who may have missed the entire Bulls and Blackhawks seasons, and a big chunk of the current White Sox campaign.
'On behalf of the entire CHSN team, we're proud to welcome Comcast's Xfinity TV customers to a network built exclusively for Chicago sports fans,' Jason Coyle, president of Chicago Sports Network, said in the news release. 'With more than 300 live Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox games each year, along with original programming that highlights Chicago's pro, college, and high school sports, CHSN delivers the most comprehensive and locally focused coverage available. This deal allows us to reach even more fans across the city and suburbs, deepen connections, and reinforce CHSN as the home for Chicago sports all day, every day.'
A joint venture between the Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and Nashville, Tennessee-based Standard Media, CHSN went live Oct.1 on pay-TV platforms DirecTV and Astound, and over the air on WJYS-Ch. 62. It soon added streaming service FuboTV and its own direct-to-consumer streaming app, but until now, was unable to strike a deal with Comcast, the market's largest pay-TV provider.
Comcast was a partner in the predecessor NBC Sports Chicago, the regional sports network which ended a 20-year run in September at the conclusion of a White Sox season that saw the team set an MLB record for losses.
Sources familiar with the negotiations said Comcast has been looking to move both CHSN and Marquee Sports Network to its more expensive Ultimate tier, something it has done with other regional sports networks across the U.S. in recent months.
While CHSN has been blacked out, Marquee, which launched in 2020, has remained on Comcast through a series of short-term extensions after its inaugural carriage agreement expired Sept. 30. A Marquee spokesperson did not return a request for comment.
The Cubs, who are leading their division with one of the best records in baseball, likely give Marquee more leverage in negotiations with Comcast, according to industry analysts.
In New York, Comcast threatened to black out the Yankees' YES network before opening day as it looked to move the broadcasts to its Ultimate tier. The Federal Communications Commission weighed in and an agreement was reached to keep the YES network on Comcast's basic tier, at least for now.
Jerry Reinsdorf, chairman of the White Sox and Bulls, made a visit to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr in April to lobby for government help in getting CHSN on the air with Comcast in Chicago. But the carriage agreement appears to have played out on Comcast's terms, with CHSN moved to a higher-priced tier, requiring subscribers to pay a premium price to watch the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks.
For years, those three teams and the Cubs were partnered with Comcast on NBC Sports Chicago, and offered to subscribers — for a monthly fee — as part of the basic package. The Cubs broke off to start Marquee in 2020, and the remaining teams went on to form CHSN.
In launching the new network, the Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks essentially traded Comcast for Standard Media, a small TV station owner that engineered the over-the-air strategy employed by CHSN, and is leading distribution negotiations with the pay-TV providers.
Standard Media, which owns 15% of CHSN, is part of Standard General, the New York-based hedge fund that also controls Bally's, including its Chicago flagship, a $1.7 billion casino complex rising up at the site of the former Freedom Center printing plant in River West.
Carriage fees make up the bulk of the revenue for regional sports networks. Most of that is funded by cable subscribers, whether they watch regional sports networks or not. But as cord-cutting accelerates, pay-TV providers have cut back on the fees they are willing to pay for regional sports networks, long the cash cows of the cable bundle.
While the terms of the new CHSN-Comcast carriage agreement have not been disclosed, moving the sports network to the higher-priced tier is a way for the cable provider to make the deal work financially, while shifting the cost more directly to subscribers.
How many Comcast subscribers upgrade their plans to get CHSN, remains to be seen.
During their inaugural seasons on CHSN, the Hawks and Bulls both missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, the White Sox, coming off the most losses in major league history last year, have the worst record in the American League through 63 games this season.
But for die-hard fans ready to pay another $20 a month for the privilege, the remainder of the White Sox season, and the rest of CHSN's programming, is finally there for the watching on Comcast.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
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