The Media Notepad: NBC Sports Philadelphia to continue despite NBC Sports Chicago closing
Also: Retro TV adds WGBO; This TV reportedly closes; and Astound offers discounted internet
A few days ago, this space wondered how the pending closure of NBC Sports Chicago would impact NBC’s other RSNs. For one of them at least, it might not have much impact.
An article in the Philadelphia Inquirer last Wednesday stated that the sister network NBC Sports Philadelphia faces no such dilemma, given that the ownership structure is different from the Chicago RSN.
For one, the Philadelphia Phillies are in the middle of a 25-year deal with the network, running until 2041. The Phillies also own a 25 percent stake, and NBC Sports Philadelphia owner Comcast wholly owns the Philadelphia Flyers, Gritty The Mascot and all. The Philadelphia 76ers also have a long-term deal with the channel.
In addition, NBC also owns WCAU-TV and Telemundo station WWSI-TV in the market, licensed to nearby Mount Laurel, New Jersey.
By comparison, the Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox all own a stake in NBC Sports Chicago with Comcast, but all of that winds down in a few months as the teams exit the partnership for the new Chicago Sports Network with Standard Media, leaving NBC Sports Chicago to shutter.
According to The Puck’s John Ourland, NBCUniversal had no appetite to renew their deal with the Chicago teams given Comcast has soured on RSNs, dropping Bally’s networks and moving them to higher-priced tiers. This is something to remember as Marquee’s deal with Comcast is up at the end of this baseball season. Despite losing subscribers, Comcast is still the largest cable and satellite provider in the Chicago area.
The future of NBC’s three other RSNs is still up in the air with NBC Sports California the one whose future is the most questionable, given the A’s will be leaving for Las Vegas in 2028 as NBC Sports Philadelphia is the Comcast RSN with the most solid footing – for now.
Lucky or unlucky? Retro TV announced last week that it signed TelevisaUnivision’s WGBO to carry the channel on one of its tiers.
“I’m beyond thrilled to welcome TelevisaUnivision’s WGBO to the Retro TV family”, said Joel Wertman, president of Get After It Media, who owns Retro TV. “We know Chicago loves The Best in Classic Television, and this station move helps us reach over two million more viewers in the Windy City.”
The move to WGBO increases its reach in Chicago to two million more potential homes. Retro TV replaces Tegna’s Twist on the 66.6 tier after it closed last December – quite the unlucky number (with or without the decimal) in the stratosphere if you know what I mean.
Then known as RTN, Retro TV launched in July 2005 and is the oldest diginet channel still active, with Get After It Media owning it since 2008 (then known as Luken Communications) and owns several digital networks including Heartland and The Family Channel (not related to the former cable channel of the same name, now known as Freeform.) Specializing in classic TV, Retro TV is still hanging in there despite increased competition from Weigel (with MeTV, Decades/Catchy Comedy, and others) and Nexstar (Antenna TV, Rewind TV), who took over many of the shows Retro TV once aired. In Chicago, Retro TV previously aired on the tiers of numerous low-power stations.
Shows currently airing on Retro TV include the older versions of Doctor Who, Wiseguy, Cold Squad, 21 Jump Street, and the former NBC soap opera The Doctors.
WGBO also added another digital subchannel recently on 66.2, the Spanish-language Nuestra Vision.
With the Internet connectivity program winding down at the FCC, ISPs are rolling out more affordable plans to low and moderate-income households.
Last week, Astound Broadband rolled out Internet First, a new product targeted to such customers. The first three months are free to new customers, then it’s $9.95 per month for 50 Megabits (Mbps) of speed per second and $19.95 for 150 Mbps of speed with unlimited data and no contracts. Astound also offers Astound Mobile free for a year.
“Astound Broadband developed Internet First so all residents can have access to affordable, reliable, fast internet to meet their daily needs,” Astound CEO Jim Holanda said. “Internet First is a low-cost, high-quality internet program that provides peace of mind and keeps customers connected to everything that matters to them.”
Astound is one of many ISPs introducing low-cost plans as Congress failed to renew funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program to keep low-income users connected. Recently, rival Comcast revamped its prepaid Internet program and rebranded as Xfinity Now, with offers 100 Mbps for $30 per month and 200 Mbps per month for $45 and offers a prepaid phone plan. Unlike Astound, Xfinity sells an accompanying Now TV package for $20 per month, with Peacock Premium included. On its website, Now compares itself as a better value to 5G home internet, which has exploded in popularity over the past year (as a 5G customer, it’s safe to say the product isn’t worth the hype.)
Spectrum also launched a low-income Internet plan called Internet Assist. Both Spectrum and Astound require you to fill out forms to see if you’re eligible for the programs. Cox also launched a similar plan.
When Astound was known as RCN, the company acquired Wide Open West in 2021 to expand its footprint in the Chicago area to compete with Comcast and AT&T.
According to several unconfirmed reports, Allen Media Group’s This TV – the second-oldest digital subchannel on the air (next to the aforementioned Retro TV), was shuttered recently.
Originally launched by MGM and Chicago-based WCIU owner Weigel Broadcasting in 2008, This TV featured programming and movies from the MGM library (mostly post-1986 theatricals from MGM and independent studios such as Orion and American International as Time Warner controlled the rest of the classic library.) After Weigel left the joint venture in 2013 to launch Movies! with Fox, Tribune Media – whose stations were already carrying This, took over as a partner with the channel shifting from WCIU’s tier to WGN-TV’s. After Nexstar purchased Tribune in 2019, MGM gained full control of the channel but Tribune’s old stations dropped the network.
In October 2020, Allen bought This TV and Light TV (since rebranded The Grio) from MGM; in April 2021, eight ABC-owned stations agreed to carry the channel on its dot-three tiers, including WLS-TV. But a few months after ABC jumped on board, This TV changed formats as the MGM programming – including the MGM library was phased out and more Entertainment Studios shows were added – not to mention a surge in infomercials. In January, the movies – mostly obscure, low-budget made-for-DVD titles were replaced by programming from the co-owned Weather Channel.
Two months ago, ABC replaced This with off-network procedural network Charge! in an unusual deal with Sinclair paying for carriage – sealing This’ fate as the loss of big-market stations was too much to overcome coupled with layoffs at Allen Media Group, which recently shed 12 percent of its workforce. The This website has been stripped bare, with the schedule showing a blank page. If This TV is gone for food, it’s a shame for This – to end like this.