Report: CHSN and WGN-TV could link up to carry games

Comes as RSN is still shut out of Comcast’s systems

[Editor’s Note: This post was updated on April 20, as the CHSN app is now available on Samsung TVs.]

The Chicago Sun-Times reported on Friday that a deal could be in the works for Nexstar’s WGN-TV to simulcast a limited number of White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks games. 

Nothing has been discussed yet, so there’s no word on specifics, such as how many games would air or who would sell advertising. It is expected that WGN would not pay a licensing fee to air games, as this could be a time-share buy. Like other legacy broadcast stations, WGN is on almost all platforms, including cable, satellite, and YouTube TV. On April 8, Weigel’s WCIU carried a CHSN-produced Blackhawks-Penguins game as the Bulls and White Sox were playing simultaneously (and of course, the Hawks would go on to lose 5-0). 

This development comes after CHSN is still having issues with Comcast, as it has yet to carry the new regional sports network. CHSN is available on DirecTV, U-Verse, Fubo, Astound, and WJYS-TV’s 62.2 and 62.3 channels. But the experiment of putting the network on broadcast has been disappointing, as WJYS’ signal doesn’t reach all of the Chicago area, and viewers were slow to adapt to antennas. If anything, antenna use nationwide has declined in an era of cord-cutting, falling from 32 to 19 percent of U.S. TV homes according to a recent study. 

CHSN is available as a direct-to-consumer app but the costs are ridiculously high: one team costs $20 a month, all three $30 a month, and a full year costs $350.

CHSN was launched last October as a partnership between the three teams and Standard Media, a small station group based in Tennessee. 

If this deal with WGN happens, it would bring the Blackhawks, Bulls, and White Sox back to the station after six years. WGN had long been a home to Chicago sports teams, dating back to 1948 when the station first signed on. WGN dropped The CW in 2016 to focus on airing more sports but lost rights after the 2019 season when the Chicago Cubs went to Marquee, with the others shifting exclusively to NBC Sports Chicago after they also lost the Cubs. 

WGN did air Chicago Fire soccer games afterward but lost those rights when MLS signed an exclusive deal with Apple TV. After Nexstar bought a controlling stake in The CW, the network returned to WGN full-time last August. 

WGN would have to work around CW sports programming to air CHSN games, perhaps shifting a few NASCAR races and college sports contests to its 9.2 channel, where classic sitcom multicaster Antenna TV resides. WGN shifted a late Sunday morning women’s college basketball game to the channel last year. 

This follows a recent trend of regional sports networks simulcasting a limited number of games to over-the-air broadcast stations to increase reach. Nexstar’s KTLA Los Angeles already has a deal to carry fifteen regular-season Clippers games produced by FanDuel Sports, and other teams have also followed suit, including the Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Braves, and Colorado Avalanche, as the RSN business has cratered in recent years. 

For CHSN, the timing couldn’t be any worse, as all three teams are in extended slumps. The White Sox and Blackhawks are again at the bottom of their respective divisions. The Bulls failed to get out of the NBA Play-In tournament for the third straight year, as their regular-season ratings were down 62 percent from last year, the biggest drop in the league obviously due to their impasse with Comcast, who has no incentive to add the network anytime soon, no matter how many times Jerry Reinsdorf meets with the FCC Chairman or his son Michael ripping them at a recent Crain’s real estate forum. 

Believe it or not, CHSN’s invisibility has not affected attendance for its tenants at the United Center, with the Bulls finishing first in the NBA, while the Blackhawks ranking eighth in the NHL. Both the NBA and NHL saw strong attendance this year, with the NHL even setting a new attendance record. However, the NBA experienced some rating erosion, with regular-season figures down by two percent.