Fox, YouTubeTV come to terms on a new agreement

Also: DirecTV Stream adds Weigel’s WCIU As expected after agreeing to a short-term extension, Fox Corporation and YouTubeTV reached an agreement on Thursday.  “We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Fox to keep their content on YouTube TV, preserve the value of our service for our subscribers and offer more flexibility in the future. This means that […]

CHSN to air seven White Sox games on The U

Door could open for a few Blackhawks, Bulls games in the future The Chicago Sports Network announced Wednesday it has agreed to simulcast seven Chicago White Sox games this season on Weigel Broadcasting’s WCIU, branded as The U.  Chicago Sports Network and Weigel Broadcasting Co.’s WCIU, The U, have announced a new partnership to simulcast seven Chicago White Sox games […]

CBS ends Stephen Colbert’s show and entire “Late Show” franchise

Is the move politically motivated? Colbert was a frequent Trump critic In a stunning move, CBS announced Thursday it was ending The Late Show franchise after 33 years and getting out of the late-night business entirely, claiming the decision was made due to “financial decisions.” Current CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert announced before The Late Show began on Thursday. During […]

Comcast, CHSN strike deal; network debuted Friday morning

  Lands on ultimate tier [Editor’s Note: This is an article that was originally published on June 4 and has been updated to reflect recent developments. Updated June 7.] The long, local nightmare is over for Chicago-area sports fans who are Comcast subscribers – but for a price. In news surfacing late Wednesday night, the Chicago Sports Network struck a […]

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 […]

Bulls President slams Comcast for non-carriage of CHSN

Comes after YES strikes a deal with the nation’s largest cable provider – thanks to the White House A new salvo was launched today in the Comcast-CHSN war over carriage.  Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf (who is the son of owner Jerry Reinsdorf) blasted Comcast Corp. Thursday at a Crain’s real estate forum for failing to reach a deal with the […]

DirecTV offers RSNs as add-ons in skinny bundles

Some relief for starved Chicago sports fans – but will they take advantage?  As hinted at when it was announced in January, DirecTV is adding regional sports network add-ons to its MySports skinny bundle, including CHSN and Marquee for Chicago-area viewers, just in time for baseball season as the former features the Chicago White Sox, and the latter for the […]

The Media Notepad: All City announces cutbacks, including five on-air layoffs at CHGO Sports

Also: NBC’s RSN to be made available on Peacock;  Braves baseball return to TBS. Well, somewhat.  The podcast network and website CHGO Sports was hit with layoffs on Wednesday with five employees let go as part of cutbacks by parent company All City Sports, which eliminated seven percent of its workforce across its portals in Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Phoenix, […]

Marquee, CHSN: A possible merger?

Comcast impasse with both fueling speculation According to a report from the Puck newsletter, local regional sports networks CHSN (Chicago Sports Network) and Marquee may be seeking to merge.  CHSN and Marquee have a common enemy: Comcast, the largest cable provider in Chicago, had refused to add CHSN to its network and plans to move Marquee to a higher, more […]

The Media Notepad: White Sox for sale?

Also: WFMT host files suit after dismissal; Bally rebrands to FanDuel  As the Chicago White Sox are coming off their worst season in history and the new CHSN has distribution woes, now comes this piece of news: 88-year-old owner Jerry Reinsdorf is “open” to selling the team, something fans have long wanted.  But there’s a catch – the party in […]

CHSN struggles to gain distribution foothold

The move back to free, over-the-air TV for sports is hitting road bumps You would think making all games from the Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls, and White Sox available for free on broadcast television would be terrific for fans, right? Well, you might want to think again. Two weeks after the new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) launched, the network is having […]

New Orleans Pelicans moves games to over-the-air TV

Follows move by Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox Monday Expected after the soon-to-be-defunct Bally Sports New Orleans and the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans parted ways, the team announced a multi-year deal with Gray Television to form the Gulf Coast Sports Network to air all non-network games on Gray’s stations stretching from the Ark-La-Tex area to the Florida panhandle starting next […]

New CHSN firms up on-air talent, distribution plans

Strikes deal with WJYS for carriage The new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) has been firming up its on-air talent and distribution plans over the last week by announcing a deal with a local TV station for carriage. CHSN will appear on the digital subchannels of religious independent WJYS-TV 62.2 and 62.3, which are currently occupied by home shopping networks Jewelry TV […]

The Media Notepad: Report: New CHSN close to deal with DirecTV

Also: WGN-TV’s Jewell Hilary gets promoted; FCC head rejects Trump ABC license revocation request Three months after its official announcement, the Sun-Times reported Thursday the new Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) is close to a deal with DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, and U-Verse.  This comes as an email was sent to YouTubeTV subscribers (including me) Wednesday stating NBC Sports Chicago – the […]

T Dog’s Think Tank: The White Sox uses the CBS Chicago blueprint for its Fan Alienation Plan

Chicago’s South Side MLB team resembles CBS Chicago’s ratings disasters in every way possible  In the early 2000s, then-Chicago Tribune media critic Steve Johnson noted the management at CBS-owned WBBM-TV implemented what he called a “Viewer Alienation Plan”, a series of bad decisions repelling viewers from the station throughout the 1990s, including tabloid newscasts, awful anchor pairings, and a deer-in-headlight […]