Starting Tuesday, the Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox will have new televisions, but many in Chicago won’t be able to watch them.
Here’s what you need to know about Chicago Sports Network.
So what is happening and why now?
Chicago Sports Network, a joint venture between the three teams and Nashville-based Standard Media, will replace NBC Sports Chicago, a 20-year-old regional sports network whose broadcast rights expired after the White Sox season. is about to be replaced.
NBC Sports Chicago was founded in 2004 as Comcast SportsNet, a partnership between the cable giant and the Cubs, Sox, Blackhawks and Bulls. It garnered ratings and revenue for most of its run, covering World Series wins for the Cubs and Sox, three Stanley Cups for the Blackhawks, and several playoff appearances for the Bulls.
But the Cubs spun off to form Marquee Sports Network in 2020, and regional sports networks, long the cash cows of pay TV, have struggled financially in recent years as cord-cutting has taken a toll on cable bundles. being made to stand.
Enter your CHSN.
How to watch
The regional sports network is broadcast 24/7 to DirecTV subscribers in five states, including Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin and parts of Michigan.
“We’ve always prided ourselves on being a sports leader, and we intend to continue to be at the forefront,” Rob Thune, DirecTV’s chief content officer, said in a news release.
Starting Tuesday, CHSN will be included in DirecTV’s 125+ channel Choice package ($74.99 per month). DirecTV has approximately 300,000 subscribers in the Chicago area. DirecTV subscribers can find CHSN on channel 665 and U-verse on channel 1741 (HD)/741 (SD). This is the same one previously held by NBC Sports Chicago.
If you don’t have DirecTV, remove your TV antenna. CHSN signed a contract with WJYS-Ch. 62 is a full-power UHF television station licensed to Hammond and broadcasts from Willis Tower. The main channel is 24/7 religious programming, and the two digital subchannels carry shopping networks. But on Tuesday, those two digital subchannels (62.2 and 62.3) will carry the Chicago Sports Network in high definition to anyone with a TV antenna that can pick up the signal.
White Sox fan Joe Isbell watches the White Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels game at the Ballpark Pub in Chicago on September 26, 2024. (Tess Crowley/Chicago Tribune)
About 15% of the 3.46 million households in the Chicago market use an antenna to watch TV, according to Nielsen.
CHSN does not yet have a carriage agreement with Comcast, the largest pay-TV platform on the market with nearly 1 million subscribers and a former partner of NBC Sports Chicago.
Jason Coyle, president of Chicago Sports Network, expects more pay-TV companies to jump on board in the coming months.
“At the end of the day, it’s about reaching our fans to the fullest extent of our geographical rights and networking them on as many platforms as possible,” he said.
What else will be new?
CHSN is completing Atrium Studios at the United Center where fans can watch live coverage of Blackhawks and Bulls games. A studio for White Sox games at Guaranteed Rate Field is also being prepared for next season, Coyle said.
The Bulls and Hawks will share a studio in the United Center’s east atrium, a space the stadium previously used for shows such as “The Rally.”
“This is really a new model that I’ve never done before,” analyst Kendall Gill said of his Bulls show. …Maybe it’s a celebrity with local ties, or if (Bears quarterback) Caleb Williams came to the game, he might be sitting in the third seat for a segment or two. , something like that.
โSo you get different perspectives from people in different sports.โ
CHSN plans to broadcast more than 300 games this season as it builds out distribution partners and associated local sports programming to fill its schedule.
What it means for the Blackhawks
CHSN opens with the Hawks’ preseason game at the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday and is scheduled for road games against the Wild and St. Louis Blues on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
The Hawks open the regular season on Oct. 8 with a road trip to the newly formed Utah Hockey Club, which will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. The next game, Oct. 11 against the Jets in Winnipeg, Manitoba, will be broadcast on CHSN.
CHSN will broadcast 69 regular season games. TV programming updates will be posted on CHSN.com.
Veteran NHL announcer Rick Ball and analyst Darren Pan will be covering the Blackhawks’ television coverage.
In addition to Pat Boyle, a Chicago sportscaster for 20 years, the Hawks’ pre- and post-game shows will feature former NHL player/coach and analyst Tony Granato, and studio contributor and backup analyst Kaylee Granato. Mr. Chelios (daughter of Hawks legend Chris Chelios) will perform.
What it means for the Bulls Bulls fans wave red towels and cheer during the start of the play-in tournament game against the Hawks at the United Center on April 17, 2024 (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
The full schedule of Bulls games to be broadcast on CHSN has not yet been announced.
Only five games in the 2024-25 season will be broadcast nationally: a home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 7th, a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies on November 23rd, and a home game against the Memphis Grizzlies on April 6th. -The game against the Hornets will be broadcast on NBA TV. The Bucks game on November 20th and the Hornets game on January 17th will be broadcast on ESPN.
Adam Amin and Stacey King will be called up for Bulls games on the new network.
The Bulls’ pregame, halftime and postgame shows will feature host Jason Goff, analyst Kendall Gill and sideline reporter and insider KC Johnson, a former Bulls beat reporter for the Tribune. . Former NBC Sports Chicago studio analyst Bull Will Perdue has no plans to return to his role at CHSN.
What it means for the White Sox
Nothing has been announced yet regarding CHSN’s studio team. NBC Sports Chicago had Chuck Garfin and Ozzie Guillen in that role.
Steve Stone and John Schliffen will both return to the broadcast booth. Because who doesn’t want to see what the Sox have in store as an encore to their worst season ever?