Hawks, Bulls, & Sox new channel is Chicago Sports Network (CHSN)

[Giovi]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1847783113495076899

https://x.com/i/web/status/1847783375563616306

 

[CallMeShaft]

When they release the app, I hope (though I certainly do not expect) that you won't be required to watch it live. Let people start the game when they want and allow them to pause and fast forward the telecast at their leisure.

 

[Fenway]

CHSN confirms YouTubeTV will not carry and Fubo most likely will

Chicago Sports Network president says he's ready to make a deal with Comcast, but it is refusing

Jason Coyle, president of the Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox' new TV network, said Saturday that they've made two offers to Comcast — offering to accept a significant fee reduction — but received zero in return.

chicago.suntimes.com

CHSN’s latest offer proposed a “significant” fee reduction compared to what Comcast previously paid NBC Sports Chicago, Coyle said, but even that generated no traction — although communication between the parties is ongoing.




“We are willing, in order to ensure more people can watch, to take less money,” Coyle said. “They’ve given us zero offers to say ‘yes’ to.”

In Illinois and the surrounding states, the network is available on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, U-Verse and Astound/RCN, as well as via an over-the-air antenna near certain cities, including Chicago, Rockford, South Bend and Indianapolis. Over-the-air service also is expected to begin within the next couple of weeks in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Fort Wayne and several other cities, Coyle said.

Outside of Illinois and the surrounding states, Hawks games are available through the ESPN+ and Center Ice subscription services, just like they were last season.

Coyle said he expects CHSN to soon reach an agreement with Fubo. YouTube TV has entirely pivoted away from regional sports networks in its business model, and Coyle confirmed CHSN won’t be carried there, as previously reported.

 

[Fenway]

@crimsonace Can you confirm WHMB, 40.2 in Indianapolis is now showing the Blackhawks?They can't show the Bulls in that market, but they can sneak in the Hawks and White Sox.

Xfinity in the Boston market is keeping NESN (Red Sox, Bruins) in the same tier as NBC Sports Boston which has the Celtics.

NESN has a solid argument

The Red Sox averaged a 2.47 local rating on NESN this season, down 6 percent from a 2.64 in 2023.

The Red Sox had a 2.65 rating on NESN in 2022, and a 4.18 in ‘21, which happens to be the last time they made the postseason.

Ratings rose to their highest points this season during June and July, peaking just before the start of the Paris Olympics on July 26, which siphons massive numbers of viewers away from every other form of television programming.

Still, over the sixth-month season, Red Sox broadcasts outperformed all prime-time television programming in the Boston market.

The Red Sox improved slightly in 2024, but their NESN ratings took a slight downturn

The Red Sox improved slightly in 2024, but their NESN ratings took a slight downturn, writes Chad Finn. Read more on Boston.com.

www.boston.com

The White Sox ratings by comparison were as bad as the team was.

CHSN is trying to sell a rebuilding Blackhawks team, an NBA team that is getting ZERO games on TNT/ESPN, and a baseball team that lost more games than the 1962 Mets.

The sad reality is Danny Wirtz has very little leverage in this Reinsdorf-controlled madness.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

CHSN and the Wirtz relationship with Reinsdorf legitimately feels like a sunken cost fallacy. I honestly think at this point that the Wirtzes should throw up their hands, pay whatever contractural hit they need to to get out, and accept whatever Marquee is willing offer to become a paid tenant on the Cubs channel. And who knows, maybe Cubs + Hawks is enough to get Comcast off from sniffing around the concept of trying to raise an otherwise one-sport (no offense Hounds) channel to a higher-tier.

Call it the Marquee Madhouse.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

CHSN and the Wirtz relationship with Reinsdorf legitimately feels like a sunken cost fallacy. I honestly think at this point that the Wirtzes should throw up their hands, pay whatever contractural hit they need to to get out, and accept whatever Marquee is willing offer to become a paid tenant on the Cubs channel. And who knows, maybe Cubs + Hawks is enough to get Comcast off from sniffing around the concept of trying to raise an otherwise one-sport (no offense Hounds) channel to a higher-tier.

Call it the Marquee Madhouse.

Stop with Marquee.

Can't get into details, but the Hawks will never play there (Cubs may not for many more years either...).

 

[x Tame Impala]

Channel 685 for me on RCN/Astound. No problems watching games over here but I'm sorry it's been difficult for so many.

The sound quality is very weird sometimes and I don't like the scoreboard at all. Other than that I'm glad to be watching hockey and I love our new announcers. Glad to be rid of the abomination of broadcasters we've had the last handful of seasons.

As an aside I think I'm done with pre & post game talk shows for the rest of my life. Sports podcasts in general, not that I got into those much. HF Boards is just a way superior format and I don't really want or need to hear what Hawks mouthpieces Boyle and Caley Chelios have to say.

 

[MarotteMarauder]

Bit the bullet today, dropped $30 @ Walmart for an "amplified antenna, for the cellar TV setup. Smooth so far.

Now, about that Comcast Regional Sports fee...

 

[Fenway]

Bit the bullet today, dropped $30 @ Walmart for an "amplified antenna, for the cellar TV setup. Smooth so far.

Now, about that Comcast Regional Sports fee...

Here is my bill in Boston

My long time GF lives in Detroit and she is still paying the regional sports fee even though she no longer gets the Tigers/Wings/Pistons channel and was told it is because of the Big Ten Network.

@IU Hawks fan - I will concede that the Wirtz and Ricketts families don't engage in family cookouts.

 

[BHawk21]

Bit the bullet got the $40 antenna. Set it up Saturday scanned the channels and wasnt able to get CHSN. Screwed around with it for an hour and quit.

Sucks.

 

[ChiHawks10]

Bit the bullet got the $40 antenna. Set it up Saturday scanned the channels and wasnt able to get CHSN. Screwed around with it for an hour and quit.

Sucks.

Return the antenna, spend the $60 for a year of VPN service, and use ESPN+. So much easier.

 

[emeyezee]

What location are you putting into your VPN? I’ve tried this approach to no avail

I change my location right before every game, before even opening the app. My go-to’s are Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Seattle. Is it overkill to change it so much? Probably. But I had issues getting my vpn up and running correctly at first, so I’ve kept changing for each game and have been fine.

 

[ChiHawks10]

I change my location right before every game, before even opening the app. My go-to’s are Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Seattle. Is it overkill to change it so much? Probably. But I had issues getting my vpn up and running correctly at first, so I’ve kept changing for each game and have been fine.

I just use St. Louis for every game and it's fine.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

To CHSN, the negotiations with Comcast are the most important thing for their channel's viability.

To Comcast, it was Tuesday.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Any bets on if CHSN suddenly rushes on getting a deal done once the Bulls regular season starts?

 

[BobbyJet]

This issue seems to have an effect on the NHL network who list the games but so far they haven't aired.

 

[belfour30]

I change my location right before every game, before even opening the app. My go-to’s are Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix, and Seattle. Is it overkill to change it so much? Probably. But I had issues getting my vpn up and running correctly at first, so I’ve kept changing for each game and have been fine.

I use Atlanta because it's not an NHL market right now.

 

[crimsonace]

@crimsonace Can you confirm WHMB, 40.2 in Indianapolis is now showing the Blackhawks?They can't show the Bulls in that market, but they can sneak in the Hawks and White Sox.

Xfinity in the Boston market is keeping NESN (Red Sox, Bruins) in the same tier as NBC Sports Boston which has the Celtics.

NESN has a solid argument

The Red Sox improved slightly in 2024, but their NESN ratings took a slight downturn

The Red Sox improved slightly in 2024, but their NESN ratings took a slight downturn, writes Chad Finn. Read more on Boston.com.

www.boston.com

The White Sox ratings by comparison were as bad as the team was.

CHSN is trying to sell a rebuilding Blackhawks team, an NBA team that is getting ZERO games on TNT/ESPN, and a baseball team that lost more games than the 1962 Mets.

The sad reality is Danny Wirtz has very little leverage in this Reinsdorf-controlled madness.

Just checked out - yes, WHMB is carrying CHSN in Indy on its 40.2. They just flipped the format of the .1 from religious to Univision a couple months ago.

(Edit: With the Bulls playing tonight, I flipped over and there was a blank screen with "this content is not available," given Indy is the Pacers' home territory and thus cannot show Bulls local telecasts).

 

[Fenway]

Any bets on if CHSN suddenly rushes on getting a deal done once the Bulls regular season starts?

Comcast knows the Bulls are not must-see TV. TNT/ESPN/ABC do not have a single Bulls game in a national slot - The Hawks have 15

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Comcast knows the Bulls are not must-see TV. TNT/ESPN/ABC do not have a single Bulls game in a national slot - The Hawks have 15

No, I mean once the Bulls aren’t on TV, Reinsdorf will just get CHSN to accept whatever Comcast is offering on the higher tier, not that their negotiating position will somehow be better.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Reinsdorf/Wirtz aren't involved in the negotiating. The teams got an upfront fee (remember, this is backed by the hedge fund that owns Bally Corp), up to CHSN management to now get distribution and cover their investment.

Marquee works the same way. The Cubs don't care if you have it through Comcast or pay the $20/mo to subscribe, Sinclair is paying them their guarantee either way (and they are being bled dry...).

 

[Backyard Hockey]

Whatever the issue, this is a disaster and will have a very negative effect on Hawks fandom. They just aren’t very popular anymore as evidenced by pop culture and the complete drop off of Illinois youth hockey numbers. They are dancing on a tightrope.

 

[MarotteMarauder]

Whatever the issue, this is a disaster and will have a very negative effect on Hawks fandom. They just aren’t very popular anymore as evidenced by pop culture and the complete drop off of Illinois youth hockey numbers. They are dancing on a tightrope.

While Hawks are a factor, the bigger reason is the costs. My God have prices gone up in the past few years. From league fees to equipment it's crazy. I'm teaching my grandchild to skate but wouldn't be heartbroken if hockey isn't #1

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

I just use St. Louis for every game and it's fine.

How do you get used to the smell?

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Reinsdorf/Wirtz aren't involved in the negotiating. The teams got an upfront fee (remember, this is backed by the hedge fund that owns Bally Corp), up to CHSN management to now get distribution and cover their investment.

Marquee works the same way. The Cubs don't care if you have it through Comcast or pay the $20/mo to subscribe, Sinclair is paying them their guarantee either way (and they are being bled dry...).

didnt ballys just go into bankruptcy to reorg? last year or two? if so, why are they insisting on going that route