- Feb 1, 2009
- 2,611
- 3,735
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.
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.
Stop with Marquee.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.