Chicago Sports Network gives up OTA but gains a lot more on Comcast; what's next for it?

Two weeks before launching last year, Chicago Sports Network announced it would be available over the air on two subchannels of WJYS-Channel 62. CHSN leased the signals and upgraded them to high definition to accommodate the roughly 600,000 homes in the market without a pay-TV service.

It was a costly and risky endeavor. While it granted anyone with a digital antenna free access to Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox games, it alienated Comcast, the dominant pay-TV service in the market with about 1 million customers.

CHSN wanted to be available everywhere for everyone. It was a virtuous goal that no other regional sports network had attempted before. But it soon realized why: Comcast wouldn’t pay to carry an RSN that viewers could get for free.

To end its eight-month blackout on Comcast’s Xfinity cable, CHSN would need to undo the OTA signals it boasted. A pricey effort might have become pricier with possible early-termination fees, but Comcast left the network with no other choice.

So last week, CHSN announced it finally had a deal, though it would come at the expense of its first distribution agreement. The network would no longer appear over the air in Chicago and other Comcast markets such as Rockford and South Bend, Indiana. It could live on in Indianapolis, Milwaukee and other places, subject to blackout restrictions.

Call it a strategic retreat.

CHSN knew it had to get on Comcast. The monthly subscriber fees, the ability to better track viewership and the likely ratings boost all contributed to its decision to comply with Comcast’s demand. Though the network at first argued that Comcast carries other OTA signals without issue, those channels aren’t one-offs like CHSN. ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are packaged with other channels, some of which are must-haves for viewers. CHSN was fighting a losing battle.

It’s already benefitting from backing down. According to an industry source, viewership was up an average of about 60% during CHSN’s first weekend on Comcast (June 6-8) compared to the previous weekend, even with the channel appearing on a higher programming tier than its predecessor, NBC Sports Chicago. The Ultimate tier costs $20 more per month than the Popular tier, and that’s in addition to the monthly regional sports fee of $20.25.

Ad sales are also on the rise, and CHSN is beginning to increase viewer engagement, launching a mobile game, the CHSN Home Run Challenge, during the White Sox pregame show Thursday.

But distribution remains vital to the network’s success. Eventually, Comcast customers will be able to authenticate their subscription on CHSN’s app and watch games there, as well. Though it isn’t expected to appear on YouTube TV, the network is watching what’s happening with Disney’s acquisition of streaming service Fubo, which carries CHSN. Disney could merge its Hulu + Live TV, which doesn’t carry the network, with Fubo and perhaps expand CHSN’s viewership.

Overseeing that and other developments is Mike McCarthy, the former general manager at Marquee Sports Network who had been consulting for CHSN but now is chief operating officer under network president Jason Coyle. McCarthy, a longtime sports and TV executive, was at the controls for Marquee’s launch and ran the operation for almost five years until stepping down for health reasons in January 2024. It will be interesting to see what he does at the rival RSN.

At Marquee, McCarthy took on as much local programming as he could, including partnerships with the Bears, Sky and Hounds of Major League Rugby. It’ll be tough for him to replicate that plan at CHSN because most of the local sports content is taken.

Weigel Broadcasting’s The U has the Sky and IHSA basketball and football finals, and Fox 32/Fox Chicago+ has the Stars, Wolves and Hounds. Weigel’s deal with the IHSA is up, so CHSN could make a move there. It also has carried the Windy City Bulls and Missouri Valley basketball.

Whatever tack CHSN takes, more people will see it now. Losing the local OTA signal was unfortunate for many, but the tradeoff for the network will be favorable in the long run. It makes you wonder if the fight over OTA was worth it in the first place. At least all CHSN has to show for it is a black eye.

Remote patrol

The BIG3 basketball league tips off its eighth season from Allstate Arena at 3 p.m. Saturday on CBS 2, with the new Chicago Triplets playing in the second game. The third and fourth games will air on Vice TV.

• The Stars’ game against the Reign at 4 p.m. Saturday is the first of a doubleheader at Soldier Field and the first of an NWSL tripleheader on ION. The Fire follow at Soldier Field at 7:30 on Apple TV+. Jessica Charman and analyst Tony Meola will call the Fire game.

• Jordan Kent, analyst Isis Young and reporter Tiffany Blackmon will call the Sky-Sun game at 11 a.m. Sunday on CBS 2.