CHICAGO — A direct-to-consumer app through which Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox fans can access all of the fledgling Chicago Sports Network’s programming is just about ready to go. But the network is resistant to go live on the app until they work out a deal with Comcast Xfinity.
And it might be a while.
CHSN and Comcast have been haggling over whether to place the network on Comcast’s highest, most expensive tier. CHSN has been holding out for a spot on the same middle tier that the now-defunct NBC Sports Chicago was on. However, on Saturday, Jason Coyle, president of CHSN, said there have been no offers from Comcast whatsoever, even though CHSN is “voluntarily taking a significant haircut” financially with its latest offer to the cable giant.
“There’s been an active dialogue,” Coyle said. “(But) the ball is in their court.”
The Athletic has reached out to Comcast for comment.
Coyle pushed back hard against a Chicago Tribune story that said the over-the-air component of CHSN has been a “poison pill” in the negotiations. CHSN is available for free to viewers with an antenna, with free channels in Indianapolis, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, soon to go live. But Blackhawks fans have been very vocal on social media and directly to CHSN about having to purchase and install an antenna, and about the glitchy signal fans farther from downtown are receiving. Even with Connor Bedard starting his second season and returning fan-favorite Teuvo Teräväinen lighting up the scoreboard early, the CHSN fiasco has been the dominant story of the young season.
With the Bulls season opening next week, that outcry is about to get a lot louder.
Coyle said that the OTA component is not an issue in the negotiations, noting that local networks such as CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox are available both OTA and on cable. He said that there have been “no over-the-air complaints” from Comcast during the negotiations.
“They (Comcast) have to know that their customers don’t see the antenna as a ready substitute,” Coyle said. “Just as we don’t. … We don’t want people to cut the cord. That’s not in our interest.”
So far, CHSN is available on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, U-verse, Astound/RCN and several smaller providers in the Blackhawks’ five-state footprint. Fubo is a good bet to go live soon. But YouTubeTV and Hulu Live customers likely will have to wait for (and pay for) the direct-to-consumer app whenever it comes, as neither streamer is really in the market for local sports.
At some point, CHSN might decide to go live on the app even if it doesn’t have carriage on Comcast. But the network isn’t there yet.
“I don’t know if we’re ready to draw a line in the sand,” Coyle said.
That said, “We’re not going to wait forever,” he added.
Required reading
(Top photo of Nick Foligno at the Blackhawks’ home opener: Chase Agnello-Dean / NHLI via Getty Images)
