A stalemate between the new Chicago Sports Network and Comcast has been a static situation for Blackhawks fan and Xfinity customer Bailey Coleman.
Literally.
When the NHL season dawned this month without a carriage deal between her cable service and CHSN — the new TV home of the Hawks, Bulls and White Sox — the 25-year-old retail worker from Lake Zurich bought an antenna for her smart TV, but “trying to deal with it has been a nightmare.”
“I’ve tried it on every TV, and I do get some channels on the antenna, but never the ones for the Blackhawks game,” Coleman said. CHSN reached an agreement with WJYS to broadcast its programming on digital channels 62.2 and 62.3.
“It was either static or a blue screen that said, ‘Weak signal,’” she said.
A lot of people in the Chicago area have shared her frustrations.
Some viewers with older TVs have needed to buy new receiver boxes to get the picture, a problem CHSN has addressed on its website. Others say they’re not spending another dime on their favorite sports teams.
A lot of viewers have been left in limbo since NBC Sports Chicago, the former network home of the Hawks, Bulls and Sox, ceased operations Sept. 30, and the teams launched CHSN on Oct. 1.
But negotiations between CHSN and Comcast — which serves 1 million subscribers in Chicago — have dragged on for months, according to sources, forcing fans to choose between switching to one of the pay-TV services that have struck a deal — DirecTV, for example — or buy a digital antenna to pick up the free, over-the-air, high-definition signal.
“I’ve been waiting it out, hoping that maybe they’ll come into an agreement at some point,” Coleman said. “Maybe as the Bulls inch closer (to starting their season) as well, they’ll all finally come to an agreement.
“But if it gets (to be) too much longer, I don’t know what I’m going to do, which really sucks, because I like to watch the games.”
Buckle up, Bailey, this could take awhile.
One stumbling block has emerged as central to the impasse — a poison pill, if you will. The cable carrier doesn’t like that CHSN is giving away the sports programming for free to over-the-air viewers, according to sources familiar with the situation.
Comcast is balking at any deal with CHSN because it objects to paying for content available for free over the air, according to sources. As one industry source put it, “Here’s a free ice cream cone (here), but you have to pay $5 for the ice cream cone over here. I would go get the free ice cream cone.”
About 15% of the 3.46 million homes in the Chicago market watch TV using an antenna, according to Nielsen. An industry source estimated there are about 600,000 antenna users in the Chicago area, which puts it within range of a top-50 market, a number not insignificant to Comcast.
In an email Friday, a Comcast spokesperson said discussions with CHSN are continuing but would not comment on specifics.
Besides Comcast, it’s important to understand some of the players.
Jerry Reinsdort, chairman of the White Sox and Bulls, and Danny Wirtz, chairman and CEO of the Hawks, partnered with Nashville-based Standard Media Group in May to form CHSN.
Standard Media, which owns 15% of CHSN, is part of Standard General, the New York-based hedge fund that also controls the Bally’s casino chain, including its nascent flagship in Chicago.
Bally’s also has its name on a Sinclair-owned regional sports network, Diamond Sports Group, seeking to emerge from bankruptcy, a sign of the decline in value for programming that once was the cash cow of cable bundles.
“We are happy to negotiate with all pay-TV providers, including Comcast,” said Soo Kim, founding partner of Standard General. “If you look at our track record, any pay-TV provider who has been willing to sit at the table and work with us, we have a successful track record of reaching an agreement.”
Kim is also chairman of Bally’s Corp., which broke ground in August on a planned $1.7 billion Bally’s Chicago Casino on the site of the former Tribune Freedom Center printing plant along the banks of the Chicago River.
Sources familiar with the teams’ position in negotiations have noted that pay-TV subscriptions — cable and streaming — have been shrinking and teams have had to get creative to reach the same fans by brokering deals through multiple platforms.
And they say that for the first time, CHSN’s over-the-air signal has made their games accessible to antenna users, many of whom can’t afford pay-TV.
However, carriage fees paid by Comcast and other pay-TV providers make up the bulk of the revenue for regional sports networks such as CHSN, and that money comes from pay-TV subscribers — whether they watch regional sports networks or not.
Comcast is charging $19.20 per month in the Chicago area for its regional sports network fee, which appears as a line item on the bill for the most popular cable subscription packages. The regional sports network fee includes Marquee, NBC Sports Chicago and the Big Ten Network.
Subscribers should see a credit for the now-defunct NBC Sports Chicago on their next bill, the cable provider said.
A source who could speak on behalf of the Bulls and White Sox said the Chicago teams would be willing to “take the hit” by a lower carriage fee than they received under NBC Sports Chicago, “but we don’t think it’s acceptable that they want us to take a hit and still want our fans to pay more. That just doesn’t seem right.”
So what’s the bottom line for fans?
Industry sources pointed to Pittsburgh.
In January, Comcast moved SportsNet Pittsburgh, which airs Penguins and Pirates games, from the popular TV tier to the “Ultimate TV” package, about $20 pricier.
In Chicago, if Comcast demands CHSN move to Ultimate, only a portion of the higher monthly charge would be offset by a reduction of the regional sports network fee, because Comcast still carries Marquee and the Big Ten Network.
“We appreciate SportsNet Pittsburgh working with us to find a solution that balances cost and consumer choice to watch local sports in this changing video marketplace,” Comcast said in a statement at the time.
Needless to say, if the teams thought they were taking a public relations beating during the impasse, that would pale next to the ire if the end result is a higher cable bill.
“You’re going to turn on your TV and it’s going to say you can get Chicago Sports network, but you’ve got to spend more money on a higher tier,” a team source said. “Who’s going to get blamed for that? The teams will get blamed for that. But it’s Comcast that’s ultimately forcing people to the higher tiers.”
Indeed, much of scorn on social media already has been directed at Reinsdorf and to some extent Wirtz.
“I empathize with the fans,” Wirtz told the Tribune. “There’s nothing worse than not being able to see your favorite teams in a way that you’re used to. And that’s what’s great about our fans is that they care so deeply. … So I never begrudge anybody for being upset when that is not able to be delivered, and I feel bad when we can’t deliver it.
“Unfortunately, the nature of the TV world in sports is in a cosmic shift right now, and we knew that. We knew that coming out of our previous deal that we’d be walking into … almost a buzz saw of changing dynamics in the media space. …
“How do we figure out the accessibility in letting games be available with the business that comes with it and the other parties that are also part of this equation? There’s a lot that’s out of our control. While we think we are a big piece here in Chicago, we are part of larger national companies’ media strategies, and so you get caught up in that. Unfortunately, throughout all that, the fans do sometimes pay the price. And I think they’re right now not able to access the games the way they want.”
No path has been set in stone yet.
Sources from the teams’ side say that the latest official contract proposal was Oct. 10, and there has been no counteroffer from Comcast.
When asked about CHSN’s options, Stan Knott, Standard Media’s chief operating officer, declined to comment on what offers have been put on the table. “We have shown a commitment and remain committed to figuring this thing out,” he said.
And Comcast has a pattern of protracted negotiations and waiting teams out.
For example, Marquee Sports Network struck a carriage deal with Comcast four months after the new Cubs channel’s launch and just ahead of opening day, which had been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
When asked why more urgency wasn’t shown to get a deal done earlier, Wirtz said, “I don’t think it’s a lack of urgency. I think it’s the nature of the way these media companies negotiate. They tend not to be done way in advance. I think they come together very late. That has been historically how things have been done.”
Both sides have ramped up public pressure tactics.
We hear you… Now let @XfinitySupport hear you! pic.twitter.com/GzQJFovY2A
— Chicago Sports Network (@CHSN__) October 17, 2024
In the early going, the Hawks have been feeling the pinch. (The Bulls open their season Wednesday.)
Without Comcast’s massive footprint in the mix, Hawks ratings have been down from last year, according to a source. Ticket sales at the United Center have dipped at bit too.
The home opener against the San Jose Sharks drew 19,056 fans, short of the 19,717 threshold for a sellout, a longtime point of pride for the franchise. Attendance for last season’s home opener was 19,867.
Contrary to the financial philosophy of Danny’s grandfather, “Dollar” Bill Wirtz, who kept games off TV to put more butts in seats, today’s games are akin to three-hour commercials for the Hawks.
Coleman, the Hawks fan, still goes to occasional games with her dad, Deron, but she can’t attend all the games and would like to keep up with them on TV. She said several friends are prepared to wait it out “because they don’t want to buy an antenna, because it’s not ancient times.”
She has thought about listening to Hawks games on the WGN-AM 720’s radio app because play-by-play announcer John Wiedeman is “nice to listen to.”
But that option means you “go even further back in time,” Coleman said. “Yes, the radio.”
Tribune reporter Robert Channick contributed.
