Are the Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox antenna-worthy?
Since my local cable provider has yet to come to an agreement to carry CHSN, the new station that replaced NBC Sports Chicago as the outlet for three of our legacy teams, my only option was to purchase an antenna for the free TV broadcast.
The last thing I needed was another device to hook up to my TV, and my local cable provider already charges me about $200 a month to watch sports, movies and “Seinfeld” reruns, so another expense seemed superfluous.
But I need my Hawks and Bulls fix after a long season of watching the Cubs and White Sox, so I decided to splurge and go antenna shopping on Wednesday afternoon.
From everything I had read, it was a simple installation and would only take about 10 minutes. Having several friends who work at CHSN, which I’m told stands for Chicago Haugh Sports Network, I went to an inside source to find the right antenna for me.
He recommended the Ultra-Thin HDTV Antenna from Best Buy. But since I was already at Target and they didn’t have one, I found a Phillips HD Loop Antenna for $18.99 instead.
“This work?” I texted a trusted source with a photo of the antenna.
“I think so,” the source said.
Not exactly a resounding vote of confidence, but it was good enough for me.
After getting assurance I could return the antenna within 30 days with a full refund, which would give my local cable provider until Nov. 1 to come to an agreement with CHSN, I happily plunked down my card and went home to await a cornucopia of Chicago sports content on good old WJYS.
The last time I installed an antenna was about 55 years ago. My dad purchased a giant TV antenna to pull in the blacked-out Bears games from a South Bend, Ind., station, and asked me to come up and hold it while he attached it to the sloped roof. I can still hear my mother shouting up at us: “You’re going to break your necks, the both of you.” But we managed to install it, point the antenna in the right direction and safely un-roof with our necks intact.
That antenna was perhaps the best purchase our family ever made. Thanks to the giant antenna, our home became a gathering spot in the neighborhood for all the big games blacked out in Chicago, including Game 7 of the 1971 Stanley Cup Finals between the Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens, perhaps the most heartbreaking loss in Chicago sports history.
Surely this new miniature antenna would provide similar enjoyment, or disgruntlement, depending on the Hawks and Bulls’ upcoming seasons.
And maybe by the time baseball begins again next spring, CHSN and my local cable provider will come to an agreement so I can watch the “Chuck and Ozzie” show.
The never-ending search for watching a Sox game began in 1981 when the Sox, Bulls, Hawks and Sting pro soccer club teamed up on the pay-TV channel, SportsVision, ending the free ride for thousands of Chicago fans.
“For years, we’ve been showing almost all our games on free TV,” Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said at the news conference. “Three million viewers in this area alone have been able to watch our games without going to the ballpark. Now, unless they purchase the pay package, they won’t be able to see too many games. We think this will bring more people into the ballpark.”
My roommate and I bought a rigged decoder box in ’83 with SportsVision and ON-TV to avoid paying the $21.95 per month charge. It worked OK for a while, but was worthless by September when the Sox were clinching the division. After the ’85 season, president Eddie Einhorn announced the Sox would show road games on free TV and home games on SportsVision. “We need a better identity,” he told the Tribune. “People are unsure what channel games are on, so we hope this change will help.”
Einhorn was a sports TV savant, and his SportsVision concept was an idea that didn’t succeed in Chicago but was well ahead of its time. Now we’re paying for multiple streaming services for various sports, and then we forget to cancel when the season is over.
SportsVision morphed into SportsChannel, which eventually led to Fox and Comcast Sports Net and then NBC Sports Chicago. After a few decades of knowing exactly where to find the Sox, Bulls and Hawks games, we’re back to looking for an antenna.
Progress is not linear.
Plugging the antenna into the TV in my den was easy enough, and scanning for all the stations was as simple as advertised. But as I flipped channels in search of Ch. 66-2, something was terribly wrong.
There was “Bat Masterson” on Ch. 66-5, and a “Dateline” episode on Ch. 66-4. I found “Walker, Texas Ranger” was on Ch. 66-3, and immediately assumed Ken “Hawk” Harrelson was watching along with me. But when I tried 66-2, it instead skipped down to 60-3, and a show called “Hardcore Pawn.”
Where was 66-2, or even 66-3, the backup station?
Was this some kind of cruel Reinsdorfian trick?
After my panic subsided, I decided to try the antenna on a smart TV in my bedroom. Voilá! It seemed to get all the same channels and even the two CHSN channels.
But for some reason, there was no picture with the CHSN stations and an “Audio Only” message on the screen. I could hear a fishing show, but I could see no fish.
I texted CHSN reporter K.C. Johnson, who blew me off because he was busy tweeting about the Bulls. So I decided to go right to the top and contacted a CHSN spokesperson to see how many others had experienced this issue, and what they were doing to fix the problem.
After some exploring, he said the video issue typically affected older TVs because WJYS wanted to bring “such a high-definition quality to the broadcast.” A fix was available with a tuner, he said. The model linked on the CHSN website retails for $49.99.
The spokesperson offered to have a CHSN employee come over and set it up.
No, thanks, I told him … unless it’s K.C. Johnson.
The antenna worked fine otherwise. I had my choice of “MacGyver,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “Blue Bloods,” “Happy Days,” “Bonanza,” “Monk,” and many other reruns, mostly from the late 20th century.
As for the Bulls and Hawks games, and all the David Haugh shows I’m missing out on, I’ll just have to wait for my local cable provider to figure out a fair deal with CHSN.
Meanwhile, I’m on hold with my local cable provider, trying to get a rebate on the regional sports fee they charged for the Bulls and Hawks game we’re not getting.
I already miss good old NBC Sports Chicago.