WGN interested in airing Chicago Sports Network broadcasts, confident a deal can work
Chicago’s Very Own is looking to carry local sports again and believes there’s a path to airing the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks games that much of the area has missed, the Sun-Times has learned.
WGN TV is interested in carrying local sports again and believes there’s a path to air Chicago Sports Network broadcasts of the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks that Comcast has yet to carry, the Sun-Times has learned.
The sides would have to sort out a lot of details, such as how many games would be included and who would sell advertising for them. Though WGN isn’t positioned to pay a substantial rights fee — the teams would have to treat it as a marketing expense — it could deliver the teams their largest TV audience since they launched CHSN in October.
WGN is available essentially everywhere locally, including on Comcast’s Xfinity cable system, which has about 1 million subscribers in the market. Plus, with as much as 15 hours of live daily programming, WGN can promote the broadcasts all day.
