Chicago Sports Network and DirecTV announced a multiyear distribution agreement Wednesday that will make the new home of the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks available via DirecTV satellite, DirecTV Stream and U-Verse when it launches Oct. 1. The Sun-Times reported last week that a deal was close.
CHSN will appear in the same location that NBC Sports Chicago has appeared, on Channel 665 for DirecTV and 1741 (HD) for U-Verse. The network will be available within its five-state footprint (including most of Illinois and Iowa and parts of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin) to subscribers of DIRECTV’s Choice packages or higher, just as NBCSCH has been. That network will go off the air on Sept. 30.
“CHSN and DirecTV both believe in the unique power of local sports teams to unite the communities they call home, Direct TV chief content officer Rob Thun said in a release, “and we will continue collaborating with the top leagues, local franchises, and media partners to cultivate future generations of fans.”
“This agreement establishes an immediate foundation for CHSN and aligns us with one of the foremost innovators in sports media,” CHSN president Jason Coyle said. “We are excited about DIRECTV’s commitment to Chicago and its fervent fans, which is evident in our collaborative efforts to deliver upon our fan-first approach, commitment to quality, and engaging game-day experiences.”
On Monday, CHSN announced it will be available over the air in high definition on Channels 62.2 and 62.3 through an agreement with Millennial Telecommunications’ WJYS, an independent station based in Hammond, Indiana, with a signal on the Willis Tower. Stadium, the multiplatform sports network owned by Sox chairman Jerry Reindsorf, used to be available on Ch. 62.2.
Comcast, the top cable provider in the market, does not carry those subchannels, and it has yet to reach an agreement to carry CHSN. The distributor has moved regional sports networks (RSNs) across the country to its top programming tier because of the increasing cost of carrying sports. That’s expected to be a sticking point in carriage talks.