Mike McCarthy has a unique place in Chicago sports media. Since 2020, two regional sports networks have launched in the city, and he has run both of them.
After serving as general manager of Marquee Sports Network, he became president and CEO of Chicago Sports Network in September. Going from a one-team network to a three-team operation is nothing new to McCarthy, who was president of MSG Network in New York when it had eight teams.
“I remember our system back in 1999,” McCarthy said. “Couldn’t watch them all; couldn’t even watch two of them at the same time. So I would ask the producers, please leave me a voicemail if you think I’m going to a meeting with the owners tomorrow morning and tell me what that meeting is about.
“I was going in the room with some titans like [George] Steinbrenner and Jim Dolan. I’m battle-tested, if anything.”
In a challenging time for regional sports networks, lessons from those battles might come in handy for McCarthy as he works to prop up a fledgling network that’s recovering from an inauspicious start.
The Blackhawks and Bulls’ first seasons on CHSN were unavailable on Comcast, the largest pay-TV provider in the market with about 1 million subscribers. The cable system finally picked it up in June for the rest of the White Sox’ season, but it cost the network its local over-the-air signal, which angered viewers who had purchased antennas.
However, in the second month of CHSN’s second year, McCarthy sees signs of growth that have him bullish about the future, even as the headwinds of cord-cutting and downsizing blow at gale-force speeds across the industry.
“We’re regularly now the most-watched cable network in Chicago during our live game periods,” McCarthy said. “That shouldn’t be a surprise. We’re sort of the only game in town, whether it’s the Bulls or the Blackhawks. They’re doing more winning than losing, and that never hurts.”
Through the Bulls’ first nine games, during which they went 6-3, McCarthy said household and direct-to-consumer viewership combined for a 182% increase from the same period last season. He said viewership was even close to 9% higher than the Bulls’ final season on NBC Sports Chicago, which is notable considering NBCSCH was available on Hulu and YouTube TV.
McCarthy said the Hawks saw an increase of 121% through their first 12 games on the network, during which they went 5-4-3. He also said the team’s DTC growth is five times what it was last season. Total DTC subscriptions are up about 300% since March, which McCarthy credited to a massive campaign during the teams’ preseasons.
Granted, the teams had huge holes to climb. While they were blacked out on Comcast, their viewership suffered the biggest drops in their respective leagues. But fans are coming back. Last Friday night, when the Bulls aired on CHSN and the Hawks on CHSN+, more than 185,000 households tuned in to the network.
Though CHSN knows fans come to it for games, the network is dipping its toe into documentaries, starting with the “Journey to the Chi” series. After profiling Sox prospects in the summer, CHSN is turning to the Bulls, beginning with Ayo Dosunmu. It also is airing another season of Windy City Bulls games in the NBA G League.
“This time last year, we were just running around jumping on fires and hoping to put them out,” McCarthy said. “Whether it was distribution matters or transmission matters, the whole thing was so brand new. They didn’t have offices because of the [Democratic National] convention. There were all kinds of challenges that this group met head on.
“Now we can just focus on the core business, which is ratings, distribution, maximizing revenue, make good, sound decisions on the expense side, and I think we’re at the precipice of doing all those things pretty capably.”
McCarthy has proved to be pretty capable himself, not only guiding the launch of the Cubs’ Marquee network but navigating it through the pandemic. He stepped down in December 2023 for health reasons.
He connected with previous CHSN president and CEO Jason Coyle while recovering. After serving as a consultant, McCarthy became COO in June, then was promoted again when Coyle stepped down to become advisor to the board of directors.
“It felt a little more seamless than you might imagine just from being here and picking up on things,” said McCarthy, who didn’t expect such a quick ascent. “From a distance, it might seem a little shocking. If you’re up close, it felt pretty natural that it evolved the way it has.”
Nevertheless, McCarthy essentially moved from the Cubs (Marquee) to the Sox (CHSN), and to many fans, that is unnatural.
“Yes, they’re in Chicago, and yes, they both have lunch at Manny’s, but it’s a whole different play,” McCarthy said. “That one [Marquee] doesn’t have the seasonality asset that this one does. It has a great team with a robust fan base and really one goal. Here, there’s at least three.”
The native New Yorker has ingrained himself in Chicago, as the Manny’s reference shows.
“Chicago sports fans are very discerning. They can spot things a mile away,” he said. “They’re willing to go through rebuilding processes, but they want to see a plan. And I think from a production standpoint, they know good from bad.
“Here, they build statues for announcers. I haven’t seen that anywhere else that I’ve been, including New York. I feel like I learned that with Marquee, and I’m learning more of it here.”