Comcast has refused to engage earnestly with Chicago Sports Network in negotiations over a carriage agreement, CHSN president Jason Coyle said Saturday.
Coyle went on the offensive in a meeting with reporters, claiming the new network he oversees — the new TV home of the Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox — has made two offers to Comcast but received zero offers in return.
CHSN’s latest offer proposed a “significant” free reduction versus what Comcast previously paid NBC Sports Chicago, Coyle said, but even that generated no traction — although communication between the two parties remains ongoing.
“We are willing, in order to ensure more people can watch, to take less money,” Coyle said. “They’ve given us zero offers to say ‘yes’ to.”
In Illinois and the surrounding states, the network is currently available on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, U-Verse and Astound/RCN, as well as via an over-the-air antenna in certain regions, including Chicago, South Bend and Indianapolis. Over-the-air service is expected to begin soon in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Iowa, as well as Fort Wayne, Indiana, and “four or five other cities,” Coyle said.
Outside of Illinois and the surrounding states, Hawks games are available through the ESPN+ and Center Ice subscription services, just as they were last year.
Coyle said he expects CHSN to soon reach an agreement with Fubo. YouTube TV has entirely pivoted away from regional sports networks in their business model, and Coyle confirmed CHSN won’t be carried there, as previously reported.
CHSN has built a direct-to-consumer app — through which customers could pay a monthly fee to watch the channel independently, outside of any TV carrier or streaming service — that could be ready to release within the next few weeks, Coyle said.
However, since CHSN believes releasing that app could further reduce Comcast’s willingness to strike a deal, they’re holding out for now. Coyle said he doesn’t believe the over-the-air availability matters to Comcast, since that’s intended to reach consumers who already accessed TV in that way — not new cord-cutters.
Hawks fans on Comcast missed their fifth consecutive Hawks game Saturday against the Sabres, and Bulls fans will begin missing games when their NBA season begins Wednesday against the Pelicans. Coyle didn’t give a specific time when asked when CHSN would be willing to release its app without a Comcast deal.
“I don’t know that we’re ready to draw a line in the sand,” Coyle said. “I’d love to just see where they are. We are ready to move fast. We are already out there at a significant discount. We are not being greedy. We just want to give the fans the games that they want, and we don’t want them to have to pay more than they used to, and we don’t want them to have less access than they used to.”
This story will be updated.