The Chicago Sports Network is partnering with Weigel Broadcasting to simulcast 10 White Sox games this season over-the-air on WCIU-Ch. 26, the network announced Thursday.<\/p>\n
With opening day a week away, CHSN is gearing up for its first full season of broadcasting White Sox baseball on Comcast after striking a carriage deal with the market\u2019s largest pay-TV provider last summer.<\/p>\n
Under the terms of the Comcast agreement, CHSN abruptly pulled the plug<\/a> on its free over-the-air broadcasts on local TV affiliates in Chicago, Rockford, Peoria, and Fort Wayne and South Bend, Indiana.<\/p>\n But for diehard fans who bought an antenna to watch the White Sox last year \u2013 or perhaps haven\u2019t upgraded their Comcast subscriptions to the higher-priced Ultimate tier where CHSN and rival Marquee Sports Network now reside \u2013 there are some red-letter days to mark on your calendar.<\/p>\n The White Sox broadcasts will go old school for 10 games on WCIU, The U, from May through September, with the Cubs, Yankees and Dodgers on the free-TV schedule.<\/p>\n First up is May 8 vs Seattle, followed by all three Crosstown Series home games at Rate Field against the Cubs May 15-17.\u00a0 Other highlights include a home game June 14 against the defending World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, along with one Crosstown matchup against the Cubs at Wrigley Field in August.<\/p>\n Several of the simulcasts will include CHSN\u2019s Friday Night All-Access package, with mic\u2019d up players, exclusive camera angles and behind-the-scenes glimpses into the team.\u00a0 All of the broadcasts will feature complete pre- and post-game coverage.<\/p>\n Last year, CHSN simulcast seven games on WCIU-Ch. 26, including the crosstown series with the Cubs, boosting exposure for the fledgling network.<\/p>\n A joint venture between the Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and Nashville, Tennessee-based Standard Media, CHSN went live Oct.1, 2024, on pay-TV platforms DirecTV and Astound, and over the air on WJYS-Ch. 62. It soon added streaming service FuboTV and its own direct-to-consumer<\/a> streaming app.<\/p>\n But CHSN was blacked out from the jump on Comcast, the market\u2019s largest pay-TV provider, leaving the cable giant\u2019s 1 million Chicago-area subscribers in the dark for the entire Bulls and Blackhawks seasons, as well as a significant portion of its inaugural White Sox season.<\/p>\n CHSN finally struck a carriage deal<\/a> with Comcast in June, putting the sports network on the Ultimate tier, which costs subscribers an additional $20 per month. Marquee also shifted to the Ultimate tier<\/a> at the conclusion of the Cubs\u2019 regular season last fall.<\/p>\n