12/02/2003 5:33 PM ET

Comcast forms network with teams

MLB.com

 

CHICAGO -- The Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs will share a new TV home, beginning Oct. 1, 2004.

Comcast Cable, in conjunction with affiliates of the Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs and White Sox, announced the formation of Comcast SportsNet Chicago, a new 24-hour regional sports network serving Chicago-area sports fans.

 

The cable provider and the four sports teams will jointly own the network, which will launch on Oct. 1, 2004.

 

Comcast SportsNet Chicago will carry a total of 248 regular season games, as well as preseason and postseason games. The agreement provides that each team will offer the network the same number of regular season games required under its previous cable television agreement, including 72 Cubs games, 95 White Sox games, 42 Bulls games and 39 Blackhawks games.

 

The new sports cable network will carry games that now run on Fox Sports Net Chicago. Fox currently carries 72 regular season Cubs games, 102 White Sox games, 44 Bulls games and 39 Blackhawks games.

 

Games currently on broadcast stations WGN-TV and WCIU would not be affected.

 

"Being a sports fan in Chicago is a full-time passion," Comcast Cable president Steve Burke said Tuesday, "and we look forward to providing first-class coverage of the goals, baskets and runs that will define the Chicago sports experience in the seasons ahead."

 

Comcast SportsNet Chicago will be the cable and satellite television provider for each team, and will include games offered in HDTV.

 

Starting Oct. 1, 2004, the network will be available in approximately 1.5 million homes in the Chicagoland area on Comcast's expanded basic package, the cable provider's most popular level of service in the region.

 

The network will also pursue carriage agreements with all of the other cable and satellite providers in the region, which could add 2 million homes. Comcast will manage the network's daily operations and sales.

 

Comcast currently owns two regional sports networks, Comcast SportsNet, which serves 2.9 million subscribers in the Philadelphia region; and Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, which serves 4.3 million subscribers in the Baltimore/Washington D.C. region.

 

This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.

This deal basically kills Fox Sports Net Chicago. Rumor is Rainbow Media which owns FSN Chicago along with other properties including Marlins TV Home FSN Florida, is interested in selling some of it's properties in Comcast markets (like Chicago, South Florida, Bay Area, etc.) to Comcast.