Nbc chicago professional#

On April 2, 2007, the Tribune Company announced its intent to sell its shares in both Comcast SportsNet Chicago and the Chicago Cubs as part of the company's $8.2 billion purchase by real estate magnate Sam Zell. The network subsequently relocated its operations into FSN Chicago's former studio facilities on Orleans Street (which NBC Sports Chicago now also shares with the offices of the Chicago Sun-Times).

At that time, with the loss of all four teams from its lineup, FSN Chicago was effectively left with only events from some minor local and semi-professional teams, national programming from Fox Sports Net, and Midwestern outdoors programs on its schedule many cable and satellite providers in northeastern Illinois and northwest Indiana also chose to replace FSN Chicago with CSN Chicago upon its launch.Īfter Rainbow Media shut down FSN Chicago on June 23, 2006, Comcast SportsNet Chicago acquired the regional cable television rights to broadcast sports events, discussion and entertainment programs intended for national distribution to the Fox Sports regional networks. CSN Chicago was created in order for the four teams to have editorial control over their broadcasts, although the network continued to share the rights to the Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks and Bulls with WGN-TV (channel 9 which is owned by Tribune) and (until 2014) WCIU-TV (channel 26).Ĭomcast SportsNet Chicago launched on October 1, 2004. All three team owners decided to enter into a partnership with Comcast to form a new regional sports network, to be named Comcast SportsNet Chicago, whose launch was formally announced on December 2.

Nbc chicago professional#

In November 2003, Jerry Reinsdorf, Bill Wirtz and the Tribune Company decided to end their cable television agreements for the Bulls, White Sox, Cubs and Blackhawks with FSN Chicago, stripping that network of broadcast rights to all of the professional sports teams in the Chicago area. The network maintains main studios and offices located at 350 North Orleans Street, inside the River North Point Center in the Near North Side area.

The channel is available on cable and fiber optic television providers in most of Illinois, and throughout northwest Indiana, Iowa, Kenosha County, Wisconsin and southwest Michigan and nationwide on satellite provider DirecTV. Joseph Ricketts, formerly owned a 20% stake in the network from its launch until the Cubs ended their broadcasts on the network after the end of the 2019 season, with that percentage equally distributed in 5% increments to the remaining partners after that point.

The Chicago Cubs, through the Tribune Company and later the family of J.

NBC Sports Chicago is owned by a consortium of Comcast the primary cable provider in the Chicago market (which owns 25% through the NBC Sports Group unit of NBCUniversal), Chicago Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf (who owns a 50% majority interest), and Chicago Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz (who owns 25%). It is branded as part of the NBC Sports Regional Networks. NBC Sports Chicago (formerly Comcast SportsNet Chicago) is an American regional sports network that broadcasts regional coverage of professional sports teams in the Chicago metropolitan area, as well as college sports events and original sports-related news, discussion and entertainment programming.