Sports Media Thread

[Brian707]

Saturday afternoon and evening during football offseason probably better for them to sell out to whatever advertisers buy up the time.  Today they probably will do the same after the Cubs game 

[SpongeWorthy]

17 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

Local sports radio shows have really disappeared.  I turned The Score on today following the Cubs game. There was a short post-game show and then they went straight to a syndicated sports betting show.  Is there really not a market for an extended post-game show or other local coverage on a Saturday afternoon?  Who is listening to generic national coverage from BetMGM (or whatever it was that sponsored it)?  Or are they so focused on pinching pennies that the can't afford to pay a couple guys to sit in a studio for a few hours?

I don’t exactly long for local sports talk but the gambleification of everything in sports sucks ass. I actually feel bad for Zach Lowe having to do FanDuel ad reads now that he’s on the Ringer cuz I know he hates gambling.

[Derwood]

Local sports programming >>>>>>>>>>>> national/syndicated sports programming. 

[Outshined_One]

It's so horsefeathers jarring hearing local sports radio in markets without much sports journalism.  It's mostly angry white guys and retired athletes yelling about fantasy/gambling without much substance or analysis. I spent some time in Houston and it was like the Astros, Texans, and Rockets didn't even exist.

[CubColtPacer]

19 hours ago, SpongeWorthy said:

I don’t exactly long for local sports talk but the gambleification of everything in sports sucks ass. I actually feel bad for Zach Lowe having to do FanDuel ad reads now that he’s on the Ringer cuz I know he hates gambling.

I mostly like the gambling aspects (Note:  I never have gambled on sports myself).  I like it because it has caused the analysis to be more precise.  Before, it was a lot the favorite is going to win and the star player is going to play well.  I especially like it before a  season because it gives a reason for people to talk about every team in the league and exactly how good they think they are going to be.

But 1) I'm a probability thinker, which a good chunk of people aren't and 2) that's not factoring in the lure of actual gambling.

[Wilson A2000]

Hawks ratings down 78% without Comcast

[Tryptamine]

Maybe Chicago owners should put a product out there that isn't ass

Edited April 22, 2025 by Tryptamine

[squally1313]

It's insane that Reinsdorf, Wirtz, Ricketts just all got comfortable going to a streaming model at the exact same time that the teams became (with the Cubs being a slight exception) completely uninspired and irrelevant at best, historically bad at worst. Like, yeah, is it a travesty that you just can't watch any Chicago team besides the Bears without having to pay extra for it? Of course. Are people just going to get used to not watching them? Also, very much yes. 

[Wilson A2000]

3 hours ago, squally1313 said:

It's insane that Reinsdorf, Wirtz, Ricketts just all got comfortable going to a streaming model at the exact same time that the teams became (with the Cubs being a slight exception) completely uninspired and irrelevant at best, historically bad at worst. Like, yeah, is it a travesty that you just can't watch any Chicago team besides the Bears without having to pay extra for it? Of course. Are people just going to get used to not watching them? Also, very much yes. 

With an antenna, you can watch the Hawks, Bulls, and Sox for free. How many other pro sports teams have OTA broadcasts? I would bet very few. I think the Suns are one of the only ones I know of. The issue is not having to pay, the issue is that CHSN isn’t on Comcast and we lost an entire Hawks and Bulls season to this standoff. Yes, those teams suck, but it’s still crazy that is 2025 this is happening. 

[BigbadB]

I'm pretty sure there are several teams offering OTA broadcasts. But, maybe I'm wrong. It's also not just Comcast. DirecTV aired all of those games, as well. I had DirecTV, but I'm also rural and don't have cable options. But I also wanted the Sunday Ticket package so I can watch any football games I want. When they switched to YouTubeTV, I switched. It was a bonus that they also had NBC Sports Chicago. But as soon as the Sunday Ticket switch happened, YTTV dropped NBCSC. I couldn't get the OTA because I was too far away from Chicago, but then they opened up hubs in neighboring towns to extend the signal. The Peoria IL feed allows me to watch the Hawks and Bulls for free now. 

But, I'm not surprised by the 78% drop in viewership. I was as loud as anyone that what they were doing was killing their brand, especially before they created their streaming app. But then the streaming app was too expensive to purchase, or maybe I should say the viewing content made it not worth it.

I think these CEO's think people love their teams so much that their blind loyalty would uproot their most beloved TV packages and move to wherever the teams moved to. People are a bit more fickle than that. They already have their cable package and streaming apps, and are comfortable with what they have. Meanwhile, Comcast, and cable providers in general, is a dinosaur sitting around waiting for consumers to wise up and look for cheaper tv options. They'd be doing themselves a favor and continue finding ways to work with local regional sports. Maybe even find new local regional sports to air, because they don't really have much to offer that's bigger or better than the other options out there.

[mul21]

Living in STL, I just watch the Cubs on MLBTV and get what I get for the other sports.  The ESPN+ option is great for the Blackhawks but they've been so bad I rarely bother.  If I was a STL fan, I'd have set up something more permanent to just stream the games on a pirated feed because none of the local teams are available without subscribing to a separate streaming service or having wired cable.  It's just insane that those are the only routes to go and a ton of people locally have gotten rid of Spectrum completely if they have access to AT&T fiber because the Spectrum internet service is so spotty.  

One thing that absolutely cracks me up is the total uproar when the Cardinals are on YouTube or Apple TV (completely for free by the way) because all the old red assed morons can't figure out how to work any of their electronics.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

8 hours ago, BigbadB said:

YTTV dropped NBCSC

NBCSC stopped existing.

[BigbadB]

14 hours ago, Ding Dong Johnson said:

NBCSC stopped existing.

Did it stop existing because the Bulls/Blackhawks were moving to CHSN? There are still other NBC Regional channels in other parts of the country? I know that NBCSC was still around when I switched to You Tube TV in May of 2024. I was part of making the leap to YTTV, although Sunday Ticket was the bigger reason. 

[WrigleyField 22]

15 hours ago, Ding Dong Johnson said:

NBCSC stopped existing.

Weak reason to drop it. 

[Ding Dong Johnson]

2 hours ago, BigbadB said:

Did it stop existing because the Bulls/Blackhawks were moving to CHSN?  

Basically, yes.

[Wilson A2000]

Stephen A. Smith’s appearance on “Law and Order.” A little too acty, but not bad.

 

[UMFan83]

I cut the cord so I don’t care anymore but good for CHSN

[Ding Dong Johnson]

I saw the DIRECTV genre packs commercial recently and finally remembered to check it out this morning. The sports pack is $70 and somehow also includes Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. Then it would be another $20 to add Marquee and CHSN. 

[Wilson A2000]

3 hours ago, UMFan83 said:

I cut the cord so I don’t care anymore but good for CHSN

But it’s on the Comcast Ultimate tier which is an extra $20 a month

[UMFan83]

1 hour ago, Wilson A2000 said:

But it’s on the Comcast Ultimate tier which is an extra $20 a month

Figured it was going to be.  I think that's what Comcast has been doing with all the RSN's added to their network.  They tried to do it with Marquee, but I'm guessing they backed off since most of the people who want Marquee are also going to want CHSN and upgrade anyways.  

[bddavidson]

59 minutes ago, UMFan83 said:

Figured it was going to be.  I think that's what Comcast has been doing with all the RSN's added to their network.  They tried to do it with Marquee, but I'm guessing they backed off since most of the people who want Marquee are also going to want CHSN and upgrade anyways.  

Wasn't there scuttlebutt about a merger of the two earlier in the year?  Marquee and CHSN that is to make them more attractive.  

[SparkMark1]

I read somewhere that Marquee is going to the ultimate tier after this season as well.

[BigbadB]

The Marquee streaming app is pretty decent overall, but it's the only app that I have that refuses to sign off on its own. I have to restart my Fire Stick to close out of the app. Oh, and I also have to restart my Fire Stick before I stream Marquee, or it will inevitably screen freeze or lock up on me. To be fair, my Fire Sticks are pretty old at this point. But, they are updated.

Still worth the $20 a month I'm paying for it.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

2 hours ago, BigbadB said:

The Marquee streaming app is pretty decent overall, but it's the only app that I have that refuses to sign off on its own. I have to restart my Fire Stick to close out of the app. Oh, and I also have to restart my Fire Stick before I stream Marquee, or it will inevitably screen freeze or lock up on me. To be fair, my Fire Sticks are pretty old at this point. But, they are updated.

Still worth the $20 a month I'm paying for it.

My biggest gripe with Marquee is the forward and reverse controls just plain suck. They seem to have mostly gotten past the bugginess of randomly dropping the stream, but it is a huge pain in the ass if I want to go back and watch key plays if I miss an inning or 2 doing other stuff.

[UMFan83]

18 hours ago, SparkMark1 said:

I read somewhere that Marquee is going to the ultimate tier after this season as well.

Are they still going to charge the Regional Sports fee on top of the Ultimate package if that happens?  I thought that was the point of that fee.