The war is over, Chicago Cubs fans. Your regional nightmare is over.
Marquee Sports Network and Comcast have come to terms on a carriage agreement more than four months after the new Cubs television channel’s launch.
“We finished our negotiations with Comcast to carry Marquee and it will be available in all Xfinity homes,” Crane Kenney, Cubs president of business operations told the Tribune Friday.
Kenney declined to disclose the terms of the carriage agreement with Comcast but said it was a “multiple year deal.”
Comcast customers can watch the Cubs on channel 84 in the Chicago area and channel 202 in high definition. The channels are already live as of Friday morning, reaching the cable giant’s more than 1 million Chicago-area subscribers.
Kenney said the arrival of the delayed July opening day created the impetus for Marquee and Comcast to get a deal done after months of negotiations that lasted through an aborted preseason, and threatened to black out large swaths of fans from watching the Cubs this season.
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What Is This? “This is the catalyst — the beginning of the regular season — that we needed to finish the agreement,” Kenney said. “I know it wasn’t perfect for our fans. I really appreciate their patience.”
The arrangement ends a standoff between the new channel the Cubs launched in concert with Sinclair Broadcast Group and Comcast’s Xfinity, the largest TV provider in the Cubs’ TV market that serves roughly half its homes.
Not yet known is what — if any — cost will be passed along to Xfinity subscribers. Other providers carrying the channel have increased rates about $2 a month for customers with eligible packages to receive the channel.
A partnership between the Cubs and Sinclair Broadcast Group, Marquee had previously lined up a number of Chicago-area cable and satellite providers including AT&T and RCN, as well as streaming services such as Hulu + Live TV.
The Marquee agreement leaves Dish Network, the area’s No. 3 provider, as the largest remaining holdout.
Management of Dish, which also offers the Sling TV streaming service, have said they want to upend the traditional cable business model in which carriage fees are based on the number of customers a channel reaches rather than how many actually want the channel.
Striking a carriage deal with Comcast enables Marquee to reach the majority of Chicago-area pay-TV viewers.
“There were a group of carriers who came on earlier … and then there were a group of carriers who decided to take a different tack and come on later, and try and use time as leverage to get better terms,” Kenney said. “Comcast chose the latter path, and we’re just happy to have them in the network and put this issue to bed for so many of our fans.”
The Marquee deal was part of a larger agreement between Sinclair and Comcast that also secured continued carriage of 78 Sinclair TV stations in 51 markets across the country as well as Tennis Channel, 18 Fox-branded regional sports networks and YES Network.
[Most read in Sports] The 10 days last October that shook the Bears’ faith in Mitch Trubisky »
“With this agreement, Xfinity TV customers can continue to enjoy access to local news and sports content on Sinclair’s owned stations and networks across platforms,” Rebecca Heap, Comcast’s senior vice president of video and entertainments, said in a statement.
Sources familiar with the situation say the Comcast deal is in line with the other carriage agreements struck by Marquee.
All told, more than 40 entities have agreed to carry Marquee. Sinclair is still is trying to negotiate deals for Marquee with numerous small TV service providers as well as the and streaming service YouTube TV.
Heading into Marquee’s February launch, Cubs officials said they expected a Comcast deal in time for the 2020 season opener, then set for March 26. But the COVID-19 pandemic put baseball on hold — along with much of life as everyone knew it — and talks no longer had urgency.
Negotiations heated up again once MLB established it would attempt to stage an abbreviated 60-game season beginning in July, and once more the Cubs expressed optimism Marquee would be available via Xfinity in time for the season opener.
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When fans were looking at the prospect of a full 162 games, it was anticipated Marquee would present roughly 150 games, with the remaining dozen picked up by MLB’s national partners.
Cubs fans accustomed to the availability of dozens of games each season on free, over-the-air broadcast television have viewed the advent of Marquee warily.
Marquee has been a linchpin in the Ricketts family’s plans to grow Cubs revenue along with renovating Wrigley Field and developing the area around the ballpark since it acquired the team in 2009.
But before the owners could proceed with creation of their own TV channel, they had to wait out the final 10 years of the Cubs’ partnership in NBC Sports Chicago with the White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and Comcast.
Marquee generates a dual-revenue stream for the team and Sinclair. Besides the carriage fees rooted in the potential audience the network could have, it makes money from advertising sold on the basis of how many viewers tune in.
Because of the size of Xfinity’s footprint in the market, failure to strike a deal with Comcast would have adversely affected both money sources.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/spor...0200724-v2v5nqeimrethgrnotq5rzg55i-story.html
Marquee Sports Network and Comcast have come to terms on a carriage agreement more than four months after the new Cubs television channel’s launch.
“We finished our negotiations with Comcast to carry Marquee and it will be available in all Xfinity homes,” Crane Kenney, Cubs president of business operations told the Tribune Friday.
Kenney declined to disclose the terms of the carriage agreement with Comcast but said it was a “multiple year deal.”
Comcast customers can watch the Cubs on channel 84 in the Chicago area and channel 202 in high definition. The channels are already live as of Friday morning, reaching the cable giant’s more than 1 million Chicago-area subscribers.
Kenney said the arrival of the delayed July opening day created the impetus for Marquee and Comcast to get a deal done after months of negotiations that lasted through an aborted preseason, and threatened to black out large swaths of fans from watching the Cubs this season.
Paid Post
What Is This? “This is the catalyst — the beginning of the regular season — that we needed to finish the agreement,” Kenney said. “I know it wasn’t perfect for our fans. I really appreciate their patience.”
The arrangement ends a standoff between the new channel the Cubs launched in concert with Sinclair Broadcast Group and Comcast’s Xfinity, the largest TV provider in the Cubs’ TV market that serves roughly half its homes.
Not yet known is what — if any — cost will be passed along to Xfinity subscribers. Other providers carrying the channel have increased rates about $2 a month for customers with eligible packages to receive the channel.
A partnership between the Cubs and Sinclair Broadcast Group, Marquee had previously lined up a number of Chicago-area cable and satellite providers including AT&T and RCN, as well as streaming services such as Hulu + Live TV.
The Marquee agreement leaves Dish Network, the area’s No. 3 provider, as the largest remaining holdout.
Management of Dish, which also offers the Sling TV streaming service, have said they want to upend the traditional cable business model in which carriage fees are based on the number of customers a channel reaches rather than how many actually want the channel.
Striking a carriage deal with Comcast enables Marquee to reach the majority of Chicago-area pay-TV viewers.
“There were a group of carriers who came on earlier … and then there were a group of carriers who decided to take a different tack and come on later, and try and use time as leverage to get better terms,” Kenney said. “Comcast chose the latter path, and we’re just happy to have them in the network and put this issue to bed for so many of our fans.”
The Marquee deal was part of a larger agreement between Sinclair and Comcast that also secured continued carriage of 78 Sinclair TV stations in 51 markets across the country as well as Tennis Channel, 18 Fox-branded regional sports networks and YES Network.
[Most read in Sports] The 10 days last October that shook the Bears’ faith in Mitch Trubisky »
“With this agreement, Xfinity TV customers can continue to enjoy access to local news and sports content on Sinclair’s owned stations and networks across platforms,” Rebecca Heap, Comcast’s senior vice president of video and entertainments, said in a statement.
Sources familiar with the situation say the Comcast deal is in line with the other carriage agreements struck by Marquee.
All told, more than 40 entities have agreed to carry Marquee. Sinclair is still is trying to negotiate deals for Marquee with numerous small TV service providers as well as the and streaming service YouTube TV.
Heading into Marquee’s February launch, Cubs officials said they expected a Comcast deal in time for the 2020 season opener, then set for March 26. But the COVID-19 pandemic put baseball on hold — along with much of life as everyone knew it — and talks no longer had urgency.
Negotiations heated up again once MLB established it would attempt to stage an abbreviated 60-game season beginning in July, and once more the Cubs expressed optimism Marquee would be available via Xfinity in time for the season opener.
A daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.
When fans were looking at the prospect of a full 162 games, it was anticipated Marquee would present roughly 150 games, with the remaining dozen picked up by MLB’s national partners.
Cubs fans accustomed to the availability of dozens of games each season on free, over-the-air broadcast television have viewed the advent of Marquee warily.
Marquee has been a linchpin in the Ricketts family’s plans to grow Cubs revenue along with renovating Wrigley Field and developing the area around the ballpark since it acquired the team in 2009.
But before the owners could proceed with creation of their own TV channel, they had to wait out the final 10 years of the Cubs’ partnership in NBC Sports Chicago with the White Sox, Bulls, Blackhawks and Comcast.
Marquee generates a dual-revenue stream for the team and Sinclair. Besides the carriage fees rooted in the potential audience the network could have, it makes money from advertising sold on the basis of how many viewers tune in.
Because of the size of Xfinity’s footprint in the market, failure to strike a deal with Comcast would have adversely affected both money sources.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/spor...0200724-v2v5nqeimrethgrnotq5rzg55i-story.html
