Cubs broadcasts next season "will air on" WSCR-AM, according to Chicago-based media reporter Robert Feder. The Cubs "will shift to the sports/talk station" from all-news WBBM-AM, "where they aired for the past season." CBS Radio "had a one-time option" to move the team to WSCR, "under terms of its seven-year rights agreement." The decision "was prompted by the departure" of White Sox baseball broadcasts after 10 years on WSCR. Under a six-year deal "starting this spring, the White Sox will move" to Cumulus Media news/talk WLS-AM. Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer are "expected to continue in the Cubs broadcast booth next season, with Mark Grote back for pregame and postgame duties." Along with all 162 regular season games, the agreement also "calls for live broadcasts from Wrigley Field and the neighborhood, several joint promotional initiatives, and weekly appearances by Cubs manager Joe Maddon on Matt Spiegel and Jason Goff’s midday show" (ROBERTFEDER.com, 11/11).
LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL: In Chicago, Paul Sullivan notes the Cubs "seemingly have been talking forever about starting their own TV network." Cubs President of Business Operations Crane Kenney yesterday said that the "oft-rumored network is becoming a reality." Kenney: "We'll move over and launch our own channel in 2020. Maybe the one thing I do know is how to put these things together." Sullivan notes the Cubs deal with CSN Chicago runs through '19. A Cubs spokesperson said that if the team left CSN for its own network, it is "unknown what affect it would have on the White Sox," whose deal also runs through '19. Sullivan notes both teams "are part owners of CSN, along with the Bulls and Blackhawks." But even a Cubs network "might be a tough sell." It obviously "would require 24-hour programming, even when the teams aren't playing in the fall and winter months" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/12). Cubs President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein has called the long-anticipated new TV revenues a “game changer” for his department’s resources. But in Chicago, Gordon Wittenmyer notes Epstein was "not so fast" to talk about a Cubs-owned net. Epstein: "That’s just one option. My understanding is we’d be open to a deal earlier than that as well, as long as a good one presents itself.” He added, "It’s a very real option.” A Cubs-owned network "has the potential for open-ended revenue growth for years, but it comes with startup costs and risks" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/12).
