In Chicago, Ruthhart & Byrne report a powerful city alderman called on the Cubs yesterday "not to pursue plans to create their own cable network, saying the move would shut out many of the team's loyal fans from being able to watch games on TV." After introducing the resolution, Southwest Side Ald. Edward Burke "acknowledged the [city] council can't force the Cubs not to take this lucrative step but hinted the team should consider how such a move would be viewed by aldermen the next time the team comes to the City Council asking for zoning changes or other help." The Cubs have "indicated the organization may seek to start its own network" after their current TV deal ends in '20 (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/30).
MY KIND OF TOWN: WSCR-AM took over last year as the radio home for the Cubs, and in Chicago, Robert Channick reported the World Series "provided a big revenue boost for the radio station." The CBS-owned sports station "jumped into a tie for fourth place among Chicago stations" with $24M in revenue, up $2.1M, or nearly 10%, over '15. The station ranked sixth in '15 at $21.9M. Overall, the Chicago radio market was up more than 4% to $471.6M, including over-the-air and online revenue (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/29).
BAY WATCH: NBC Sports Bay Area announced a format change to its traditional sports news presentation. In conjunction with the start of the Giants' '17 season, "SportsNet Central" segments of 1-2 minutes will be integrated into the "Pregame Live" and "Postgame Live" shows and throughout the day across all programming. The segments will be available on NBC Sports Bay Area, NBCSportsBayArea.com and via the NBC Sports app, beginning Sunday. "SportsNet Central" moves away from the traditional half-hour format as part of the change. Meanwhile, the net has also unveiled "Giants Raw," a same-day, condensed version of the team's game that day. "Giants Raw" offers viewers highlights of key plays from alternative camera angles, authentic in-game sound and pre- and postgame interviews in a half-hour format (NBC Sports Bay Area).
STAYING BUSY: On Long Island, Neil Best reports when Alex Rodriguez is "not on the road for the Yankees" as a part-time adviser, he will be based in Miami and will commute to Fox Sports studios in L.A. as part of his role as an MLB analyst for the net. One "edge Rodriguez has over many of his fellow studio and game analysts is how recently he played." He said, "That’s something that helped over the last two years with Fox, just a matter that most of the guys I’m seeing either I faced them as a hitter or I played against them as position players." Meanwhile, the Yankees are still "on the hook" for Rodriguez' $21M salary in the final year of his contract. Rodriguez said that he will go wherever Yankees brass thinks he "might be useful" (NEWSDAY, 3/30).
