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Comcast SportsNet Chicago (CSN Chicago) is a regional sports network that covers local sports teams in the Chicago area and operates as a member of the NBC Sports Group.

Background [edit]

CSN Chicago was created in 2004. It is jointly owned by Comcast subsidiary NBCUniversal (20%), the family of J. Joseph Ricketts (owner of the Cubs, 20%), Jerry Reinsdorf (owner of the both the Bulls and the White Sox, giving him a 40% stake), and Rocky Wirtz (owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, 20%). The channel airs a majority of games for those four teams. It also carries games for the AFL Chicago Rush, Chicago Fire S.C., and NIU Huskies football. Although WCIU-TV and WGN-TV carry many Cubs, White Sox, Blackhawks and Bulls games, CSN Chicago was created so the teams mentioned could have editorial control over their broadcasts. Previously, these teams' cable games were produced by FSN Chicago. However, with the creation of CSN Chicago, all of Chicago's major professional teams dropped their agreements with FSN Chicago, though that channel limped along for another two years until going defunct in 2006. All games of the major Chicago sports teams on CSN Chicago are broadcast in high definition.

In the Chicago area, Comcast operates an unrelated separate Comcast Network, a general entertainment channel that also airs the entire schedule of the AHL's Chicago Wolves.

On April 2, 2007, it was announced that the Tribune Company will be selling both their shares in CSN Chicago and the Chicago Cubs at the end of 2007.

On March 30, 2008, the Blackhawks announced that all of their games, both home and away, would be televised, in high definition, with the bulk of the games going to CSN Chicago, and others being broadcast on WGN-TV. The Blackhawks package is exclusively local* however, and is not seen on the national WGN America superstation. *The games do show up on WGN in Canada (same feed as WGN 9)

CSN Chicago, along with the other Comcast SportsNet branded networks, was revamped with a new network logo and graphics package on October 1, 2008, the fourth anniversary of its launch.

On January 5, 2009, Comcast SportsNet Chicago launched a morning talk show with former radio host of WSCR Mike North and Comcast SportsNet Chicago reporter and former Chicago Bear Dan Jiggetts called Monsters in the Morning. However the program ended at the start of 2010 due to the problems involving the show, including the program's main sponsor being implicated in defrauding North, Jiggetts and others in a money laundering scheme in mid-2009.^[1] The program then continued until the start of 2010, with North moving on to host the Monsters and Money in the Morning program for WBBM-TV (Channel 2).

On April 13, 2010, CSN Chicago announced a deal with the Major League Soccer franchise Chicago Fire S.C. to broadcast a minimum of eight matches in the 2010 season.

As a result of the displacement of FSN Chicago by the network, CSN Chicago additionally broadcasts FSN's national programming, notably including the network's coverage of collegiate sports, such as ACC men's and women's basketball on Sundays, Pac-12 basketball on various nights, plus Big 12 and Pac-12 football on Saturdays during their respective seasons.

With Comcast's acquisition of NBC in 2011, Comcast SportsNet was also integrated into the new NBC Sports Group, culminating with the addition of the peacock logo and an updated graphics package to mirror that of its parent network.

Alternate channels [edit]

The channel has several conflicting sports events, so it uses alternate channels when more than one team plays simultaneously also some time used to show FSN and other college sports:

CSN Chicago Plus typically airs in the cable slot of CLTV on Comcast systems in the Chicagoland area. Its HD channel is used as a help channel on Comcast systems when there is no sports event on CSN+.

CSN Plus 2 is an additional, SD-only alternate channel.

Anchors [edit]

SportsNet Central [edit]

Current [edit]

• Chris Boden
• Pat Boyle
• Chuck Garfien
• David Kaplan
• Kip Lewis
• Tracey Myers
• Mark Schanowski
• Luke Stuckmeyer
• Jen Lada

Former [edit]

• Nicole Darin (2012) (now with Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic)
• William Jackson
• Josh Mora (2005–2010)^[2]
• Mitch Robinson (2004–2009)
• Kerry Sayers (2004–2009)
• Sarah Kustok (2009-2012)
• Gail Fischer (2004-2013)
• Susannah Collins (2012-2013)

Broadcast teams [edit]

White Sox [edit]

• Ken Harrelson (play-by-play)
• Steve Stone (game analyst)
• Bill Melton (studio analyst)
• Frank Thomas (studio analyst/fill-in game analyst)

Bulls [edit]

• Neil Funk (play-by-play)
• Stacey King (game analyst)
• Kendall Gill (studio analyst)
• Mark Schanowski (studio analyst)

Blackhawks [edit]

• Pat Foley (play-by-play)
• Eddie Olczyk (game analyst)
• Steve Konroyd (studio/fill-in game analyst)
• Chris Boden (studio analyst)
• Denis Savard (fill-in studio analyst)

Bears [edit]

• Howard Griffith (studio analyst)
• Dan Jiggetts (studio analyst)
• Jim Miller (studio analyst)

Cubs [edit]

• Len Kasper (play-by-play)
• Jim Deshaies (game analyst)
• Todd Hollandsworth (studio analyst/ fill-in game analyst)

Rush [edit]

• Mike Adamle (play-by-play)
• Doug Buffone (game analyst)
• Ed O'Bradovich (game analyst)

Fire [edit]

• Dan Kelly (play-by-play)
• Chris Doran (game analyst)

CSN Chicago Sports Awards benefiting the March of Dimes [edit]

Every year since 1987, CSN Chicago (and FSN Chicago/SportsChannel Chicago before them) hosts an award show to raise money for the March of Dimes.The honorees included top athletes from Chicago's professional teams, who were chosen based on their contributions to their teams and the Chicago community. To date, the "Sports Awards" has raised over $6 million for the charity.

The 2011 awards were

• Date: February 14, 2011
• Location: Hilton Chicago (720 S. Michigan Ave.)
• Time: 5:00-9:00pm

The awards were:

• Chicago Bears player of the year (Israel Idonije)
• Chicago Blackhawks player of the year (Duncan Keith)
• Chicago Bulls player of the year (Taj Gibson)
• Chicago Cubs player of the year (Marlon Byrd)
• Chicago Fire player of the year (Sean Johnson)
• Chicago White Sox player of the year (Gordon Beckham)
• Lifetime Achievement Award (Ozzie Guillén)
• Inspirational Athlete Award (Jonathan Ruiz)

SportsNet Central Segments [edit]

CSN Chicago has many segments during SportsNet Central including

• Luke-A-Likes:Is a popular segment on SportsNet Central whenever Luke Stuckmeyer hosts. Fans get to vote on sports figures and pick out someone else who looks like them.
• Chicago Sports Trivia Question: A (usually difficult) trivia question right before a commercial break which has something to do with Chicago Sports; the answer is given after the commercial break.

Deep Dish [edit]

CSN Chicago had fans e-mail in suggestions on what their new mascot's name should be. Fans then had to vote for the top names and "Deep Dish" won. The name "Deep Dish" is a Chicago style pizza that is very popular. Deep Dish is a white and brown Bulldog and the new CSN Chicago slogan is "Fans Best Friend".

CSN Chicago HD [edit]

Comcast SportsNet Chicago HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of Comcast SportsNet Chicago. It shows all Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Blackhawks, and Chicago Bulls games in HD, as well as all studio shows.

References [edit]

1. ^ http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=34500
2. ^ "Josh Mora's LinkedIn profile". Retrieved 10 January 2013.