Theoretically, it should be easier to watch the Chicago Cubs on TV now that they’ve put games they control on their own channel, Marquee Sports Network. Not as easy as when you would just turn on WGN-9 day or night — but mostly day — yet simpler than guessing whether the game was on NBC Sports Chicago, NBCSCH+, ABC-7, WGN, ESPN, FOX-32 and, that one time last year, CW-26. It’s still not quite one-stop shopping. So, you probably have some questions. Shoot … You might think so because Marquee talks about being the “exclusive” home of Cubs baseball, but of course not. MLB’s national TV partners get to cherry-pick games, taking them away from Marquee. For now, ESPN has two games slotted for “Sunday Night Baseball” — Aug. 9 and Sept. 6 — both versus the Cardinals. FOX-32 has a pair of games. Games could be added in September, if events warrant. Again, no. The Cubs’ six games against the Chicago White Sox are on NBC Sports Chicago, too, obviously. It’s also notable Cubs games on FS1 are not blacked out locally, even though they’re televised on Marquee as well. If TBS picks up Cubs games, it’s allowed to lift the blackout once this season and run opposite Marquee’s coverage. Major League Baseball has given the Cubs a very large TV market, cutting a huge swath over multiple states. But if you’re outside that area, you’ll still go through MLB’s subscription services if you want to see Cubs games not on local TV or national outlets, the same as you have in recent years. You’re only getting the games that are on FOX-32. But that’s just the way it is these days. Unless a broadcaster tied to a national deal with a league picks up a game, you’re not going to see the White Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks either — they’re putting the games they control on NBC Sports Chicago. [ 27 restaurants and bars where you can watch Cubs and White Sox games ] Comcast, which serves roughly half the homes in the Cubs’ TV market, came to terms on a carriage agreement on opening day. Not every service has. The biggest holdouts are Dish Network (with Sling TV), which just doesn’t want to deal with regional sports networks’ business model, and Google’s YouTube TV. Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdays A daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute. Depends on your carrier. Comcast in the Chicago area has it on Ch. 202 in high definition and Ch. 58 in standard definition. The channel location for many other services can be found here. A complete list should be available here. Of course it does. As long as you can prove you are paying someone for access to Marquee, you also can stream games on Marquee’s website here. Len Kasper and Jim Deshaies are in fact back as primary announcers. They’ll be calling games from Wrigley Field whether the Cubs are playing there or not. Marquee announced a bunch of guest analysts earlier this year, and it remains to be seen how many will be needed and how they’ll be used. Mark Grace made a remote appearance on a July exhibition against the Twins from his kitchen with a Gold Glove trophy behind him on the counter.
Marquee did not hire Crull, who is now part of a Braves TV team that includes Chip Caray. Instead it brought in Taylor McGregor from Denver to be its primary reporter. It was mentioned during a Cubs-Sox exhibition that even though Kasper and Deshaies will be anchored at Wrigley, McGregor will travel with the team. MLB has video-game fan sounds piped into all ballparks. Fox has said it will create the illusion of fans in the stands, which will be more of an illusion in some ballparks than others, especially late in games. The lead studio host on Marquee is Cole Wright, formerly of ESPN and NFL Network. You still can get word pictures for free from Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer with the radio call on WSCR-AM 670. Fergie Jenkins' statue now stands outside Wrigley Field on May 20, 2022. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune) It’s a new season for the Chicago Cubs, with a new TV play-by-play announcer on Marquee Sports Network and a new complaint. Remember all the grousing last year about whether Comcast’s Xfinity would come to terms on a carriage deal for Marquee, the channel the Cubs launched with Sinclair Broadcast Group? The grousing among some cable subscribers is about the surcharge on their bills. Maybe people wouldn’t be grousing if there was more confidence about this year’s team. The Cubs may surprise people, but how isn’t at all certain. Let’s get to your TV and radio questions. AT&T TV was the only stand-alone streaming service with Marquee when the season opened. But less than 24 hours before the season opener,
Marquee and fuboTV announced a deal that put the Cubs channel on the service’s English-language channel package in the Chicago area and surrounding regions — including Indianapolis, South Bend and Des Moines — For all the fuss last year when Hulu + Live TV picked up Marquee, it dropped the channel as soon as the season was over, and there has been no deal to report. Marquee is not on YouTube TV, either. Ditto for other services. That includes Sling, which like sister service Dish, has taken a hard-line stance when it comes to carriage of regional sports networks, saying it wants to keep consumer costs down. (Fun fact: Dish Network’s chairman and former chief executive made $94.7 million in total pay last year.) If you’re paying for a satellite or cable service subscription that covers Marquee, you can stream the service through the watchmarquee.com website and app. Most of this guide is aimed at people who live in the Cubs’ MLB designated TV market. For those who live outside, you’ll pick up the bulk of live games Marquee televises with a streaming subscription with MLB.TV or a subscription to MLB’s cable/satellite service Extra Innings. But these packages black out Cubs games in their market and, if there’s a team that plays the Cubs in your market, those games are also subject to blackout. A la carte simply isn’t an option. Marquee’s business model, like other regional sports networks, is predicated on getting subsidized not just by people who watch, but cable, satellite and streaming subscribers who don’t. They’re not ready to upend the economics of those carriage deals yet. Years from now, if people continue to bail on those services, that theoretically could change. If you’ve forgotten since last season, here’s where you can find out via Marquee’s website. The site also tells you if your carrier has the channel. He quit the Cubs after 16 years as their TV announcer to become the radio voice of the White Sox. Kasper had many reasons, but among them was that his youth listening to Ernie Harwell call Detroit Tigers games led him to fall in love with baseball on radio. Doing TV also meant he would never call a World Series for a team. He still might not, but he figured he would roll the dice. You know Jon “Boog” Sciambi from ESPN, where his duties included midweek games and the radio call of “Sunday Night Baseball.” He’s absolutely terrific and he’ll work with Jim Deshaies. He’ll also continue doing “SNB” for ESPN Radio.  Jon "Boog" Sciambi sits in the broadcast booth before the Chicago Cubs play the Cactus League home opener against the Kansas City Royals at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz., on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune) Apparently not. Marquee required its announcers to dress up all formal last season, even on hot summer days, but has posted notice of a policy change on social media. Marquee has announced there will be three backups for Sciambi, who could miss 30 games or so this season. There’s Fox Sports’ Chris Myers, who originally was announced last season as a substitute for both Kasper and studio host Cole Wright. Pat Hughes, who’s starting his 26th season as the radio voice of the Cubs, is also in the TV bullpen. Marquee also plans to enlist Beth Mowins, who in spring training became the first woman to do play-by-play for the Cubs. Many part-timers and guests will join Cole Wright in studio and, during games, Boog, J.D. and reporter Taylor McGregor (and/or Elise Menaker). Among them: Mark Grace, Ryan Dempster, Lou Piniella, Doug Glanville, Ryne Sandberg, Rick Sutcliffe, Sean Marshall, Ryan Sweeney, Carlos Pena, Mark DeRosa and Dan Plesac. A rotation of analysts will join Wright on pregame coverage, which will begin an hour before game time, returning after the game. No. Major League Baseball’s TV partners can take games for themselves. The national slates are subject to change and additions will come as the season progresses, but selected so far are:
The Fox-32 games are the only games available on free, over-the-air TV. Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdays A daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute. Cable’s FS1 has picked up April 12 at the Milwaukee Brewers and April 28 at the Braves. Those games will run opposite telecasts on Marquee but aren’t subject to local blackout. TBS, which doesn’t start running games until June, will announce its schedule later. If it picks up Cubs games, it can run only one in the Cubs’ TV market and it will not preempt Marquee’s coverage. ESPN will get to run some of its midweek games opposite Marquee but hasn’t announced any involving the Cubs as of this writing. Just like last year, the Cubs TV and radio announcers will call road games from Wrigley Field off monitors to start the season because of COVID-19 precautions. That could change with time. Initially, on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball,” the plan is to have announcers Matt Vasgersian and Alex Rodriguez call games from network headquarters in Bristol, Conn., while reporter Buster Olney is on-site. Not really. It still is Hughes and Ron Coomer with Zach Zaidman on WSCR-AM 670 and the Cubs Radio Network. One change that should be welcomes by Chicago-area fans who have trouble with AM reception: Games will also be heard in the Chicago area via the station’s digital stream on audacy.com. Pat Hughes, shown during a 2016 game, will return to the Chicago Cubs radio booth this season. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune / Chicago Tribune) While Chicago’s The Score is the flagship, the Cubs have a huge network of affiliates spread across seven states.
Cubs fans are everywhere. Take Nebraskans such as Pete Ricketts and his parents, Joe and Marlene, for example. Maybe they like to drive around and listen to ballgames on the radio, and they may not subscribe to SiriusXM Satellite Radio, which has a MLB games package available. So having stations in Lincoln and Omaha with Pat and Ron is helpful.
(Jennifer Stewart/AP) |
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