Pay-TV On September 12, 2024, it was reported that the network was nearing its first carriage agreement with DirecTV that would have it taking over the channel positions formerly occupied by NBC Sports Chicago. On September 18, the agreement with DirecTV was confirmed. On September 30, the network reached an agreement with Astound RCN, and streaming service
Fubo was added on October 25. The network was also added to NITCO in Northwest Indiana and MTCO, a small regional internet and streaming-TV provider in Central Illinois. Carriage on
Dish Network, which has shifted to refusing RSN carriage due to high distribution fees, is not expected to be pursued. Carriage on
YouTube TV is also not expected to be pursued due to their lack of interest in re-adding RSNs four years prior.
Comcast negotiations On October 10, 2024, it was reported that negotiations were ongoing between CHSN and
Comcast, the Chicago area's primary cable TV provider. Both parties were unable to reach an agreement prior to the network's launch due to a
dispute over tier placement. CHSN stated that it had reduced its fee to below what NBC Sports Chicago was receiving from Comcast but still had yet to receive an offer. As a result of the ongoing negotiations, CHSN had withheld its standalone streaming app, as CHSN believed its release would further hinder a deal with Comcast. By the end of October, CHSN had sent three offers to Comcast but received no offer in return, with its third offer including a move to Comcast's Ultimate tier and a much lower fee than NBC Sports Chicago's. In March 2025, a report in the
Chicago Tribune suggested that Comcast was insisting on the discontinuation of CHSN's over-the-air broadcasts to finalize a deal. On June 4, 2025, it was announced that Comcast and CHSN agreed to a tentative deal to put CHSN on Comcast’s ultimate tier. The network launched on June 6 on the cable provider on channel 200, NBC Sports Chicago's former channel number.
Over-the-air On September 15, 2024, Chicago Sports Network announced its over-the-air coverage in the
Chicago market through a two-channel lease for the main channel and an overflow channel (both in
1080i high definition) on the digital subcarriers of
WJYS (channel 62), a station licensed to
Hammond, Indiana, with full-market coverage from the
Willis Tower. The subchannels for CHSN via WJYS originally required an
ATSC tuner that supports the more compact
MPEG-4 video codec, but as a result of complaints WJYS switched to the more widely-available
MPEG-2 in January 2025. Coverage on
Gray Television stations in
Rockford and
South Bend were announced on October 1. Coverage on
Family Broadcasting Corporation station
WHMB in
Indianapolis was announced on October 17. Because the network's coverage area over-the-air outside the Chicago market conflicts with the rights to other teams, alternate
blackout programming or a blank "Current programming not available" message is transmitted to those stations when games air. Only Chicago Blackhawks games air in Milwaukee due to conflicts with the
Milwaukee Brewers,
Milwaukee Bucks, and
Wisconsin Herd. For the same reason, only Chicago Bulls game coverage airs in
West Michigan due to the presence of Detroit's own teams, including the
Tigers and
Red Wings (the Bulls air in West Michigan due to the longtime availability of WGN-TV in the past over-the-air or via its
superstation). Mark Lazerus, the Blackhawks beat writer for
The Athletic, claimed that CHSN's over-the-air signal in Chicago sometimes left much to be desired. Lazerus wrote that watching CHSN via channel 62 over-the-air required an antenna mounted in a high position aimed at Willis Tower. Even then, he said, the picture quality was "glitchier than
scrambled late-night cable was in the 1980s." Lazerus added that the over-the-air signal was all but unviewable in rainy or windy conditions. Due to conflicts with both a Bulls road game (against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena) and a White Sox road game (against the Cleveland Guardians in their home opener at Progressive Field), a CHSN-produced Blackhawks road game (against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena) on April 8, 2025 aired instead on
WCIU-TV. As a result of Comcast's agreement to carry the network, CHSN dropped all of its OTA affiliates within Illinois and some in the neighboring states at midnight on June 9, 2025. Some of its former affiliates replaced it with Stadium.
Direct-to-consumer streaming service On November 14, 2024, CHSN unveiled its DTC streaming app with pricing set at $19.99 per month for one team or $29.99 per month for full access to the network, including non-team programming. The app also allows eligible pay-TV subscribers to use their pay-TV credentials. == References ==