WGN
by questdoc on Feb 15, 2010 5:41 AM CST
Email
Print
Does anybody know whether WGN televises Cubs games across the US. My cable network picked up WGN about four months ago right after the baseball season and I got excited. I live in Connecticut and did not pick up the Blackhawks special last night. It seems to run some news and a bunch of old sitcoms. If anybody other Cubs fan across the US has WGN on their cable network can let me know. Otherwise I 'm going to have to go with MLB extra innings which isn't that great because it never runs weekend games.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.
51 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
You'll get all the Cubs games, but none of the Blackhawks.
It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.
i hate that
wish the Hawks were on WGN America not WGN Chicagoland only.
Wait for it....POUND SAND Without me this board is Al Yellon talking to himself.....................by BLou
NHL's only National Carrier is Versus
However, if the opposition does not have a cablecast of a game V. the Hawks, Local Chicago WGN is carried on the Center Ice Package. That happened once this year, when Fox Nashville was not televising Hawks/Preds.
Therefore, those of us in the hinterlands have been treated to some crappy hockey telecasts lately from Carolina, Atlanta, and Columbus.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Feb 15, 2010 6:06 PM CST up reply actions
you certainly won't get ALL of the Cubs game.
but you’ll get a good portion of them
I guess I'm just a worrier, that's why my friends call me whiskers
by Nunyabidness on Feb 17, 2010 11:29 AM CST up reply actions
MLB Extra Innings...
… DOES run weekend games — only subject to the Fox blackouts. Otherwise you’d still get the games.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
WGN America
You’ve got WGN America on your cable system. I don’t have the exact number of Cubs telecasts this season on WGN, but it tends to be in the 65-70 range. WGN America does not carry the local morning news or WB stuff or Blackhawks games that are carried locally in Chicago. There’s the local feed of WGN and the national feed called WGN America. On Extra Innings in Connecticut, you could be blacked out from Cubs-Mets games. However, if you can get the Mets in Connecticut on a regional sports network on a regular cable package, the Extra Innings blackout is a moot point.
"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray
Right.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but most Cubs fans outside metropolitan Chicago, if they have WGN and subscribe to EI, can get probably 140+ Cubs games every year.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Pretty close
But that doesn’t mean it isn’t painfully annoying that Fox blacks out virtually all Saturday Cubs games. Their feature game is almost always the Yankees or Red Sox, so even if locally you see a Fox broadcast of the Cubs, those of us in the rest of the country typically get little more than a live look in every few innings. Last year this was especiall painful when a few of the feature games turned into absolute routs (14-0 type affairs), at the same time the Cubs were in a tight, exciting game that we couldn’t watch.
So, yes, while we get 140+ games through the combo you suggest, the only games that are really watchable for someone on a working schedule are home night games, road games (which are mostly at night), and Sunday games. Saturdays are basically a black box, even if you pay for the privilege through EI.
by Orval Overall on Feb 15, 2010 8:39 AM CST up reply actions
Correct on Saturdays
So when that happens, I make a short drive to Kenosha, which gets to carry the CSN telecast.
I'm singing, "GO CUBS GO! GO CUBS GO!" -- DrCrawdad on Jun 12, 2009 7:23 AM CDT
Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! -- Homer J. Simpson
by Shanghai Badger on Feb 15, 2010 8:40 AM CST up reply actions
Oh, no doubt...
… the Fox blackouts are ridiculous. I’ve consistently maintained the position: if you are willing to pay to see a game, you should be able to see it, no matter where you are located.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
The worst are the ROAD Saturday games
that Fox sometimes moves from the host team’s traditional Saturday night game timeslot to a 3:45 ET start time. Those are games we would have been able to see if Fox had just left them alone, but by making them the non-feature Fox game, they’re seen only by the local markets instead of a national audience later in the day. Kills me every time.
by Orval Overall on Feb 15, 2010 8:50 AM CST up reply actions
I see MLB's point though
The FOX package becomes worth (perhaps significantly) less if there is no blackout — and network TV is the cash cow.
The number of people who would prefer to watch a random game of the week instead of their own favorite team’s game is extremely low on the average weekend.
Baseball is different than other sports in that watching a game not involving your team is pretty much an awful entertainment experience, unless you happen to get lucky on a great pitching match-up.
You can't be serious.
An “awful entertainment experience?” There would be no MLB if that was the case.
The biggest handicap to FOX’s Saturday afternoon rating is the fact that most people are out of the house on nice summer days.
by bourbon_and_branch on Feb 17, 2010 11:09 AM CST up reply actions
Which is probably one of the reasons they are trying two prime-time games this year.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
And, also...
… if you lived in Chicago, and were on a 9-5 working schedule, you’d still miss the home day games.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Fair point.
Just meant that a lot of times it feels like I’m paying EI for what should be 162 games, that at most ends up being about 140, but really is closer to 25-30 games that are both watchable and not already on WGN or a local broadcast.
by Orval Overall on Feb 15, 2010 8:51 AM CST up reply actions
Nowhere does it say on In Demand's site
you will get ALL of a team’s games on the “Extra Innings” package. You are making assumptions that the service never promises. (And, I am referring to residents outside of the Chicago TV market and outside of some of the midwest blackout areas)
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Feb 15, 2010 6:02 PM CST up reply actions
oh get real
I’m not claiming this is some fraud or that I’ve been suckered. I think its pretty obvious from the context of my statement what the limits of my comment were. Unless you work for EI, this hyper-technical response is pretty pointless.
by Orval Overall on Feb 16, 2010 7:07 PM CST up reply actions
Hey, calm down.
There are people that do not understand what the parameters are.
You said " I feel I should be paying for 162 games."
Excuse me.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Feb 16, 2010 9:32 PM CST up reply actions
Does anyone who gets WGN America watch anything on it other than Chicago sports?
I live in the Denver area, and I specifically subscribe to the satellite TV provider option that allows me to get WGN so I can watch Cubs games. I also watch the Bulls on WGN (I can’t help rooting for the Bulls much as I hate to support their owner).
I don’t watch a single other thing on WGN America. Other than local news and wrestling (I can truly say I’ve never had my TV on professional wrestling for more than 10 seconds at a time, thank God), it looks to me that all of their programming is old reruns. Thus, I NEVER watch WGN America, other than Cubs/Bulls games. Is there anyone on here (and admittedly, this site is a slanted sample) that watches WGN, either WGN America, or WGN in the Chicagoland area, for any reason other than sports?
Quite frankly, I don’t understand why WGN America doesn’t carry more Cubs games. I’d be willing to bet they’d get better ratings than reruns of “I Dream of Jeannie”.
Besides, it always bothered me that Jeannie’s midriff was covered. ;-)
IF IT TAKES FOREVER!!
by Cubfansince1957 on Feb 17, 2010 11:24 AM CST up reply actions
what about Supernatural
baseball.........is Kool Aid the remedy, or the cause of my desire for it
by cooliogirl47 on Feb 17, 2010 11:27 AM CST up reply actions
I hate to admit my ignorance but ...
I should be used to it by now. What is “Supernatural?”
IF IT TAKES FOREVER!!
by Cubfansince1957 on Feb 17, 2010 1:13 PM CST up reply actions
sort of a sci-fi/horror TV series
its about two brothers who hunt demons and other figures of the paranormal. (no vampires)
baseball.........is Kool Aid the remedy, or the cause of my desire for it
by cooliogirl47 on Feb 17, 2010 2:15 PM CST up reply actions
9PM News
Instant Replay on Sunday night….Scrubs….a movie now and then…used to watch the Bulls, but I’m done with the NBA….
Reruns don’t cost a lot of money. Baseball production does. The Cubs can make more money from Comcast. Games that could be on WGN/Local and WGN America are farmed out to WCIU to air CW programming in Chicago.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Feb 17, 2010 4:28 PM CST up reply actions
What doesn't make sense, though...
… for those WCIU games, is why don’t they show them nationally on WGN America? There’s no extra cost, and they’d have to make more money on that than on the fourth-run programming they are showing.
The CW programs could still run in Chicago.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Here's my guess on that, Al --
The games are produced for WGN/Local. They just happen to be aired on WGN America. If games were only aired on WGN America, you would have an ad-hoc “Network,” akin to ESPN, FOX, TBS — without paying national rights fees to MLB.
I don’t think WGN pays national fees to MLB. (I may be wrong about this) I believe WGN does pay the NBA fees to air a specific number of games on their national service.
That’s the only logical thought I can come up with.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Feb 18, 2010 5:54 PM CST up reply actions
You're probably right.
I hadn’t thought of that scenario, but that might be it.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
I get about a third of the games
based on my experience out here on the west coast
I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures.
~Earl Warren
White Sox Contract w/WGN?
How long is the contract between WGN and the White Sox? The only way I could envision more Cubs games on WGN would be for WGN to drop the White Sox. I don’t know what kind of ratings WGN gets for the Sox. I was thinking they could replace some of the White Sox games with Cubs games. I’d be happier with WGN carrying 85 Cubs and 0 Sox games a year than I would with 65-70 Cubs and 25-30 Sox games a season. Fewer overall baseball games would free up WGN to carry other programming.
"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray
Don't know how long the contract was
but WGN was forced to pick up the White Sox if they wanted Bulls games back in the MJ era. Not sure how that is working for them now…………………………
GO HAWKS!!!!!!! DO NOT LOOK MORE THAN A WEEK AHEAD!
by tommy veryzer on Feb 15, 2010 11:25 AM CST up reply actions
They should have only had the contract for as long as the fans would be fans...
which they could have predicted would only be several years after 2005 when the “in your face Cub fans” crap was a little outdated.
Kwa...Ki...Sur...Pee...Nee...Ku?
by Kinky Reggae on Feb 16, 2010 12:12 PM CST up reply actions
I also live in CT
And you will get Cubs games on WGN.
What service do you use? Is this ATT Uverse because I have Cablevision and we definitely don’t have WGN!
CT Regional Sports Network
I don’t know what part of CT you are in, but is NESN the regional sports network on cable that you get with the Red Sox? Do you get a regional sports network there that carries Mets games?
"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray
I'm in Stamford Area
We don’t get NESN which I know is the Red Sox/Bruins channel.
I do get SNY which carries Mets and YES which carries Yankees. But no WGN. I need to have AT&T U-Verse for that. I did have U-Verse before and they carried all WGN baseball games.
Cablevision offered us a better deal to switch back which included 2 free years of Extra Innings.
In 2010 you'll get 60-64 games on WGN
http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2010/02/cubs-release-tv-schedule-for-2010.html
Some series you’ll get all the games, some you’ll get none. A lot of the games, of course, will be weekday day games.
COX Cabl
I have COX cable and it showed up in early October after the season was over. Its somewhere in the 90s.
CT Cubs
We are also in CT and have Dish for WGN
We have the Sports Pak and get CSN however the games are blacked out until 10:45est – 9:45cst. We can normally get the last inning or two.
I reccomend MLB.TV if you have a lap top. You can plug into most new TV’s and quality is good last year or so. No Saturday afternoon games due to Fox blackout, but nice to have the game on the laptop and watching something else on the TV or being mobile around the house with the lap top
"If The Phone Doesn't Ring, It's Me"
That's the blackout rule?
I never knew they got Blacked Out until then. Doesn’t really help for Cubs games but that’s interesting. We had the package and it was advertised that we could watch all sporting events. I was very bummed out by the blackouts.
There is a web site
that airs plenty of ‘restricted’ sports programming for free. I have no idea how this site gets away with this — perhaps they are hidden in Europe, or somewhere.
I have watched some NHL games not carried on “Center Ice” and the NH Network, which is not offered on local cable. Nearly every NHL and NBA game is offered for free on this site.
I’m going to assume that MLB and NFL games will be, too. I just found the site at the beginning of the year.
Sorry, but I won’t disclose the site.
by San Diego Smooth Jazz Man on Feb 18, 2010 6:05 PM CST reply actions
in florida
we get wgn thank god. when i lived in new england the only cubs games i ever saw were against the braves. in fact the only time i watch wgn is april-oct.
IMO, the best option to watch the greater number of Cubs games is...
a combination of WGN America and MLB.TV. You’ll need a system that carries WGN America and a good broadband internet connection, though. Basically, you’ll be able to watch every Cubs game with Len and Bob, except for the Saturday broadcasts on Fox (where there’s no Len and Bob, anyway). Of course, in Chicago, is different. With CSN, WGN, WCIU and Fox you get to see every game on TV.
The image on MLB.TV with a fast connection is almost HD like. Of course, if you don’t like sitting for too long in front of your monitor and relish the big screen TV experience, you’ll want Extra Innings, though I’ll still recommend plugging the computer to the TV and watch the game on MLB.TV.
What do you all recommend?
My cable system doesn’t carry WGN America anymore. They carry EI. (No HD channel, though.) (I know, my cable sucks!)
The Dish Net carries both WGN America on standard and HD resolutions but not EI.
(Direct TV is not an option where I live, so forget it.)
Should I go for a combination of Dish (WGN HD) and MLB.TV? (It looks HDTV-like). Or should I go for EI (no HD) and MLB.TV and no WGN America HD?
I know price is always a big factor. Yet, assume it is of no concern to me.
And I know I almost answered my question in a prior post but I still want to know your opinions. Thanks.
by Fraggin Judge on Feb 20, 2010 2:39 PM CST up reply actions
Yes, based on what you posted...
… I think Dish and MLB.TV is your best option, considering you’d like to have the games in HD.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recommended FanShots
Recent FanShots
Cubs By The Numbers
Cubs By The Numbers is a history of the ballclub by uniform number, but the biographies help trace the history of our beloved team in a new way. For everyone who's a Cubs fan, anyone who ever wore the uniform is like family. Cubs By The Numbers reintroduces readers to some of their long-lost ancestors, even ones they think they already know.
Click here to order your copy, available now!
Recent Stories in Chicago Cubs Game Threads
Recent Stories in Ticket Exchanges
Baseball Nation Recent Stories
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- College player makes impossible over the fence catch to save tournament game (Video)
- Security!: Camden Yards guard collides with Royals’ Mike Moustakas
- The Juice: Nelson Cruz matches career high eight RBIs, Pujols stays hot in Seattle
- Benches clear at Fenway as Red Sox-Rays rivalry heats up
- Keeping good company: Albert Pujols becomes fourth-youngest player to hit 450 home runs
