The White Sox won the Crosstown Series last weekend on the field, and their network won off of it.
Chicago Sports Network’s TV broadcasts of the three games, which were simulcast on broadcast station WCIU, averaged 200,000 viewers, while the Cubs’ Marquee Sports Network averaged 112,600, according to Nielsen.
In other words, while the Sox won two out of three, CHSN swept the series.
Obviously, putting the games on The U boosted CHSN’s numbers. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, WCIU was the most-watched station in Chicago during the games. A breakdown of the viewership wasn’t available, but it’s safe to say it would favor The U.
The point is that in the streaming era, where audiences are more fragmented than ever, viewers still tune to broadcast TV. And it’s not about having an antenna. A vast majority of those who watched on The U did so through a pay-TV service, where the channel is part of a basic package.
Yes, that was CHSN’s original plan: be everywhere the audience is every day, on broadcast, cable, satellite and streaming. It was admirable, but it was pie-in-the-sky thinking. Comcast, the biggest pay-TV provider in the market, didn’t pick up CHSN until the network dropped its over-the-air access locally last June. For good measure, Comcast put CHSN on its highest programming tier, now called TV Premium. Marquee followed later.
But CHSN didn’t abandon its OTA plan. It struck a deal with WCIU to carry 10 Sox games this season, four of which are against the Cubs (the other is Aug. 17 at Wrigley Field). It’s not a reach to say that plenty of Cubs fans who didn’t follow Marquee to the higher tier tuned in.
When Marquee launched in 2020, I all but begged the network to air a package of games on WGN, which had carried the Cubs since … oh … 1948! Without WGN, there is no Marquee. WGN’s superstation status, which began in 1978, gave the Cubs a national following.
When the Cubs left for Marquee and the Sox, Bulls and Blackhawks signed on exclusively with then-NBC Sports Chicago, WGN was left empty-handed. It would have been a noble gesture to put, say, Sunday games on WGN. About two-thirds of MLB teams have OTA agreements.
But Cubs business president Crane Kenney has been steadfast, if not stubborn, in his desire to make Marquee the destination for Cubs fans. After years of spreading games across various channels – including WCIU – Kenney wanted fans to come to the Cubs’ channel. He has dabbled in OTA broadcasting, putting a 2024 spring-training game on The U.
CHSN president and CEO Mike McCarthy, who helped launch Marquee as its general manager, has taken it much further. After gaining carriage on Comcast last June, he put the Sox’ home series against the Cubs a month later on The U. As a reminder that winning cures everything, the CHSN/WCIU viewership last weekend was up 64% from that July 2025 series. Marquee’s was down 22%. The three games were the most-watched Sox games locally since 2021.
The postgame show with Chuck Garfien and Ozzie Guillen got its due, too, averaging 97,500 viewers for the weekend. On Sunday, when the Sox took the series in a scintillating 9-8, 10-inning victory, “White Sox Postgame Live” held 62% (135,700) of the game audience.
Despite a push toward streaming, CHSN’s bread is still buttered on linear TV. It has six more Sox games scheduled to air on WCIU, including games against the Dodgers (June 14) and Yankees (July 29). At a minimum, the broadcasts whet the appetite of non-CHSN subscribers to hop on the bandwagon. At best, CHSN gains viewers who will count toward more than just OTA games.
Granted, it all starts with winning. But it continues with easy access to watching.
THE SCOREBOARD
The average viewership, according to Nielsen, for each game of the Cubs-White Sox series last weekend on the Sox’ Chicago Sports Network and the Cubs’ Marquee Sports Network.
Game CHSN/WCIU Marquee
Friday 207,600 125,400
Saturday 172,600 87,200
Sunday 219,700 125,300
