Jan. 06--The Chicago Cubs are close to returning to their longtime television home at WGN-Ch. 9 with a reduced broadcast schedule for the upcoming season, sources said Tuesday.
The deal, which is being finalized, keeps about 45 games per season on the Tribune Media station through 2019, ending months of speculation and filling out the team's broadcast lineup.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The Cubs announced a five-year deal last month to broadcast 25 games per season on ABC-owned WLS-Ch. 7. Most of those are weekend games to minimize conflicts with prime-time network programming.
Signing back on with WGN-Ch. 9 completes the local television schedule for the Cubs, with the balance of games airing on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The deal would also sync up the Cubs' TV and cable rights, allowing the team to pursue its own regional sports network beginning in 2020.
The Cubs opted out of a longer-term agreement with WGN-Ch. 9 after last season, freeing up about 70 games per year and potentially ending a relationship that dates to 1948. The new agreement keeps the partnership intact for five more seasons, although the Cubs may have early termination options if they can establish their regional network sooner, sources said.
Cubs games will not return to WGN America. The national channel is in the process of converting from a superstation to a cable network with more original programming and without local news or sports.
The WGN-Ch. 9 deal culminates a busy offseason for the Cubs, who have hired a new manager in Joe Maddon and added some big-name free agents, including pitcher Jon Lester. The $375 million renovation of historic Wrigley Field has begun. The team's fortunes are seemingly on the rise.
The promise of a more competitive team should help draw viewers to televised Cubs games after several years of low ratings during a protracted rebuilding process.
Last season, WGN-Ch. 9 paid about $250,000 per game and lost $200,000 per game because of weak advertising revenue, sources said. The new rights agreement is likely more favorable for WGN and could play out better than last year's deal, sources said, despite a later start on ad sales.
Launching a regional sports network in 2020 could mean big bucks for the Cubs, who earned about $60 million last season as the team split its schedule between Comcast SportsNet Chicago and WGN-TV. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who launched their own network last season with Time Warner Cable, are earning a reported $8.35 billion over 25 years, or about $2 million per game.
But there are indications that the prices cable subscribers are willing to pay for local sports may have peaked with the Dodgers deal. Nearly two-thirds of Los Angeles-area viewers were unable to see Dodgers broadcasts last season because other cable and satellite operators refused to pay a higher premium for the network.
The Cubs' new TV lineup is not the only broadcasting change for the team next season. It signed a long-term deal with CBS Radio's WBBM-AM 780 in June, ending a play-by-play history on Tribune Media's WGN-AM 720 dating back 90 years.
The return to WGN-TV next season will keep the station in the game for the 68th consecutive year. Sharing the Cubs TV rights with WLS has a history of its own. In 1949, three stations broadcast games, according to the Chicago Baseball Museum, including WGN, WBKB and WENR, the predecessor to WLS. WENR-TV dropped out after one season, while WBKB-TV broadcast games until 1951.
rchannick@tribpub.com
Twitter @RobertChannick
