The broadcast is pixelly at times and cuts out quite a bit. I don't love this. Anyone else having an issue.

The broadcast is pixelly at times and cuts out quite a bit. I don't love this. Anyone else having an issue.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

My issue is that I have Comcast. I can't see a thing!

It's so embarrassing how poorly Chicago is navigating the RSN upheaval, especially when "can't watch the games" was a sore spot for one of the teams involved as recently as 2008.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

As a YouTube TV subscriber, this isn't available on that, correct? Probably not going to be either? If you have an antenna, how do you actually find a station? Do you have to switch the TV to some setting to get to the free channels from an antenna?

For a newer (probably about 5 years old Samsung) TV, do those have some antenna option on the back?

What antenna would be recommended?

I am not a legal expert, how many times do I have to say it?

Many that is true, but an incomplete statement.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.

Depending on your home layout, if you are farther out you could try putting the antenna in or near a Chicago-facing window on the second floor and use a long cable to connect it to the tv.

You buy a digital antenna and hook it up to the co-ax jack where you'd hook up cable. Then you run a scan of channels in range and hope that it finds channel 62. It's just like watching TV with the old rabbit-ears and radial antennae except slightly more complicated and annoying. Hope you live within like 30 miles of the Loop or you're probably screwed!

One thing that hasn't changed from those old days, channel 2's reception sucks!

I'd lay odds Gary Bettman doesn't even realize they switched stations...

Many that is true, but an incomplete statement.

Well you gonna tell us something about it or give a link or an excerpt or anything really?

I have MANY years of experience in trying to appreciate steaming piles of dogshit.

CHICAGO — A direct-to-consumer app through which Chicago Blackhawks, Bulls and White Sox fans can access all of the fledgling Chicago Sports Network’s programming is just about ready to go. But the network is resistant to go live on the app until they work out a deal with Comcast Xfinity.

And it might be a while.

CHSN and Comcast have been haggling over whether to place the network on Comcast’s highest, most expensive tier. CHSN has been holding out for a spot on the same middle tier that the now-defunct NBC Sports Chicago was on. However, on Saturday, Jason Coyle, president of CHSN, said there have been no offers from Comcast whatsoever, even though CHSN is “voluntarily taking a significant haircut” financially with its latest offer to the cable giant.

“There’s been an active dialogue,” Coyle said. “(But) the ball is in their court.”

The Athletic has reached out to Comcast for comment.

Coyle pushed back hard against a Chicago Tribune story that said the over-the-air component of CHSN has been a “poison pill” in the negotiations. CHSN is available for free to viewers with an antenna, with free channels in Indianapolis, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Fort Wayne, Ind., soon to go live. But Blackhawks fans have been very vocal on social media and directly to CHSN about having to purchase and install an antenna, and about the glitchy signal fans farther from downtown are receiving. Even with Connor Bedard starting his second season and returning fan-favorite Teuvo Teräväinen lighting up the scoreboard early, the CHSN fiasco has been the dominant story of the young season.

With the Bulls season opening next week, that outcry is about to get a lot louder.

Coyle said that the OTA component is not an issue in the negotiations, noting that local networks such as CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox are available both OTA and on cable. He said that there have been “no over-the-air complaints” from Comcast during the negotiations.

“They (Comcast) have to know that their customers don’t see the antenna as a ready substitute,” Coyle said. “Just as we don’t. … We don’t want people to cut the cord. That’s not in our interest.”

So far, CHSN is available on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, U-verse, Astound/RCN and several smaller providers in the Blackhawks’ five-state footprint. Fubo is a good bet to go live soon. But YouTubeTV and Hulu Live customers likely will have to wait for (and pay for) the direct-to-consumer app whenever it comes, as neither streamer is really in the market for local sports.

At some point, CHSN might decide to go live on the app even if it doesn’t have carriage on Comcast. But the network isn’t there yet.

“I don’t know if we’re ready to draw a line in the sand,” Coyle said.

That said, “We’re not going to wait forever,” he added.

With the puck set to drop on the inaugural season of the Utah Hockey Club, fans hoping to watch their new favorite team continue to be iced out by Comcast.

After negotiations with Scripps Sports, Comcast has failed to agree to carry Utah 16, the home of the Utah Hockey Club, on its systems.

The team will open the season Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks on ESPN, with the first locally broadcast game set for Thursday at home, with Utah facing the New York Islanders. Scripps Sports will simulcast the Islanders-Utah game live on FOX 13.

“Tuesday marks a historic day in Utah, and Scripps Sports is very disappointed that Comcast has chosen not to give its subscribers access to Utah 16, the broadcast home of the Utah Hockey Club," said Scripps Sports President Brian Lawlor. "Despite our repeated attempts to work with Comcast to provide this channel to the residents of Utah, Comcast has made it clear that broadcasting Utah Hockey Club is not a priority for them."

Comcast subscribers are urged to call Comcast and let them know they want access to Utah 16 and all non-nationally exclusive local Utah Hockey Club games. Fans can still watch Utah Hockey Club games over-the-air with a digital antenna (channel 16.1), on Utah Hockey Club’s streaming service UtahHC+, on streaming service Fubo, on DirecTV (Channel 16) and multiple other cable outlets.

The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.