![]() ![]() Still, even with the expansion and the promising beginning, Marquee already finds itself at a crossroads. “And yet the Cubs and Crane and Marquee have done that.”Įarlier this month the network announced plans to carry up to 16 games of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky. “I don’t think many people, especially today but even just two years ago, would have believed that a new network with only one pro team could start up and be successful,” said Craig Sloan, chief operating officer at Playfly Sports, whose sales division, Home Team Sports, represents every RSN within the U.S. But that hasn’t detracted from the network’s strong start. time slot over that span, according to Nielsen. The Cubs’ struggles this year - they lost 14 of 17 games at one point - have affected viewership figures, as Marquee’s 1.85 rating in prime time in Chicago from April 7-30 was the area’s fourth-highest rated program in the 7-10 p.m. And there’s a state-of-the-art studio across the street from Wrigley Field, bringing fans more of the environment from the famous Friendly Confines instead of a downtown studio used by NBC Sports Chicago. In 2021, Marquee produced more than 250 hours of Cubs pregame and postgame coverage. The Cubs now broadcast all of their spring training games their previous cable home, NBC Sports Chicago, only carried five per season. Michael Santini, who previously spent years running MLB Network’s production department, was hired as senior vice president of programming and production. Beth Mowins last year became the first woman to call a Cubs regular-season game. ![]() Longtime ESPN broadcaster Jon Sciambi was brought in to handle play-by-play duties and paired with former big league pitcher Jim Deshaies. Two years later, much of what filled that whiteboard has come to pass. The channel, operated by both Sinclair Broadcast Group and the Cubs, debuted as what may prove to be the last new linear television regional sports network in America. Kenney’s whiteboard quickly ran out of white space. ![]() A-list talent, both behind the scenes and in front of the camera. This was years ago, long before the February 2020 launch of what is now Marquee Sports Network, and Kenney, the Cubs’ president of business operations, was soon writing down one big idea after another. Courtesy of Marquee Sports NetworkĬrane Kenney let his imagination spill onto the whiteboard in response to a simple question he posed to a small group: “If we were going to create the best channel on Earth to serve Cubs fans, what would it look like?” Longtime ESPN broadcaster Jon Sciambi (left) and former big league pitcher Jim Deshaies serve as the network’s lead duo. ![]()
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