WBBM favorite to land Cubs radio broadcasts, WGN radio's slow march to doom continues WGN exercised an out clause in their deal last year in an attempt to renegotiate, since they're supposedly losing a ton of money on Cubs broadcasts. According to the Trib's Ed Sherman, WBBM is now viewed as the front-runner. It feels odd seeing the Tribune reporting on …
Cubs (officially) putting their WGN broadcast rights up for auction
In a move widely expected for some time, the Cubs excercised a contractual option to end their TV deal with WGN following next season, according to the Chicago Tribune. TV deals are where the big money is these days and while it's not the whole Cubs package (70 games or so) the Cubs will likely be able to get much more …
Jim Deshaies is Trying Not to Scare Anyone
Carson Cistulli has posted a short interview with new Cubs color commentator Jim Deshaies over at Fangraphs. In it, he talks about his transition to Chicago after 16 years in Houston and having to adapt to an audience that is unfamiliar with his style. He also talks about his philosophy in presenting analytics to a wide array of fans. …I think …
Cubs putting out some feelers about leaving WGN
Brett over at Bleacher Nation has a story up about the Cubs surveying random fans on their opinions of WGN, buried amidst a bunch of more boilerplate marketing questions (concessions, etc). Two questions in particular, as reported by one of his commenters look to be gathering data to use in a future push for a new TV deal, as the WGN …
Brenly Nearing Broadcasting Free Agency; Kerry Wood Coincidentally Available
Bruce Levine writes today that Bob Brenly's contract with WGN TV is up after this season and hypothesizes that he would be quite popular if he reaches the free agent market in the offseason. One viable options for Brenly could be a spot calling Arizona Diamondbacks games. Brenly, a fan favorite who managed the Diamondbacks to a 2001 World Series …
Daily Facepalm 4.2.2 – Almost there edition
Was there a Cubs game yesterday? Hola amigos. It's been a long time since I rapped at ya. The Cubs pounded the LAAoLAoAoDLoBA yesterday 8-1. Jared Weaver shut the Cubs down for five innning and fell apart in the sixth. Jeff Baker and Reed Johnson treated him like a lefty, hitting a monster HR off the batters eye and not …
Cubs Want to Get PAID For the Rights to Televise Them Lose Games
I've been a bit distracted lately as I've been thinking about cats again, but as we all know (I'm assuming), Spring Training is here! With the bunting tournament in full half-swing and Kerry Wood drilling Castro on the wrist today, we're starting to see news on a more regular basis coming from the beat reporters. I am, of course, using …