Posted by Bud on May 28, 2010 at 08:52:50:
Cubs agrees to allow WGN-AM 720 to air all of the Blackhawks' Stanley Cup finals, including three games that conflict with scheduled ballgames
Phil Rosenthal
Tribune Media
May 26, 2010
Just because the Chicago Cubs haven't played in a World Series in 65 years doesn't mean they don't know what to do around championship games.
And, in this case, the right thing is to step graciously aside.
So the Cubs agreed to allow WGN-AM 720 to air all of the Chicago Blackhawks' Stanley Cup finals series with the Philadelphia Flyers, including three games in the best-of-seven playoff that conflict with scheduled ballgames.
Rather than push the Hawks down the dial to the weaker signal of WIND-AM 560 as they make their first trip to the finals in 18 years in a bid to win their first Stanley Cup title since 1961, the baseball team is temporarily waiving its power-play status on the 50,000-watt flagship station they share.
"It's been a long wait for Blackhawks fans, and, unfortunately, we're familiar with long waits," Cubs President Crane Kenney said Tuesday. "Like everyone else in Chicago, we want to celebrate what this hockey team is accomplishing."
The Cubs' sacrifice means their games June 2 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and June 4 against the Houston Astros will air on WIND. That enables the Hawks' Games 3 and 4 from Philadelphia to air on WGN, which will produce Cubs broadcasts as usual.
If the Hawks-Flyers series must return to Philadelphia, the Cubs' June 9 game at Milwaukee will go to WIND, allowing the potentially decisive game to air on WGN, which, like the Chicago Tribune, is owned by Tribune Co.
"It is a very classy gesture on their part, as it allows us to maximize our audience during the Stanley Cup final," Blackhawks President John McDonough, who previously was president of the Cubs, said in a statement, noting the team was "very appreciative."
Television ratings indicate the Blackhawks' championship chase is building a following. NBC's broadcast on WMAQ-Ch. 5 of the Hawks closing out San Jose on Sunday was watched, on average, in close to a half-million Chicago-area homes. The Bears more than doubled that locally, between ESPN and WLS-Ch. 7, with their December overtime prime-time victory over Minnesota. But it's a huge step and statement for hockey and the Hawks, not long ago all but written off for dead.
"The power of the Cubs and Blackhawks on WGN radio has been great for Chicago sports fans," said Tom Langmyer, WGN-AM's vice president and general manager. "The 'cross-pollination' for baseball and hockey listeners has driven the excitement of both of these premier Chicago teams."
Terms of the Cubs' rights deal with WGN-AM, which predates the Blackhawks', gives the baseball team precedence. The Blackhawks knew this when they signed and recently renewed through the 2013-14 season.
The Blackhawks' deal calls for WGN to buy airtime on another station serving the entire Chicago market when there is an overlap with the Cubs. Salem Communications' WIND was deemed a prime candidate because it has little to conflict with carrying Hawks games in these situations.
But, as a result of the arrangement, all four Hawks games in their Western Conference finals sweep of San Jose aired on WIND, rather than WGN. The games were produced by WGN, with ads sold by the station and the team.
Langmyer, who approached the Cubs with the idea of allowing the finals games to remain on WGN, said their decision to do so "is another example of our great longtime partnership" with the ballclub.
"We deeply appreciate the Cubs' community leadership in cheering on the Blackhawks during their historic Stanley Cup finals run."
Frankly, the Cubs, who haven't been to the World Series since 1945 and haven't won one in more than a century, should see a little of themselves in the Blackhawks. The Hawks have only been to the Cup finals once since 1973. And with just one title since 1938 and not having won the Stanley Cup since the first 100 days of the Kennedy administration, the Hawks are looking to end the National Hockey League's longest title drought.
"This is a special event for the Hawks," Kenney said. "We know how we would feel if it were us, and we want to give their fans the best possible access to these games, which on radio means WGN. So this was an easy call."