Changes with Marquee Network Putting Viewers in the Dark – Again?

There were a lot of Chicago Cubs fans skeptical of Marquee Sports Network. They were expressing concerns about paying for the channel, upset that the team left WGN, and misconceptions over where the channel would be broadcast. Through most of this, I had been a pretty staunch supporter of Marquee. I have backed the Cubs decision (and ability) to provide the channel. I liked that there would be one place to watch Cubs content – for the first time in more than 15 years.

But there has been a couple of rather surprising messages that have come out from different carriers regarding Marquee. The first was an email to subscribers from Xfinity that customer’s bills will be increasing and the next was an email from Hulu telling viewers Marquee will be removed.

This is disheartening from someone that has backed pretty much everything Marquee related for some time. A lot of my position was from the aspect that, even though Marquee was coming with a $4ish dollar price tag per subscriber, it was unlikely that customers were going to experience an increase on their bills.

Well, thanks for that there Xfinity…

There were a lot of rumors that the Cubs, or their partners at Sinclair, were negotiating hard to have Marquee inserted into current packages. So, while a fan might need to add an RSN to their cable package, there wasn’t going to be increased pricing. That went out the window when Xfinity sent a letter telling subscribers that their programming will increase $6.20 because of Marquee.

Hulu, joined other streaming services YouTube TV and Sling in dropping Sinclair RSN’s. This was a broader conversation around Sinclair agreements and not just Marquee, which is unlike the Xfinity conversation. In all, Hulu is dropping 16 different RSNs, including Fox Sports (regionals), SportsTime Ohio, YES Network, and Marquee.

Currently, the only service that offers a true streaming package with Marquee is AT&T TV Now. Their “Max plan” is $80 a month, and considerably more than Hulu Live TV was.

I am not privy to the conversations, of course, however, the idea that there is only one streaming service that will carry Marquee in 2021 (as of now) seems backwards. The entire world is looking for ways to cut the cord, and yet these networks continue to negotiate in a traditional media-like world.

Sure, the typical “nuclear family” still relies on traditional cable packages and supplements those services with platforms like Netflix. But there is a completely new generation that has been breaking the chains of the typical media for quite some time. These individuals don’t watch TV like it was watched in the 80s and 90s (and before that even), they are a more mobile viewer and a viewer that finds the $200 cable bill offensive.

I’m unsure of who needs to start rectifying this, but this needs to be corrected. The market has changed and these providers need to catch up.