Chicago Sports Network finally joins Comcast lineup

What they're saying: "This deal allows us to reach even more fans across the city and suburbs, deepen connections, and reinforce CHSN as the home for Chicago sports all day, every day," CHSN president Jason Coyle said in a statement.

By the numbers: The network may be part of your cable offerings, but it isn't cheap. The channel resides on the "Ultimate tier," which costs users $20 per month on top of the $20.25 regional sports network fee Comcast already charges all users.

• To compare: Marquee, the home of the Cubs, is on a lower tier.

Context: CHSN is co-owned by the Reinsdorf and Wirtz families and was launched in October to replace the now-defunct NBC Sports Chicago channel. The cable giant serves more than a million Chicago customers.

Between the lines: The new network came together haphazardly without distribution deals, especially with Comcast.

• The network stumbled out of the gate without Comcast, instead offering distribution deals with lesser providers like DirecTV and even providing the channel free over the air with an antenna.

• Months after launch, CHSN offered a pricey on-demand streaming service.

Yes, but: Those measures didn't retain or attract viewers. Startling estimated numbers emerged that the three teams lost massive amounts of viewership.

• Blackhawks viewership was down 78% from the previous year.

The bottom line: The cable drought is over, but it remains to be seen if the move will revive viewership. All three franchises on the network have suffered losing seasons of late.