re: Which was the better overall product: Cubs/Sox on WGN or Braves on TBS?

Braves on TBS.
By the time I really got into sports Harry Caray was dead and I think Steve Stone was doing White Sox games.

Fun fact: Muddy Waters was a big White Sox fan

Skip Carey over Harry Carey
—you should seek counseling.

Looking back, why did WGN, a local Chicago channel, broadcast nationwide? Also, how did they get the rights to broadcast MLB and NBA games?

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Harry Cary drunk announcing and the guest 7th inning stretch "Take me out to the Ballgame" singer was a big plus.

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Harry Cary has as much to do with the popularity of the Cubs nationally to this day as being on that station. The masses loved him. He mispronounced names, took players to account for poor play and was generally a fan in the booth. Some would decry his professionalism, but the average fan loved it.

Milo Hamilton was the Cubs voice before Harry was hired and the Cubs made a decision that would forever change the direction of the franchise in terms of popularity.

They worked together for a couple of years, they hated each other. Hamilton would leave the booth and turn his back to the field when Harry sang the stretch. He kept a grudge until the day he died, taking out a whole chapter in his biography to rip Harry.

But no one can ever say it wasn't the best decision from a business standpoint. Had Harry never come and Milo stayed, I have no doubt the popularity of the Cubs nationally would not be what it is today.

I’m partial to the TBS-Braves broadcasts. I think that TBS was the only channel my grandparents got in the 80s.

Lots of great memories walking to their house after school and having the TV on TBS the whole evening. Mid/late 80s Braves were terrible, but I also watched my fair share of Andy Griffith, Beverly Hillbillies, & Sanford and Son too. All part of the experience.

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WGN and the Cubs, because they played all of those day games. Gave you something to do if you took off from work.

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Yes.

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Harry Cary drunk announcing and the guest 7th inning stretch "Take me out to the Ballgame" singer was a big plus.

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Jack Brickhouse was so much better, too bad the youngsters on here didn't get to experience his calls.

As a kid, I was outside playing all day during the summer, so I never watched Cubs games. Hence, why I became a Braves fan. Would turn on the tube at night to watch the hapless late 80s Braves.

i say tbs was better, wgn was on some weak arse channel if i can remember right

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Milo Hamilton was the Cubs voice before Harry was hired and the Cubs made a decision that would forever change the direction of the franchise in terms of popularity.

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Not exactly. Jack Brickhouse was the Voice of the Cubs and Hamilton worked with him and thought that he would take over when Brickhouse retired, but Caray was discontented wit the White Sox and the Tribune company brought him in and then after the 1984 season Milo got whacked.