DirecTV subscribers may not see Sundays regular-season home finale for the Blackhawks.
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  • DirecTV subscribers may not see Sunday’s regular-season home finale for the Blackhawks.

Now this is hardball.

It was reported earlier this week that the Tribune Co. is threatening to pull its programming—primarily WGN TV and its national sibling station WGN America—from DirecTV. The Trib wants additional monetary compensation from the satellite TV company for its desirable product, including Chicago sports franchises the Cubs, White Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks.

The Trib has set a deadline at the end of the month, putting the opening of the baseball season and the end of the NBA and NHL regular seasons in jeopardy for DirecTV subscribers. Talk about noise going silent.

Thursday the Trib got down and dirty with a wraparound “advertisement” on its front page calling for viewers to “tell DirecTV to keep WGN” and its CW Network.