ABC 7 CHOSE THE DANCE FLOOR. THE BEARS TOOK MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL TO CHANNEL 26!

Chicago, before you accuse your television of losing its mind Monday night, check the channel. The Bears have not disappeared. The game has not been canceled. Caleb Williams has not traded his helmet for a ballroom number. But the local over-the-air home for Bears versus Seahawks is WCIU, The U, Channel 26, not ABC 7. The football is still happening. The remote control just got an unexpected assignment.

The Bears visit Seattle on Monday, November 2, with kickoff scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Central at Lumen Field. ESPN has the national telecast, and WCIU has the Chicago-area over-the-air simulcast. ABC 7 is staying with its own programming, including Dancing With the Stars. Somewhere in Chicago, a fan is about to see sequins where a defensive line was supposed to be. Consider this your advance warning.

THE GAME DIDN'T MOVE. THE CHANNEL DID.

The matchup, the kickoff time and the stadium are unchanged. What moved is the local television destination for viewers who normally expect a Monday night Bears game on ABC 7. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the decision to keep the game off ABC 7 came from the network. WCIU-Channel 26 will carry the local broadcast instead.

That distinction matters because the phrase 'the game isn't on ABC' can sound like the whole broadcast vanished. It did not. ESPN viewers can watch on ESPN. Chicago-area viewers using an antenna can tune to WCIU. And fans who planned to turn on ABC 7 out of habit should update that plan before the first snap. The television schedule changed, not the NFL schedule.

WHY THE U GOT THE FOOTBALL

The NFL has a longstanding local-access policy: when a team's game is shown on cable or a streaming service, viewers in the participating team's home television market must also have an over-the-air option. For this matchup, that Chicago option is WCIU. So if you do not subscribe to ESPN but can receive The U over the air, you still have a route to Monday Night Football.

The switch is unusual, not unprecedented. The Sun-Times notes that the Bears last landed on The U in November 2020. Chicago sports fans have seen other television detours, too. The Cubs had a game shifted off ABC 7 in 2019 amid a network-programming conflict. In other words, the city has been through a channel shuffle before. The only surprise is how many people will still spend Monday asking where the game went.

HERE'S THE WATCH PLAN. SAVE YOURSELF THE CHANNEL-SURFING.

For Chicago-area television, WCIU-Channel 26 is the over-the-air destination. ESPN carries the game nationally. The Bears' official viewing guide also lists ESPN+ and NFL+ for streaming, with NFL+ availability identified for the Chicago area. Streaming access and device restrictions can vary, so check your subscription and location before kickoff rather than treating every app icon as a free ticket.

There is plenty of pregame coverage. The Sun-Times reports that an ABC 7-produced Monday Night Monsters pregame show will air on The U at 6:30 p.m., with ESPN's national coverage starting at 7 p.m. The ball is scheduled to go up at 7:15. The Bears also list Bears Gameday Live on FOX 32 Chicago beginning at 5:30 p.m. If you need four different warmups to get emotionally prepared for a football game, Chicago has you covered.

Radio listeners have options as well. The Bears' official guide lists ESPN Chicago on 1000 AM and 100.3 FM HD2 for the English-language game call, with Jeff Joniak, Tom Thayer and Jason McKie on the broadcast team. The station's pregame coverage begins at 4 p.m. Spanish-language coverage is listed on Latino Mix 93.5 FM. You can follow the game without a television, without the ballroom, and without asking a group chat to narrate every play.

THE ACTUAL FOOTBALL STORY IS BIGGER THAN THE TV DRAMA

The Bears enter the matchup at 5-2, according to the team's current schedule, while Seattle is 4-3. Chicago is coming off a 30-24 victory over New England and now faces the reigning Super Bowl champions on the road. This is a meaningful test of how the Bears handle a difficult opponent, an unfriendly stadium and the demands of another national spotlight.

Coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams have been preparing for Seattle's defense, with the team emphasizing the challenge ahead. A primetime road game is not a referendum on a team's entire season, but it can reveal plenty about protection, execution, discipline and how a group responds when the crowd gets loud. Those questions deserve more attention than the channel logo in the corner of the screen.

And yes, there are more television choices for fans who enjoy a different style of commentary. ESPN2 is scheduled to carry the ManningCast, the alternate Monday Night Football broadcast. That is a separate option from the main ESPN game call with Joe Buck and Troy Aikman. The essential information remains the same: kickoff is 7:15 p.m. Central, and local over-the-air viewers want WCIU, not ABC 7.

THE REMOTE IS THE ONLY THING THAT NEEDS A NEW PLAYBOOK

This is one of those stories that sounds like a scandal until you read the details. A network made a programming decision. Another Chicago station is carrying the game. The NFL's local-broadcast arrangement still gives area viewers a way to watch. Nobody stole the football. Nobody postponed the matchup. The solution is a channel change, not a citywide investigation.

There is a practical lesson here, too. National listings and old team schedules can show the usual networks without reflecting a late local television adjustment. For a Chicago game, the most reliable last-minute check is the Bears' current official viewing guide and the local broadcaster's schedule. It takes less time than finding fresh batteries for the remote after kickoff.

730 BOOM RADIO'S FINAL WORD

ABC 7 can keep the dance floor Monday. Chicago's football crowd has another address. Put WCIU-Channel 26 on your watch list, circle 7:15 p.m. Central, and save the confusion for the fourth-quarter play calling. The Bears are headed to Seattle. The fans are headed to The U. And the game is still the game, no matter who gets the television slot.

730 BOOM RADIO | IT HITS DIFFERENT. EVERY TIME. BOOM!