Comcast SportsNet announced Wednesday that former Chronicle sports columnist Ray Ratto has joined the network as a “senior insider” and a “multiplatform reporter.”

He will write a column for CSNBayArea.com and CSNCalifornia.com, contribute to the network’s “SportsNet Central” and other studio shows and will serve as a network correspondent. The announcement was made by Jen Franklin, senior director of digital media for CSNBayArea.com and CSNCalifornia.com.

Ratto has been a fixture in Northern California sports pages since 1973, most recently with the Chronicle (1986-1990, 2000-2010). In addition, he has worked at the Examiner (1973-1981, 1991-2000), the now defunct Peninsula Times Tribune in Palo Alto, (1981-1986) and The National (1990-1991).

Ratto has also written national columns for CBS Sportsline and ESPN.com and is a frequent guest on local and national radio and television sports programs. He is an alumnus of St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda and is a graduate of San Francisco State University.

Ratto, 56, lives in Alameda with his wife, Beth, and their children Meredith and Christian.