List of WNBA Finals broadcasters

Last updated

The following is a list of the television networks and announcers that have broadcast the WNBA Finals.

Contents

2020s

YearNetworkGamesPlay-by-playColor commentator(s)Sideline reporter(s)Studio hostStudio analyst(s)
2024 ESPN [1] 1, 3–5 Ryan Ruocco Rebecca Lobo Holly Rowe LaChina Robinson (Games 1, 3–5)
Elle Duncan (Game 2)		 Andraya Carter, Carolyn Peck and Chiney Ogwumike
ABC [1] 2
2023 ABC [2] 1, 3 Holly Rowe and Andraya Carter LaChina Robinson Carolyn Peck and Chiney Ogwumike
ESPN [2] 2, 4
2022 ABC [3] 1 Carolyn Peck
ESPN [3] 2–4
2021 ABC [4] 1 Holly Rowe and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude Sue Bird and Carolyn Peck
ESPN [4] 2, 4
ESPN2 [4] 3
2020 ESPN2 [5] 1 Holly Rowe Swin Cash (Game 1–2)
ABC [5] 2
ESPN [5] 3

2010s

YearNetworkGamesPlay-by-playColor commentator(s)Sideline reporter(s)Studio hostStudio analyst(s)
2019 ESPN [6] 1–2 Ryan Ruocco Rebecca Lobo Holly Rowe and LaChina Robinson N/A
ABC [6] 3
ESPN2 [6] 4–5
2018 ESPNNEWS [7] 1 Holly Rowe (Game 2–3)
LaChina Robinson (Game 1)		N/A
ABC [7] 2
ESPN2 [7] 3
2017 ABC [8] 1 Holly Rowe (Game 1–2, 4–5)
LaChina Robinson (Game 3)		N/A
ESPN [8] 4–5
ESPN2 [8] 2–3
2016 ABC [9] 1 Holly Rowe (Game 2, 4–5)
LaChina Robinson (Game 1, 3)		N/A LaChina Robinson
ESPN [9] 4
ESPN2 [9] 2–3, 5
2015 ABC 1 Holly Rowe N/A Carolyn Peck
ESPN 4
ESPN2 2–3, 5
2014 ABC 1N/A
ESPN 2
ESPN2 3
2013 ESPN 1 Randy Scott
ESPN2 2–3
2012 ESPN2 1, 3 and 4 Pam Ward (Game 1)
Terry Gannon (Game 2–4)		 Cindy Brunson
ESPN 2
2011 ESPN 1 Pam Ward Holly Rowe
ESPN2 2–3 Terry Gannon Heather Cox
2010 ABC 1 Carolyn Peck Heather Cox and Rebecca Lobo Doris Burke
ESPN2 2, 3

Notes

2000s

YearNetworkGamesPlay-by-playColor commentator(s)Sideline reporter(s)Studio hostStudio analyst(s)
2009 ESPN2 All Terry Gannon Carolyn Peck Heather Cox and Rebecca Lobo Pam Ward Nancy Lieberman
2008 Doris Burke Heather Cox and Holly Rowe Nancy Lieberman and Carolyn Peck
2007 ESPN2 1, 3–5 Heather Cox and Rebecca Lobo Linda Cohn
ESPN 2
2006 ESPN2 All Dave Pasch Heather Cox and Stephanie Ready Nancy Lieberman and Becky Hammon
2005 1–2, 4 Terry Gannon Heather Cox and Rebecca Lobo Pam Ward Nancy Lieberman and Geno Auriemma
ABC 3
2004 ESPN2 All Ann Meyers and Greg Anthony Doris Burke and Heather Cox
2003 ESPN2 1, 3 Mark Jones Ann Meyers Doris Burke Michele Tafoya Nancy Lieberman
ABC 2
2002 NBC 2 Paul Sunderland Chris Wragge and Andrea Joyce Hannah Storm None
ESPN2 1 Michele Tafoya Doris Burke N/A John Saunders Nancy Lieberman
2001 NBC 2 Mike Breen Ann Meyers Andrea Joyce Hannah Storm
ESPN 1 Michele Tafoya Doris Burke N/A
2000 NBC 2 Tom Hammond Ann Meyers Andrea Joyce Hannah Storm None
Lifetime 1 Michele Tafoya Reggie Miller Fran Harris Persefone Contos

Notes

1990s

YearNetworkGamesPlay-by-playColor commentator(s)Sideline reporter(s)Studio hostStudio analyst(s)
1999 Lifetime 1 Michele Tafoya Reggie Miller None
NBC 2–3 Mike Breen Ann Meyers Lisa Malosky Hannah Storm and Ahmad Rashad
1998 2 Tom Hammond [25] Hannah Storm Ann Meyers
ESPN 1, 3 Robin Roberts Geno Auriemma N/A
1997 NBC [26] 1 Hannah Storm [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] Ann Meyers [32]

Notes

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's National Basketball Association</span> Professional womens basketball league in the United States

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league based in the United States and is composed of 12 teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA). League play began in 1997. The regular season runs from May to September, with each team playing 40 games. The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs, culminating in the WNBA Finals, which is played in October. The All-Star game occurs midway through the season in July. The league hosts an annual mid-season competition, The Commissioner's Cup, which dates vary from year to year.

Nationally television broadcasts of National Basketball Association (NBA) games first aired on ABC from 1965 to 1973. In 2002, NBA games returned to ABC as part of a contract signed with the league, along with cable sister network ESPN. After the ABC Sports division was merged into ESPN Inc. by parent company Disney in 2006, broadcasts have since been produced by ESPN, and have primarily used the NBA on ESPN branding and graphics instead of the NBA on ABC branding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NBA on television</span>

National Basketball Association (NBA) games are televised nationally in the United States, as well as on multiple local channels and regional sports networks. Since the 2002–03 season, broadcast channel ABC, and pay TV networks ESPN and TNT have nationally televised games. Throughout most of the regular season, ESPN shows doubleheaders on Wednesday and Friday nights, while TNT shows doubleheaders on Tuesday and Thursday nights. In the second half of the season, ABC shows a single game on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons. Games are shown almost every night on NBA TV. There are some exceptions to this schedule, including Tip-off Week, Christmas Day, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. More games may be shown as the end of the regular season approaches, particularly games with playoff significance. During the playoffs, the first round are split between TNT, ESPN, NBA TV, and ABC on mostly weekends the second round are split between ESPN, TNT and ABC on weekends. The conference finals are split between ESPN/ABC and TNT; the two networks alternate which complete series they will carry from year to year. The entire NBA Finals is shown nationally on ABC. The NBA Finals is one of the few sporting events to be shown on a national broadcast network on a weeknight. Two new partners are set to join ESPN/ABC in televising the NBA in the 2025–26 season, with NBC Sports and Amazon Prime Video replacing TNT.

<i>WNBA on ESPN</i> US television program

The WNBA on ESPN refers to the presentation of Women's National Basketball Association games on the ESPN family of networks. Under the title of WNBA Tuesday, games are broadcast throughout the WNBA season on Tuesday nights on ESPN2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Series television ratings</span>

Audience measurement by Nielsen Media Research, commonly referred to as Nielsen ratings, has provided World Series television ratings since at least 1963. Key measurements are ratings, the percentage of all U.S. television-equipped households that watched a game, share, the percentage of television sets in use that were tuned to a game, and total viewers, the average number of people watching a game throughout its duration.

<i>ESPN Major League Baseball</i> Promotion of Major League Baseball on ESPN

ESPN Major League Baseball is an American presentation of live Major League Baseball (MLB) games produced by ESPN. ESPN's MLB broadcasts have also aired on sister networks and platforms ESPN2, ABC and ESPN+.

<i>NBA on ESPN</i> US television program

The NBA on ESPN is the branding used for the presentation of National Basketball Association (NBA) games on the ESPN family of networks. The ESPN cable network first televised NBA games from 1982 until 1984, and has been airing games currently since the 2002–03 NBA season. ESPN2 began airing a limited schedule of NBA games in 2002. ABC began televising NBA games under full ESPN production in 2006. On October 6, 2014, ESPN and the NBA renewed their agreement through 2025, and on July 24, 2024 it’s agreement was renewed through 2036.

The 2008 WNBA season was the 12th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. It was the first WNBA season with a franchise in Atlanta as the Dream were announced in late 2007.

In the United States, sports are televised on various broadcast networks, national and specialty sports cable channels, and regional sports networks. U.S. sports rights are estimated to be worth a total of $22.42 billion in 2019, about 44 percent of the total worldwide sports media market. U.S. networks are willing to pay a significant amount of money for television sports contracts because it attracts large amounts of viewership; live sport broadcasts accounted for 44 of the 50 list of most watched television broadcasts in the United States in 2016.

The 2009 WNBA Season was the 13th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. It is the first WNBA season without a Houston franchise, the Comets having folded in December 2008. The season ended with the Phoenix Mercury winning their second championship in three years.

The WNBA on ABC is the branding used for presentations of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) games produced ESPN and broadcast on the ABC television network in the United States Since 2006 due to ABC being integrated into ESPN.

The WNBA on NBC is the branding used for presentations of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) games produced by NBC Sports and broadcast on the NBC television network in the United States.

The 2010 WNBA season was the 14th season of the Women's National Basketball Association. The regular season began with a televised (ESPN2) meeting between the defending champion Phoenix Mercury and the Los Angeles Sparks in Phoenix, Arizona on May 15. The Connecticut Sun hosted the 10th Annual All-Star Game which was broadcast live on ESPN on July 10. This year, it was a contest between Geno Auriemma's USA Basketball team and a single team of WNBA All-Stars. The Finals was a series between the Seattle Storm and the Atlanta Dream which Seattle won 3–0.

The following is an overview of the television ratings for the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Stanley Cup Finals in both the United States and Canada.

Major League Soccer has been broadcast live in the United States nationally since the league's inception in 1996 and in Canada since 2007. As of the 2023 season, Apple Inc. is the primary global rights holder and streams every regular season and playoff match on MLS Season Pass – a service in the Apple TV app. Some matches are also broadcast on television via Fox Sports in the United States, and Bell Media in Canada.

This is a list of television ratings for NBA Finals in the United States, based on Nielsen viewing data. The highest rated and most watched NBA Finals series was the 1998 NBA Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz, which averaged an 18.7 rating / 33 share and 29.04 million viewers on NBC. That series also featured the highest rated and most watched NBA Finals game, as the Sunday night averaged a 22.3 rating / 38 share and 35.89 million viewers. The 1987 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics was the highest rated and most watched NBA Finals series on CBS, averaging a 15.9 rating / 32 share and 24.12 million viewers. Game 7 of the 1988 NBA Finals registered the network's highest rated and most watched NBA game with a 21.2 rating / 37 share.

Major League Soccer has been broadcast live in the U.S. nationally since the league's inception in 1996 and in Canada since 2007. In the United States the game is broadcast in English on Fox Sports 1 and Fox, in Spanish on Fox Deportes. In Canada, MLS is broadcast on TSN in English and RDS in French.

References

  1. 1 2 Brito, Santa (October 9, 2024). "ESPN and ABC to Exclusively Air the 2024 WNBA Finals Presented by YouTube TV – New York Liberty vs Minnesota Lynx Begins Thursday, Oct. 10". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Brito, Santa (October 4, 2023). "ESPN and ABC to Exclusively Air the 2023 WNBA Finals Presented by YouTube TV – Las Vegas Aces vs. New York Liberty Begins Sunday, Oct. 8". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Elchlepp, Kimberly (September 9, 2022). "Disney Networks to Provide Exclusive Coverage of WNBA Finals Presented by YouTube TV – Las Vegas Aces vs. Connecticut Sun Begins Sunday on ABC". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 Elchlepp, Kimberly (October 9, 2021). "ESPN's Exclusive Coverage of the WNBA Finals Presented by YouTube TV Featuring Chicago Sky vs. Phoenix Mercury Begins Sunday, Oct. 10". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 Elchlepp, Kimberly (October 1, 2020). "ESPN's Coverage of the WNBA Finals Presented by YouTube TV Begins Friday, Oct. 2". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 Elchlepp, Kimberly (September 26, 2019). "WNBA Finals Tip Off on Sunday on ESPN". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 Chozet, Tara (September 6, 2018). "2018 WNBA Finals Tip off Friday on ESPNEWS". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 Chozet, Tara (September 21, 2017). "2017 WNBA Finals Tip off Sunday on ABC with Sparks-Lynx Rematch; Playoffs Viewership on ESPN and ESPN2 up 6%". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 Chozet, Tara (October 6, 2016). "2016 WNBA Finals between Minnesota Lynx and Los Angeles Sparks Tips off Sunday on ABC". ESPN Press Room. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
  10. ↑ "ESPN: 2016 WNBA Finals Game 1 delivers best overnight rating since 2010". hoopfeed.com. October 10, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  11. ↑ Robinson, Sam (October 11, 2016). "WNBA Finals draws best Game 1 rating since 1998". todaysfastbreak.com. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  12. ↑ Paulsen (October 24, 2016). "Despite Classic Ending, WNBA Finals Down on ESPN2". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved June 27, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Numbers don't lie". Swish Appeal. Retrieved 2018-10-16.
  14. ↑ "Game 1 of WNBA Finals sees Viewership Increase from 2014". The Futon Critic. October 8, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  15. ↑ Paulsen (October 12, 2015). "More Ratings: SVP SportsCenter, WNBA Finals, NASCAR Xfinity". Sport Media Watch. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  16. ↑ Paulsen (October 15, 2015). "Ratings Roundup: WNBA Finals, Premier Boxing, NHL on NBCSN". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 Paulsen (September 18, 2014). "2014 WNBA Finals Hits Multi-Year Viewership High". www.sportsmediawatch.com/. Retrieved October 7, 2014.
  18. ↑ Ourand, John; Karp, Austin (November 11, 2013). "With rebound, WNBA solidifies spot at ESPN". sportsbusinessdaily.com. Sports Business Journal. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  19. ↑ "2012 WNBA Finals Schedule". WNBA. October 2012. Retrieved Sep 19, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Game 2 of the WNBA Finals most viewed WNBA postseason game on ESPN since 1999". Hoopfeed.com. October 18, 2012. Retrieved September 18, 2012.
  21. ↑ "WNBA players hint at a strike". Washington Times. June 13, 2002.
  22. ↑ "ESPN2, ABC Grab WNBA TV Rights". Multichannel News. June 12, 2002.
  23. ↑ "WNBA Announces Six-Year Deal with ABC and ESPN". WNBA.com. June 12, 2002.
  24. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (June 13, 2002). "PLUS: PRO BASKETBALL; ABC And ESPN2 To Broadcast W.N.B.A. Games". The New York Times.
  25. ↑ "Retro: Western Washington, Sat. Aug 29th, 1998". Radio Discussions. April 7, 2012.
  26. ↑ "The Spokesman-Review - Page 14". The Spokesman-Review. August 30, 1997. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
  27. ↑ Gill, Suzanne (June 15, 1997). "HANNAH STORM CALLS THE SHOTS". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  28. ↑ Siegal, Rachel (June 21, 2011). "Storm hails WNBA's first 15 years". ESPN Front Row. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  29. ↑ Kaplan, Don (August 3, 1999). "STORM BREWING – WILL NBC SPORTSCASTER FIT GUMBEL'S GLASS SLIPPER?". New York Post.
  30. ↑ Hirsley, Michael (November 26, 1997). "NBC'S NEW NO. 1 TEAM IS COSTAS, THOMAS". Chicago Tribune.
  31. ↑ "NBC's Storm to Work the W.N.B.A." The New York Times. May 15, 1997.
  32. ↑ Meyers Drysdale, Ann (May 15, 2012). You Let Some Girl Beat You?: The Story of Ann Meyers Drysdale. Behler Publications. ISBN   9781933016870.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.