WNBA on CBS

Last updated
WNBA on CBS
Also known asWNBA on CBS Sports
Genre WNBA basketball telecasts
Theme music composerTaylor Ralph
Opening theme"Queen of the Court"
Country of originUnited States
Original language English
No. of seasons8+
Production
Producers
  • Deb Boulac [1]
  • Jason Ross
  • Bill Thayer
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time120 minutes+
Production company CBS Sports
Original release
Network
ReleaseMay 25, 2019 (2019-05-25) [3]
Related

The WNBA on CBS is the branding used for presentations of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) games produced by CBS Sports and broadcast on the CBS [4] television network and CBS Sports Network in the United States.

Contents

Background

Terms of the deal

On April 22, 2019, CBS Sports Network and the WNBA struck a deal [5] [6] to televise 40 games in primetime and on weekends during the 2019 season. The games broadcast on CBS from local broadcasts already airing on the WNBA's streaming site, WNBA League Pass. [7]

Production

Initially, most games were broadcast via clean feeds provided by the league and the home team's regional broadcaster. Beginning in the 2024 season, the games carried on the CBS network are now produced in-house by CBS Sports, with the clean feed productions now used solely for games on CBS Sports Network. [8]

Schedules

The 2021 season had 100 games broadcast on national networks, including 40 on CBS networks. [9] On June 19, 2021, CBS broadcast [10] a WNBA game between the Connecticut Sun and Chicago Sky [11] with Lisa Byington providing the play-by-play and Lisa Leslie providing analysis. On June 26, 2021, CBS broadcast a game between the Washington Mystics and Dallas Wings.

The remaining national broadcast schedule for the 2022 season was released in April and May 2022—including two regular season games on CBS and 38 on CBS Sports Network. [12]

2024 was the first year of a two-year deal with CBS Sports. [13] [14] Also in 2024, CBS Sports aired 20 regular-season games, with eight airing on CBS and 12 airing on CBS Sports Network. [15]

Commentators

Play-by-play announcers

Color analysts

Sideline reporters

Viewership

The two games on CBS on June 19 and June 26, 2021 averaged about 427,000 and 567,000 viewers [44] respectively.

For 2024, CBS Sports enjoyed its most watched regular season ever for the WNBA. [45] CBS Sports average 1.10 million viewers. That's up by 86% from the previous year.

The most watched game in WNBA on CBS history is the June 16, 2024 contest between the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever, which averaged 2.25 million viewers. [46]

See also

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References

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