The following is a list of the television networks and announcers that have broadcast the WNBA Finals.
Year | Network | Games | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Sideline reporter(s) | Studio host | Studio analyst(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023 | ABC [1] | 1, 3 | Ryan Ruocco | Rebecca Lobo | Holly Rowe and Andraya Carter | LaChina Robinson | Carolyn Peck and Chiney Ogwumike |
ESPN [1] | 2, 4 | ||||||
2022 | ABC [2] | 1 | Carolyn Peck | ||||
ESPN [2] | 2–4 | ||||||
2021 | ABC [3] | 1 | Holly Rowe and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude | Sue Bird and Carolyn Peck | |||
ESPN [3] | 2, 4 | ||||||
ESPN2 [3] | 3 | ||||||
2020 | ESPN2 [4] | 1 | Holly Rowe | Swin Cash (Game 1–2) | |||
ABC [4] | 2 | ||||||
ESPN [4] | 3 |
Year | Network | Games | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Sideline reporter(s) | Studio host | Studio analyst(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2019 | ESPN [5] | 1–2 | Ryan Ruocco | Rebecca Lobo | Holly Rowe and LaChina Robinson | N/A | |
ABC [5] | 3 | ||||||
ESPN2 [5] | 4–5 | ||||||
2018 | ESPNNEWS [6] | 1 | Holly Rowe (Game 2–3) LaChina Robinson (Game 1) | N/A | |||
ABC [6] | 2 | ||||||
ESPN2 [6] | 3 | ||||||
2017 | ABC [7] | 1 | Holly Rowe (Game 1–2, 4–5) LaChina Robinson (Game 3) | N/A | |||
ESPN [7] | 4–5 | ||||||
ESPN2 [7] | 2–3 | ||||||
2016 | ABC [8] | 1 | Holly Rowe (Game 2, 4–5) LaChina Robinson (Game 1, 3) | N/A | LaChina Robinson | ||
ESPN [8] | 4 | ||||||
ESPN2 [8] | 2–3, 5 | ||||||
2015 | ABC | 1 | Holly Rowe | N/A | Carolyn Peck | ||
ESPN | 4 | ||||||
ESPN2 | 2–3, 5 | ||||||
2014 | ABC | 1 | N/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 |
Year | Network | Games | Play-by-play | Color commentator(s) | Sideline reporter(s) | Studio host | Studio 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 [24] | Hannah Storm | Ann Meyers | |||
ESPN | 1, 3 | Robin Roberts | Geno Auriemma | N/A | |||
1997 | NBC [25] | 1 | Hannah Storm [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] | Ann Meyers [31] |
The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league based in the United States. It is composed of 12 teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA), and league play started in 1997. The regular season is played from May to September, with the All Star game being played midway through the season in July and the WNBA Finals at the end of September until the beginning of October.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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+.
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.
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.
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.
The WNBA on NBC is the branding used for presentations of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) games produced 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 new service on the Apple TV app. Some matches will also be 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.
The WNBA on Lifetime refers to the presentation of Women's National Basketball Association games on the Lifetime television network.
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league owned by the teams, and under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federation. At the top of the United States league system, it represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The NWSL was established in 2012 as a successor to Women's Professional Soccer (2007–2012), which was itself the successor to Women's United Soccer Association (2001–2003). The league began play in 2013 with eight teams, four of which were former members of Women's Professional Soccer.