| WNBA on ABC | |
|---|---|
| Genre | WNBA basketball telecasts |
| Directed by | Bonnie Reilly |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Rodney Vaughn |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 120 minutes+ |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | May 24, 2003 (2003-05-24)[1] – present |
| Related | |
WNBA on ABC is anAmerican television sports presentation show broadcast byABC. It premiered on May 24, 2003. The consist of branding used for presentation ofWomen's National Basketball Association.
In the early years, two women's-oriented networks,Lifetime andOxygen, also broadcast games including the first game of the WNBA.NBC showed games from 1997 to 2002 as part of theirNBA on NBC coverage before the league transferred the rights[2] toABC/ESPN.[3][4][5]
In June 2007, the WNBA signed a contract extension withESPN. The new television deal ran from 2009 to 2016. A minimum of 18 games would be broadcast on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 each season; the rights to broadcast the first regular-season game and the All-Star Game were held by ABC. Additionally, a minimum of 11 postseason games would be broadcast on any of the three stations.[6] Along with this deal, came the first-ever rights fees to be paid to a women's professional sports league. Over the eight years of the contract, "millions and millions of dollars" would be "dispersed to the league's teams".
Initially, Saturday and Sunday afternoon games were broadcast onABC. But over time that changed. For 2013, only one game was shown on ABC on Saturday, June 8, and thirteen games were shown on ESPN2 on five different days of the week (no WNBA games were shown on Sunday or Friday on ESPN2).[11] On opening day for the 2008 season (May 17), ABC broadcast theLos Angeles Sparks andPhoenix Mercury matchup. The game received a little over 1 million viewers. Average viewership for games broadcast on national television (ABC and ESPN2) was 413,000 (up from 346,000 in 2007). Average viewership for the 2007 WNBA finals was 545,000.
Viewership for the2011 WNBA All-Star Game on ABC was up 46% from theprevious game. Game 1 of the2015 WNBA Finals telecast on ABC, drew 571,000 viewers, up from 558,000 for Game 1 in 2014.[12] Game 1 of the2016 WNBA Finals was broadcast on ABC and had 0.5 overnight rating (597,000 viewers), which was the best since 2010.[13][14] The five game 2016 Finals broadcast on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 averaged a 0.3 rating and 487,000 viewers.[15] Average viewership in 2016 was 224,000 viewers.[16]
| Preceded by | WNBA network broadcast partner 2003–present (shared withNBC Sports, Ion andPrime Video) | Succeeded by None |