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WNBA on Lifetime

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WNBA on Lifetime
GenreWNBA basketball telecasts
Directed byLisa Seltzer[2]
StarringChristine Brennan
Maura Driscoll
Camille Duvall-Hero
Fran Harris
Ann Meyers
Reggie Miller
Mary Murphy
Meghan Pattyson
Summer Sanders
Michele Tafoya
Suzyn Waldman
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
Production
Executive producerBrian Donlon[3][4]
ProducersDenise Cavanaugh[5]
Amy Rosenfeld
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time120 minutes+
Production companiesLifetime Sports
ESPN
Original release
NetworkLifetime
ReleaseJune 27, 1997 (1997-06-27)[1] –
August 24, 2000 (2000-08-24)
Related
WNBA on ESPN
WNBA on NBC

The WNBA on Lifetime refers to the presentation of Women's National Basketball Association games on the Lifetime[6][7] television network.

Coverage

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From its inaugural season in 1997[8] to 2000,[9] Lifetime was one of three broadcasters of the WNBA, alongside NBC[10][11] and ESPN.[12] Lifetime as well as NBC and ESPN didn't pay the WNBA in rights fees.[13]

By 1999, Lifetime was broadcasting 11 regular-season games[14] on Friday nights,[15] the All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden and three playoff[16] dates.

In 2000, Lifetime phased out its live broadcasts and replaced them with an original series documenting the lives of WNBA players. The network stated that it wanted to focus on "stories" rather than event coverage; Lifetime transferred its package of games to ESPN2.[17][18]

Lifetime's final live WNBA broadcast was Game 1 of the 2000 WNBA Championship on August 24. Lifetime also broadcast Game 1 of the WNBA Championship from the year prior.[19]

Ratings

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At the conclusion of the first WNBA season in 1997, Lifetime Television registered a 0.5 household rating,[20] while ESPN scored a 0.8. Ratings[21] were up 20 percent on Lifetime and 16 percent on ESPN from 1998 to 1999. However by 2000, Lifetime's WNBA ratings were down by 20 percent, and ESPN dropped by 29 percent.

Lifetime had created a problem in that being a specialty channel aimed at women,[22] whenever a WNBA game aired on the network, the chances were that they were neglecting male viewers who would otherwise not watch cable channels marketed towards women.[23]

Commentators

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See also: List of WNBA Finals broadcasters

Michelle Tafoya served as the lead play-by-play announcer for Lifetime,[39] working alongside Meghan Pattyson[40] and Reggie Miller on color commentary[41] including Lifetime's coverage of the WNBA Championship in 1999 and 2000.

In 1997, the American Women in Radio and Television honored Tafoya with a Gracie Award[42] for "Outstanding Achievement by an Individual On-Air TV Personality" for her play-by-play[43] calling of WNBA games on Lifetime Television.

Upon being let go by the Sacramento Monarchs, Mary Murphy was hired by Brian Donlon,[44] Lifetime Television's vice president of sports and executive producer, to be part of its WNBA broadcast team along with Michele Tafoya and Reggie Miller. Murphy started with her own halftime feature, "Murphy's Law" before joining Miller and Tafoya as a game analyst. When Lifetime ended its WNBA broadcasts in 2000, Murphy moved to ESPN for women's NCAA tournament games and WNBA broadcasts while Fox would bring her on board to call the Pac-12 women's games on FSN in the early 2000s.

In the league's inaugural season, Fran Harris was a member of the Houston Comets. She started one game for the Comets but played in 25 games coming off he bench, scoring a total of 104 points on the season as the Comets won the first-ever WNBA Championship.[45][46] The next season, she was a starter for the Utah Starzz. At the end of the season, she was waived from the team's roster, and chose to retire and begin her career in broadcasting with TV partner, Lifetime.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Winslow, Harriet (July 26, 1997). "WOMEN GET A SPORTING CHANCE ON LIFETIME". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  2. ^ Kent, Milton (July 2, 1998). "WNBA on Lifetime takes shot at hooking casual female fans". The Baltimore Sun.
  3. ^ "Recognition". MauraDriscollTVHost.com.
  4. ^ Gustkey, Earl (July 14, 1999). "STAYING OR GOING?". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ^ "Denise Cavanaugh - Producer - CNN". LinkedIn.
  6. ^ Collins, Lisa M. (June 15, 1997). "Eight-Team WNBA Opens This Week". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ^ "THE WNBA ON Lifetime: 1999 Game Schedule". WNBA.com. Archived from the original on 1999-02-24.
  8. ^ "Amy Rosenfeld". ESPN Press Room U.S.
  9. ^ Brockinton, Langdon (December 18, 2000). "Lifetime shifts its WNBA games to ESPN2". Sports Business Daily.
  10. ^ Raney, Bryant, Arthur A., Jennings (4 March 2009). Handbook of Sports and Media. Routledge. ISBN 9781135257330.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Shaprio, Leonard (June 18, 1998). "WNBA Has All the Angles Covered". Washington Post.
  12. ^ Wolff, Alexander (September 8, 1997). "WON FOR ALL CYNTHIA COOPER LED HOUSTON TO THE WNBA TITLE, CAPPING A TRIUMPHANT SUMMER FOR THE WOMEN'S GAME". Sports Illustrated.
  13. ^ Gustkey, Earl (May 29, 2000). "Salary Doesn't Pay in WNBA". Los Angeles Times.
  14. ^ "Lifetime's 1998 WNBA Game Schedule". lifetimetv.com. May 28, 1998. Archived from the original on 19 February 1999.
  15. ^ Blain, Bernstein, Neil, Alina (6 December 2012). "Sport, Media, Culture: Global and Local Dimensions". Routledge. ISBN 9781136344848.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "WNBA PLAYOFFS, 1998: CLEVELAND ROCKERS VS. MERCURY, GAME ONE (TV)". The Paley Center for Media.
  17. ^ "Lifetime shifts its WNBA games to ESPN2". Sports Business Daily. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  18. ^ "WNBA coverage on Lifetime". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  19. ^ Lewis, Jon. "WNBA Finals opens with most-watched Game 1 since 2000". Sports Media Watch. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  20. ^ Donlon, Brian (July 28, 2002). "History Will Judge WNBA on Lifetime". Multichannel News.
  21. ^ Rose, Shannon (July 17, 2000). "SPOTLIGHT ON THE WNBA". Orlando Sentinel.
  22. ^ Hirsley, Michael (July 31, 1998). "WNBA TELECASTS GETTING MORE THAN A WOMAN'S TOUCH". Chicago Tribune.
  23. ^ McWhorter, Kathleen T. (6 December 2010). Successful College Writing Brief with 2009 MLA and 2010 APA Update. Macmillan. p. 73. ISBN 9780312619169.
  24. ^ Buckler, Matt (June 14, 2000). "Dooley rock solid as Rock Cat voice". Journal Inquirer.
  25. ^ "OH WHAT A NIGHT! WNBA OPENS TO LARGE GATE AND STAR APPEAL". Sports Business Daily. June 11, 1999.
  26. ^ "Biography". MauraDriscollTVHost.com. 19 February 2019.
  27. ^ Robb, Sharon (July 4, 1999). "EASY SALE FOR ACKERMAN". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
  28. ^ Halper, Donna (11 February 2015). Invisible Stars: A Social History of Women in American Broadcasting. Routledge. ISBN 9781317520177.
  29. ^ "Lifetime Network Names WNBA Voices". SwimmingWorld.com. June 19, 1997.
  30. ^ Knapp, Gwen (August 19, 1997). "Diapers Or Defense". San Francisco Examiner.
  31. ^ Garrett, Joanne (August 15, 1997). "Reggie Miller: Lifetime Of Explaining". Seattle Times.
  32. ^ Gustkey, Earl (April 29, 1998). "WNBA Signings Are Suddenly Obscuring Those of the ABL". Los Angeles Times.
  33. ^ Harris, Fran (March 2001). Summer Madness: Inside the Wild, Wacky, Wonderful World of the WNBA. iUniverse. p. 73. ISBN 9780595160303.
  34. ^ Slusser, Susan (June 10, 1998). "Lifetime to Make a Story Out of WNBA". SF Gate.
  35. ^ Johnson, Steve (July 11, 1997). "WNBA coverage on Lifetime: Women's professional basketball?..." Chicago Tribune.
  36. ^ WNBA Washington Mystics, May 1998 Opening Night Intros. Lifetime Sports on YouTube
  37. ^ King, Susan (July 11, 1998). "The Big Names Return for New 'Comic Relief'". Los Angeles Times.
  38. ^ Finder, Chuck (June 10, 1999). "Female announcer blazes another trail". Post-Gazette.
  39. ^ "Michele Tafoya". CBS News. February 20, 1999. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  40. ^ "Reggie Miller: Lifetime Of Explaining". The Seattle Times. August 15, 1997. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  41. ^ Shapiro, Leonard (June 18, 1998). "WNBA Has All the Angles Covered". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 13, 2024.
  42. ^ Brennan, Patricia (June 7, 1998). "WASHINGTON GETS IN THE GAME". The Washington Post.
  43. ^ "Michele Tafoya joins ESPN". ESPN.com. January 6, 2000.
  44. ^ Ostrowski, Jeff (October 12, 1998). "Up close-and-personal approach pays off". Sports Business Daily.
  45. ^ Basketball-reference.com, 1997 Houston Comets Statistics Retrieved 2011-03-19.
  46. ^ "WNBA.com: Fran Harris: A True Champion". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
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