WNBA Playoffs Cable TV Schedule

There’s more on TV for basketball fans than the FIBA World Cup. The WNBA regular season has ended and the playoffs are about to begin, just in time to complete before the start of the NBA regular season. In the WNBA, eight teams make the playoffs and play five-game series building up to the finals that declare a winner for the season. The playoffs begin Wednesday night on ESPN2, in Chicago and Seattle, with fans in Phoenix and Minnesota glued to their TVs.  Here’s the schedule, via Sports Media Watch:

Wednesday, September 11

Time/ET	GAME	NET
8:00p	Phoenix-Chicago	ESPN2
10:00p	Minnesota-Seattle	ESPN2

Sunday, September 15

Time/ET	GAME	NET
3:00p	tbd-Los Angeles	ESPN2
5:00p	tbd-Las Vegas	ESPN2

Tuesday, September 17

Time/ET	GAME	NET
6:30p	tbd-Connecticut Game 1	ESPN2
8:30p	tbd-Washington Game 1	ESPN2

Thursday, September 19

Time/ET	GAME	NET
6:30p	tbd-Connecticut Game 2	ESPN2
8:30p	tbd-Washington Game 2	ESPN2

Sunday, September 22

Time/ET	GAME	NET
3:00p	Semifinal Game 3	ESPN2
5:00p	Semifinal Game 3	ESPN2

Tuesday, September 24

Time/ET	GAME	NET
tbd	Semifinal Game 4*	ESPN2
tbd	Semifinal Game 4*	ESPN2

Thursday, September 26

Time/ET	GAME	NET
tbd	Semifinal Game 5*	ESPN2
tbd	Semifinal Game 5*	ESPN2

Sunday, September 29

Time/ET	GAME	NET
3:00p	WNBA Finals Game 1	ESPN

Tuesday, October 1

Time/ET	GAME	NET
8:00p	WNBA Finals Game 2	ESPN

Sunday, October 6

Time/ET	GAME	NET
3:00p	WNBA Finals Game 3	ABC

Tuesday, October 8

Time/ET	GAME	NET
8:00p	WNBA Finals Game 4*	ESPN2

Thursday, October 10

Time/ET	GAME	NET
8:00p	WNBA Finals Game 5*	ESPN2

Enjoy the games!

Little League World Series Tuesday TV Schedule

With yesterday’s schedule further whittling down the bracket, the Little League World Series continues on cable TV today. Three US teams are in action today: Salem, OR, Elizabeth, NJ, and Barrington, RI. Here’s the schedule for today, via Bleacher Report, including predicted winners:

Tuesday Schedule, Predictions

Bologna, Italy (Europe-Africa) vs. Salem, Ore. (Northwest), 11 a.m. ET, ESPN

Willemstad, Curacao (Caribbean) vs. Maracaibo, Venezuela (Latin America), 3 p.m. ET, ESPN

Elizabeth, N.J. (Mid-Atlantic) vs. Barrington, R.I. (New England), 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

*Predicted winners in bold.

Check back tomorrow for more updates.

ESPN to Air NWSL Women’s Soccer Matches on Cable TV

Following the ratings draw of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, ESPN has come to a deal with the NWSL women’s soccer league in the US to air games from the second half of the league’s season featuring players from the US Women’s National Team.

Here is the schedule, according to ESPN’s press release:

2019 NWSL Schedule on ESPN:

Date	Time (ET)	Event	Platforms
Sun, Jul 14	3 p.m.	Portland Thorns FC vs. Orlando Pride	ESPNEWS
Sun, Jul 21	6 p.m.	Chicago Red Stars vs. North Carolina Courage	ESPN2
Sat, Jul 27	10 p.m.	Utah Royals FC vs. North Carolina Courage	ESPNEWS
Fri, Aug 2	7 p.m.	Houston Dash vs. Reign FC	ESPNEWS
Sun, Aug 11	3 p.m.	Portland Thorns FC vs. North Carolina Courage	ESPNEWS
Sun, Aug 18	1 p.m.	Sky Blue FC vs. Reign FC	ESPNEWS
Sun, Aug 25	3 p.m.	Portland Thorns FC vs. Chicago Red Stars	ESPNEWS
Wed, Sep 11	7 p.m.	Orlando Pride vs. Chicago Red Stars	ESPNEWS
Tue, Sep 17	7:30 p.m.	North Carolina Courage vs. Houston Dash	ESPNEWS
Wed, Sep 25	9 p.m.	Houston Dash vs. Washington Spirit	ESPN2
Sun, Sep 29	2 p.m.	Reign FC vs. Portland Thorns FC	ESPN2
Sun, Oct 20	2 p.m.	Semifinal I	ESPN2
	4 p.m.	Semifinal II	ESPN2
Sun, Oct 27	4 p.m.	NWSL Championship	ESPN2

Stars from the FWWC set to appear include US players Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Tobin Heath, Lindsey Horan, and Christen Press along with Canadian and Brazilian stars Christine Sinclair and Marta. Fans across the US who tuned in to the World Cup should continue to enjoy the action from Houston, Utah, North Carolina, and other locations.

Little League World Series Cable TV Schedule

Each year, baseball gets a shot of adrenaline in the late summer months, the doldrums of the Major League Baseball season, from the Little League World Series. Held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania each year, the Little League World Series pits winning Little League all-star teams from across the United States and the world at large against one another for baseball in its purest form—played by kids having fun.

Each year, ESPN and its family of networks on cable TV air the games. The first few rounds of competition are over, but this week it really heats up leading toward the conclusion Sunday afternoon. Here is the schedule for the games for the week, all times Eastern:

Monday, Aug. 20 (Round 3)

• Game A (Consolation): Australia vs. New England — 11 a.m. ET on ESPN
• Game 17: Latin America vs. Caribbean — 1 p.m. ET on ESPN
• Game 18: Great Lakes vs. Midwest — 3 p.m. ET on ESPN
• Game 19: Mexico vs. Canada — 6 p.m. ET on ESPN2
• Game 20: Southwest vs. Southeast — 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Tuesday, Aug. 21 (Round 4)

• Game B (Consolation): Europe/Africa vs. Northwest — 11 a.m. ET on ESPN
• Game 21: Game 17 winner vs. Game 19 winner — 3 p.m. ET on ESPN
• Game 22: Game 18 winner vs. Game 20 winner — 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
• Wednesday, Aug. 22 (Quarterfinals)
• Game 23: Asia-Pacific vs. Japan — 3 p.m. ET on ESPN
• Game 24: Mid-Atlantic vs. West — 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN

Thursday, Aug. 23 (Quarterfinals)

• Game 25: Game 21 winner vs. Game 23 loser — 3 p.m. on ESPN
• Game 26: Game 22 winner vs. Game 24 loser — 7 p.m. on ESPN

Saturday, Aug. 25 (Semifinals)

• Game 27: International Championship Game, Game 23 winner vs. Game 25 winner — 12:30 p.m. ET on ABC
• Game 28: U.S. Championship Game, Game 24 winner vs. Game 26 winner — 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC

Sunday, Aug. 26 (Championship and third-place game)

• Game 29 (Consolation): Game 27 loser vs. Game 28 loser — 10 a.m. ET on ESPN
• Game 30: Championship Game, International bracket winner vs. U.S. bracket winner — 3 p.m. ET on ABC

Across the nation, kids home from school for the summer will be watching, from Easthampton, MA all the way down to Santa Maria, CA. Stay tuned to the TV, Internet and Phone Blog for more updates on TV schedules, sporting events, and more, updating twice weekly.

For Basketball Withdrawal Check out the NBA Summer League on Cable TV

As midsummer hits, if you’re not a baseball fan, it can be hard to find something to watch sportswise on cable TV. Though this year the World Cup helps break up the doldrums, due to their location in Russia they air earlier in the day in the USA, leaving primetime without a lot of sports-related options.

Never fear! The NBA Summer League is here. Don’t know what the summer league is? It’s where NBA teams’ latest draft picks and free agents trying to make the team compete for roster spots down the road and showcase their skills, all in a party-friendly Las Vegas environment. If you’ve never watched the summer league, it can surprise you. It’s where Ben Simmons first showed off his excellent passing with NBA teammates, and where Donovan Mitchell impressed enough to become a starter on the way to many rookie of the year votes.

You can see it all on Spectrum cable TV on NBATV, ESPNU, ESPN, and ESPN2. Below is the schedule for round-robin play, all in Vegas’ own Pacific Time, via the NBA:

Friday, July 6

Cox Pavilion
12 p.m. – Houston vs. Indiana (NBA TV)
2 p.m. – Brooklyn vs. Orlando (NBA TV)
4 p.m. – Milwaukee vs. Detroit (NBA TV)
6 p.m. – Cleveland vs. Washington (NBA TV)
8 p.m. – Denver vs. Minnesota (NBA TV)

Thomas & Mack
12:30 p.m. – Toronto vs. New Orleans (ESPNU)
2:30 p.m. – Oklahoma City vs. Charlotte (ESPNU)
4:30 p.m. – Boston vs. Philadelphia (ESPN)
6:30 p.m. – Dallas vs. Phoenix (ESPN)
8:30 p.m. – LA Clippers vs. Golden State (ESPN)

Saturday, July 7

Cox Pavilion
12 p.m. – Portland vs. Utah (NBA TV)
2 p.m. – Miami vs. New Orleans (NBA TV)
4 p.m. – Oklahoma City vs. Brooklyn (NBA TV)
6 p.m. – Detroit vs. Memphis (NBA TV)
8 p.m. – Boston vs. Denver (NBA TV)

Thomas & Mack
12:30 p.m. – San Antonio vs. Indiana (ESPN2)
2:30 p.m. – New York vs. Atlanta (ESPN)
4:30 p.m. – Phoenix vs. Sacramento (ESPN)
6:30 p.m. – Chicago vs. Cleveland (ESPN2)
8:30 p.m. – Philadelphia vs. Los Angeles Lakers (ESPN2)

Sunday, July 8

Cox Pavilion
12 p.m. – Minnesota vs. Toronto (NBA TV)
2 p.m. – Charlotte vs. Miami (NBA TV)
4 p.m. – Dallas vs. Milwaukee (NBA TV)
6 p.m. – Utah vs. New York (NBA TV)
8 p.m. – Sacramento vs. LA Clippers (NBA TV)

Thomas & Mack
12:30 p.m. – Washington vs. San Antonio (ESPN2)
2:30 p.m. – Portland vs. Atlanta (ESPN2)
4:30 p.m. – Golden State vs. Houston (ESPN2)
6:30 p.m. – Memphis vs. Orlando (ESPN2)
8:30 p.m. – Los Angeles Lakers vs. Chicago (ESPN2)

Monday, July 9

Cox Pavilion
12 p.m. – New Orleans vs. Detroit (ESPNU)
2 p.m. – Indiana vs. Cleveland (ESPN2)
4 p.m. – Charlotte vs. Boston (ESPN2)
6 p.m. – Milwaukee vs. Denver (ESPNU)
8 p.m. – Brooklyn vs. Minnesota (ESPNU)

Thomas & Mack
12:30 p.m. – Toronto vs. Oklahoma City (NBA TV)
2:30 p.m. – Washington vs. Philadelphia (NBA TV)
4:30 p.m. – Golden State vs. Dallas (NBA TV)
6:30 p.m. – Orlando vs. Phoenix (NBA TV)
8:30 p.m. – LA Clippers vs. Houston (NBA TV)

Tuesday, July 10

Cox Pavilion
1 p.m. – San Antonio vs. Portland (NBA TV)
3 p.m. – Atlanta vs. Chicago (NBA TV)

Thomas & Mack
1:30 p.m. – Utah vs. Miami (EPNU)
3:30 p.m. – Sacramento vs. Memphis (ESPN2)
5:30 p.m. – Los Angeles Lakers vs. New York (ESPN2)

All of these channels are available on Spectrum TV’s various sports-heavy packages. Whether you’re a Knicks fan in Astoria, a Hornets fan in Cary, a Grizzlies fan in Johnson City, or a Spurs fan in San Antonio, you can see your favorite team’s young prospects ball out.

Enjoy the games.

Cable TV Sports Talk Wars Escalate with ‘First Take’ Move

The underlying wisdom at ESPN and now at Fox Sports 1, the upstart competitor on cable TV to the Worldwide Leader in Sports, is that hot takes mean ratings. That’s why Fox Sports 1 hired away first Colin Cowherd, then former First Take host Skip Bayless, away from ESPN to build a stable of “controversial” sports pundits with ridiculous, unfounded opinions that, nonetheless, get people to watch. Since Bayless departed, First Take has replaced him with Max Kellerman, and ratings have gone down, though they still beat the Fox Sports 1 Bayless show Undisputed. They want to keep doing so, and thus have moved First Take from ESPN2 to ESPN.

More from Awful Announcing:

First Take’s viewership will undoubtedly increase on its new channel, as more people are inclined to mindlessly tune into ESPN than ESPN2, but that won’t necessarily mean anything. Is there any reason to think switching First Take and the two SportsCenter programs will result in a greater total audience? Won’t the ratings hit SportsCenter takes cancel out the gain First Take sees?

Meanwhile, it’s disappointing to see three hard-working and capable news anchors demoted to ESPN2 in favor of mindless debate. The news is particularly brutal for Champion, who escaped hosting First Take and earned her own SportsCenter show, only to have her time-slot swiped by her former program. That has to be dispiriting for Champion and for all the on-air personalities at ESPN who don’t resort to gratuitously provocative opinions.

Will this work out for ESPN, or is sports talk debate TV not as popular as before without Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith as a duo? We’ll see.

ESPN Subscriber Fees Highest on Cable TV

Despite suffering a precipitous drop in subscribers over the past three years, ESPN and its family of sports broadcasting networks are doing just fine, and there’s one major reason for that: ESPN charges cable TV providers more to carry the network (and its related channels like ESPN2) than any other cable TV channel, with the price now rising above $7 per subscriber, with an additional $.90 or so for ESPN2 taking it above $8. This is twice as high as it was as little as nine years ago.

More from Awful Announcing:

What do these increases mean?  It’s a profitable, yet dangerous game of chicken for ESPN.  On one hand, it means that they continue to increase their cable and satellite revenue that will see ESPN be almost impossible to catch for the next generation or more.  If we assume FS1 is still around the $1.00 per subscriber per month mark, that means ESPN is ahead in that department by approximately $6.7 billion (yes, billion with a “b”) in revenue.

A million Skip Bayless debate shows can’t overcome that gap.  As ESPN continues to distance itself from the pack in cable fees, it will continue to fortify its position at the top of the industry.

On the other hand, at what point is the breaking point for the consumer who decides that paying over $86 per year is just not worth it to receive ESPN?  We’ve already seen millions decide to cut the cord because of rising cable fees, how many more are to come?  And how will ESPN look to reach customers who are no longer fueling the company’s revenue stream thanks to their cable bill?

The fact of the matter is that sports fans are willing to shell out money to see what they want to see. DIRECTV has a whole business model built around the fact that people want to get their eyes on the exclusive NFL Sunday Ticket package that DIRECTV only offers. As long as ESPN holds the rights to as much college and NFL football as it does, people will want to have the network as part of their cable package.

Online Sports Highlights Killing ESPN

Perhaps the most successful cable TV network in history, ESPN has built an empire on its packaging of the day’s sports highlights, events, and talking points into a digestible hour that can keep even the most casual sports fan up to date on what’s going on in the world of sports in America (though not hockey so much). SportsCenter, ESPN’s flagship program (which at this point is airing almost all the time either on ESPN, ESPN2, or ESPNnews), basically created the highlight mentality by which viewers consume sports news, but now that is starting to backfire, as the internet brings those same highlights to potential viewers in a faster and more personalized way than even 24 hours a day of SportsCenter can. The result? ESPN’s ratings are down 10 percent to last year.

More from Bloomberg:

Disney itself cast a light on the troubles at ESPN in August when the company cut its profit outlook, citing a drop in the homes that get the sports network. The announcement renewed investor concerns that consumers are dropping or cutting back on pay-TV services and sent media stocks tumbling.

ESPN’s ratings are another sign of the changes rattling the TV industry.

Live editions of “SportsCenter” are down 10 percent this year in total viewers, according to ESPN, while the Sunday pregame show “NFL Countdown” is down 13 percent. Overall, viewership has fallen 10 percent in 2015, though network executives say that’s really 4 percent excluding World Cup and NASCAR events that didn’t air this year.

Now, instead of a Cardinals fan waiting all hour to see highlights of that night’s game, the same fan can go straight to the Cardinals’ website and see the highlights right away, without having to wade and wait through highlights he or she does not care about.

While this hurts ESPN overall, live sports rights are still the biggest boon to the Worldwide Leader in Sports and its family of networks. As long as they’re airing Monday Night Football, national baseball and basketball broadcasts, and plenty of college football, they’ll have eyes on their network. They will need to manage their expectations, however. And maybe cut back on the 24 hours of SportsCenter?

ESPN’s New Fall Lineup to Begin August 5

We now know the times and specific channels for the new ESPN shows announced at upfronts a few weeks ago, including an insider-centric NFL studio show that will differ from other NFL-related shows on the network by going entirely without former jocks in the studio and focus on reporters bringing actual news. The new weekly lineup, also including a new daily soccer show, begins August 5 and the new NFL Sunday schedule begins September 8 along with the National Football League’s opening week.

More from Awful Announcing:

* On the mothership, NFL Insiders with Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen will air at 3 ET and run for an hour.  Directly after that will be an hour long episode of NFL Live at 4 ET and then Around the Horn and PTI.  ESPN’s lineup was desperately needing some more time to commit to the NFL, so thankfully this new two hour block will fill that gap! In all seriousness though, I’m curious to see how the insiders show will work out and if they can differentiate the two shows.  That’ll be crucial.

* ESPN2 is fittingly enough the land of duos, odd couples, and debate partners.  After four hours of First Take (yuck), Skippy and Stephen A. give way to Jalen Rose and Hugh Douglas as Numbers Never Lie (that’s the show that’s definitely not about numbers) expands to an hour from 2-3 ET while SportsNation moves to 3-4 ET with new hosts Max Kellerman and Marcellus Wiley.  Highly Questionable airs at 4 ET with Bomani & the Le Batards and OTL moves to the deuce at 4:30 ET.  If there’s one show that’s getting forgotten in all this it’s College Football Live, which will air weekdays at 5 ET on ESPN2.

* The newbie I’m most interested in, ESPNFC, gets a decent daily timeslot at 5:30 ET on ESPN2 although it will get stiff competition from PTI.  FC will not only air Monday-Friday, but also Sundays at midnight, which could end up being a nice weekend recap show for soccer fans with the demise of Fox Soccer.  As we stated back in May, this is a hugely refreshing move given the network has cast aside sports like soccer when they’ve lost rights in the past (ahem… hockey… ahem).  ESPN’s continuing commitment to global soccer is a great thing because it’s Bristol at its best.  Hopefully the quality of ESPNFC permeates throughout the rest of ESPN2’s lineup.  We can only hope.

*As far as Sundays go, not too much has changed with the ESPN staples of SportsCenter and NFL Countdown dominating the morning.  OTL and Sports Reporters air at 8 and 8:30 ET on ESPN2 with Colin Cowherd’s new football show on from 9-10 ET (what joy) followed by an hour of SC and the acclaimed Fantasy Football Now beginning at 11 ET.

ESPN airs on DIRECTV on channel 206, with ESPN2 on 209, ESPNews on 207 and ESPNU on channel 208.

Soccer Can Be a Big Draw on US Cable TV

While soccer is not one of the four major sports in the United States, it is drawing well over the past couple weeks as the Euro 2012 tournament has aired each afternoon on ESPN, ESPN2, and other channels in the ESPN family. Cable and satellite TV providers bringing ESPN into homes are seeing a marked rise in United States viewership of the tourney, which features the best national teams in Europe playing for the title of the best team in the continent. First round games have been shown to have nearly twice the rating they achieved in relation to the equivalent games for the last Euro soccer tournament, which was held four years ago in 2008.

In fact, Euro 2012 soccer is performing just about as well as did the NHL’s Stanley Cup Finals. While the NHL is the least-followed of the four major team sports in the United States, it is still strange to see soccer doing as well, if not better, particularly when there are no American participants in this tournament involving national teams from European countries. There are two possible explanations for this:

1. That soccer is growing in popularity in the United States, much more than would have been expected,
2. That rather than airing on the fledgling NBC Sports Network, these soccer games are airing on the powerhouse suite of ESPN channels.

It’s probably a little bit of the first option, and a lot more of the second. ESPN has shown it can provide quality soccer coverage when dedicated to doing so, and ESPN does far more to promote sporting events airing on its own channels than it does to cover sports appearing on other broadcast networks or cable TV channels. The way that ESPN covered the Stanley Cup Playoffs was a joke, so it’s no surprise that Euro is doing well with the Worldwide Leader’s push behind it.

Still, it is surprising just how well soccer is doing. Maybe it really will become a sport with a genuinely large American fanbase.