Hollywood icon Whoopi Goldberg hopes her newly launched All Women's Sports Network will bring more attention to women's sports.
Goldberg started the network with George Chung, co-founder of international media holding company Jungo TV. It is the first global media channel dedicated exclusively to highlighting women's sports and is available in the United States on the free streaming service Vizio WatchFree+.
Goldberg told CNBC that her childhood passion for sports and desire for greater female representation in the field inspired her to start the network.
“I want little girls to have what we used to call baseball cards of their new favorite players, and I want them to follow like I used to follow Mickey Mantle,” Goldberg said.
AWSN is also available through international partners in India, UAE, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines.
The network will broadcast 2,000 hours of live sports over the remainder of this year and into 2025. It will feature a wide range of sports from football, basketball, volleyball and hockey to cricket, judo and table tennis.
Actor and comedian Whoopi Goldberg arrives on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, November 6, 2024.
Todd O'Young | NBC Universal | Getty Images
Goldberg said she hopes the growth of women's basketball and soccer will help highlight other women's sports.
“We're starting to see amazing basketball being played, and I think more people are saying, 'Hey, I want to see more of that.'” Goldberg said. “What other sports do women play that we don't know about? Like hockey or derby. “I want America to have a derby team.” “I want it there because women do it.”
Vizio currently reaches 20 million TVs, and within the next three to four months, AWSN expects to be available on more than 100 million devices in the United States, Chung said.
Goldberg admitted that she faced some initial resistance in launching the network, but once she met Chung, their goals aligned.
“I love a good show business, and I want it to last beyond my lifetime. I want it to be as well-known as ABC or NBC or CBS,” she said.
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