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 Django TV. It is the first global media channel dedicated exclusively to highlighting women’s sports and is available in the US on the free streaming service Vizio WatchFree+.
Goldberg told CNBC that her childhood passion for sports and her desire for greater female representation on the field inspired her to start the network.
“I wanted little girls to have their new favorite players that we called baseball cards, and I wanted them to follow just like I followed 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 through the remainder of this year and 2025. It will feature a wide range of sports from football, basketball, volleyball and field 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 Owen NBCUniversal | Getty Images
Goldberg said she hopes the growth of women’s basketball and soccer will help put the spotlight on other women’s sports.
“We started seeing amazing basketball games, and I think more people said, ‘Hey, I want to see more of this.’ We don’t know any other sports, like I love roller derby,” Goldberg said. “I want it out there because women are doing it.”
All Women’s Sports Network is available in about 20 million homes in the U.S. through Vizio WatchFree+, Chung said. Within the next few months, AWSN will be available in more than 100 million homes, the company said.
Goldberg admits he faced some initial resistance to launching the network, but once he met Chung, their goals aligned.
“I love a good business proposition, and I want it to be past my lifetime. I want it to be known as an ABC, NBC or CBS,” he said.
Disclosure: NBC and CNBC are divisions of NBCUniversal.
Clarification: AWSN will be available in over 100 million homes in the next few months. An earlier version of this story misstated the projection.
