And that is fine for Pat Lowry, who oversees the network’s
coverage of the women’s tournament.
“I certainly wasn’t worried about anybody questioning our
coverage and whether we were putting the resources to it,” Lowry said. “We have
put significant resources into it. It is one of the premier women’s events that
we do. And I’ve never lacked resources on this.
“As things were unfolding (last year), I felt bad for some
of the people with the NCAA because they were doing the best they could with
what they had and were having to navigate through that.”
ESPN has carried the women’s tournament since 1996 and has
been part of its evolution. Before ESPN took it over, the Women’s Final Four
used to have its semifinal games early Saturday afternoon and the national
championship the next day on CBS.
The national semifinal games are now on Friday night, with
the championship game either late Sunday afternoon or evening.
“Certainly now the coverage is much more extensive than when
I was playing. And it’s much more extensive than even a couple of years ago,”
said ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo, who led UConn to the national title in 1995.
“We’re on more networks in the ESPN family versus regionalizing. So the
coverage is expanding for the better and reaching a bigger audience and giving
more people a chance to watch the games that they want to watch.”
Games used to have regionalized windows, but every game has
had its own window. When the tournament begins Friday, games will be on either
on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPNU, or ESPNews.
ABC will have four games for the second straight year — two
apiece on Saturday and Sunday. ABC also had regular-season games for the first
time this season.
“It’s huge to have games on ABC. They rate better. It’s a
simple fact,” Lobo said. “The next step is to have the championship game on
ABC. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw that in the near future.”
A move to ABC would also quiet some who have wondered if
having the women’s tournament on the same networks as the men would be better.
Considering there are 68 teams in each field, that wouldn’t be feasible.
The Women’s Final Four in Minneapolis will receive extensive
coverage across the ESPN networks. Besides the main broadcast on ESPN, there
will be four alternate broadcasts.
One will resemble a “Manningcast,” two will feature angles
from an aerial and rail cam and a final channel will showcase enhanced
statistics utilizing player tracking from Second Spectrum.
Lobo, Ryan Ruocco and reporter Holly Rowe will again be the
main crew, but Andraya Carter is a new addition as a sideline analyst this
year. Elle Duncan will be the main host throughout the tournament after Maria
Taylor left last year for NBC.
Lowry also noted that advertising for the entire tournament
is sold out. But even with the momentum, there is still more work to be done.
“Ratings are up and everything feels really good, but you
can’t let up on the gas right now. We’ve got to keep pushing and trying to
innovate and generate more interest,” she said. -AP
0 comments:
Post a Comment