Hollywood icon Whoopi Goldberg hopes her new All Women’s Sports Network will bring more attention to women’s sports.
Goldberg launched 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 her desire for more female representation in the field inspired her to create the network.
“I want little girls to have what we called baseball cards for their new favorite players, and I want them to follow along 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 the rest of this year and through 2025. It will offer a wide range of sports from football, basketball, volleyball and field hockey to cricket, judo and table tennis.
Actor and comedian Whoopi Goldberg arrives at The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday, November 6, 2024.
Todd Owyoung | NBCuniversal | Getty Images
Goldberg said she hopes the growth of women’s basketball and soccer will help shine a spotlight on other women’s sports.
“We started to see some incredible basketball being played, and I think more and more people said, ‘Hey, I want to watch more of that.’ What are some other sports that women play that we don’t know about? Like hockey or roller derby I love roller derby and I want America to have a roller derby team,” Goldberg said. “I want it out there because women are doing it.”
Chung said All Women’s Sports Network is available in nearly 20 million homes in the United States through Vizio WatchFree+. Over the next few months, AWSN will be available in more than 100 million homes, the company said.
Goldberg acknowledged that she initially encountered some resistance when launching the network, but once she met Chung, their goals aligned.
“I love a good business proposition and I want it to last well beyond my lifetime. I want it to be as well known as ABC, NBC or CBS,” she said.
Disclosure: NBC and CNBC are divisions of NBCUniversal.
Clarification: AWSN will be available in more than 100 million homes in the coming months. A previous version of this story distorted the projection.