WNBA Tip-Off 2024: Scripps Sports Constructs New Studio for Second Season of WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION Rush Media, a production partner of the WNBA, will handle live game coverage By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor
Friday, May 17, 2024 - 1:08 pm
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The WNBA season rolls along with the State Farm WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION, which begins tonight with Washington Mystics vs. Connecticut Sun at 7:30 p.m. ET and Seattle Storm vs. Minnesota Lynx at 9:30 p.m. ET. Scripps Sports, who will be producing a total of 43 regular-season games in their second year of coverage, is supplementing their live studio programming with a brand-new space within their facility in Atlanta.
We decided to put all of our financial and operational resources into our new studio and doing that well, says Brian Lawlor, president, Scripps Sports. With new talent and five hours on Friday night, we're really excited to get it launched.
A Home for Programming: New Studio Ties Friday Night Broadcasts Together From 7 p.m. to 12 a.m. ET, sports fans will be locked into all things WNBA on ION. For those first 30 minutes, the new studio space will highlight the night's doubleheader matchups and other topics that are circulating around the league. On the tangible front, this studio space is geared purely for sports programming, including the integration of multiple monitor walls and ample touchpoints for real-time telestration. These elements will not only allow for in-depth previews, but also become a destination for fans to enjoy content at halftime and in between both games. When it comes to understanding pacing and timing, the biggest challenge will be readying the crew for long nights or diversions from the schedule if either game goes into overtime.
It's the beauty of sports because everything looks great on paper when we start the night, but anything can change, says Nicole Denne, executive producer, Scripps Sports. That's what makes [this industry] so fun because you're figuring out how to keep these fans invested into each game if the first one runs over.
As for the live games, the WNBA has contracted the services of Rush Media to produce these broadcasts on ION. Lawlor and his team, which also includes VP, Broadcast Operations, Quinn Pacini; Director, Sports Content Management, Alystia; VP, Revenue and Sponsorships, Tony Lamerato; and Senior Director, Revenue, Jim Spadafore, conduct pre-production meetings with the live-services provider to iron out what they'd like to see every week. The two entities will continue a similar workflow that was seen last season. These broadcasts will also include a new graphics package that was developed during the offseason.
President Brian Lawlor and Executive Producer Nicole Denne are leading Scripps Sports' coverage of the WNBA.
Players' Off-the-Court Stories: Space Allows for Original Storytelling, Expert Analysis The biggest positive of building a new studio is the possibility of showcasing the original storytelling that has been put together. Many followers of the league understand the utter dominance and engaging personalities of stars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, and others, but this space could be reserved for telling more human-interest stories about the other 141 athletes. Scripps Sports' storytelling muscles have already been flexed during their first two months of National Women's Soccer League coverage. Some examples from the NWSL include the special bond between Racing Louisville defender Carson Pickett and a young fan, North Carolina Courage midfielder Victoria Pickett and her connection with her late brother, and a ton more.
These are the types of beautiful stories that we're trying to tell, says Lawlor. Scripps is a 145-year-old media company, so we want to show our ability to bring the same passion and craft that we've had with newspaper, radio, and television to professional women's sports.
The production strategy should feed increased viewership on both ends: coming for live games will allow fans to learn more about these players' off-the-court lives and learning these compelling stories will persuade casual fans to stay for the live game.
When you see a story about a player and then watch them play the sport, you're more invested and want to cheer them on, adds Denne. We're interested in introducing the viewers to all of the players and not just the headliners.
Aside from creative storytelling, the studio will become a hub for breakdowns and intriguing insights. For top-tier commentary, the network has brought in high-quality voices to complement their coverage. The trio in the studio, which includes host Larry Smith and analysts Autumn Johnson and Meghan McKeown, brings their own broadcast experience and pedigree. Smith is a longtime veteran of the industry with a resume that includes 12 Final Fours, seven NBA Finals, six Super Bowls, and four Olympics as well as hosting duties for NBATV's Gametime, and the MLB postseason with Turner Sports. Johnson has contributed to women's college basketball on ESPN and Big Ten Network throughout her career. McKeown is seasoned to the television spotlight as the current analyst for the Connecticut Sun, a former analyst for the Indiana Fever, a former color commentator for the Chicago Sky, and has been seen on NBC Sports/Peacock, Big Ten Network ESPN, and FOX Sports. For this brand-new studio show, Scripps Sports' creative liberty will allow this programming to embody the spirit of their talent and mix it with their analysis.
We're looking at an audience that includes die hard basketball fans and a new group of fans that are coming in, so it's really about the ability to talk to both, adds Denne. You can already feel the energy and th
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13 with guest ...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
04/12/2025
Lightware, a global specialist in AV connectivity, is looking back on a year defined by new advancements, strong collaboration and continued growth. Across the ...
04/12/2025
Riedel Communications today announced a new partnership with Haivision, a leading global provider of mission-critical, real-time video networking and visual col...
04/12/2025
Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) and Normann Engineering today announced a major milestone in their strategic collaboration, celebrating 20 successful broadband deployme...
WNBA Tip-Off 2024: Scripps Sports Constructs New Studio for Second Season of WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION Rush Media, a production partner of the WNBA, will handle live game coverage By Kristian Hern ndez, Senior Editor 
