SEATTLE – The Seattle Storm today announced their 2004 television schedule and partnership with Fox Sports Net (FSN) along with their radio schedule with flagship station Sports Radio 950 KJR AM.
FSN will televise four Storm games this season, three of which will be home contests broadcast from KeyArena. The inaugural Storm broadcast on FSN will be Saturday, June 5 at Sacramento, followed by the June 22 vs. Houston, the Aug. 1 matchup vs. Charlotte and the Sept. 1 game vs. Sacramento. The Sept. 1 game, originally scheduled for 7 p.m., will now tip off at 7:30 p.m.
“This partnership between the Storm and FSN represents a new era of visibility for the Northwest’s only women’s professional sports team,” Storm Chief Operating Officer Karen Bryant said. “FSN will help us deliver the excitement of Storm Basketball to sports fans throughout our region.”
Every game on FSN will bring Storm fans closer to Storm players and the WNBA game with pre- and post-game interviews, in-game player profiles and more comprehensive team coverage than ever before.
“Storm Basketball on Fox Sports Net will be a unique and exciting experience for our viewers and it solidifies our position as the only place to find all your favorite local teams,” said Mark Shuken, FSN's vice president and general manager. “FSN is happy to have the opportunity to form this partnership not only with the Storm, but also with their fans.”
The broadcasts will not be simulcasts and will feature separate television and radio announcers.
Jim Watson will serve as FSN’s play-by-play announcer and Mary Murphy will join him as the game analyst. An anchor for the Northwest Sports Report since 2003, Watson has extensive experience calling game action, including both men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball. He has worked as FSN’s voice of Pac-10 basketball since 2000, covered women's volleyball from 1998 through 2003 and was part of the broadcast team for volleyball in the 2000 Olympics. He’ll perform the same duties during the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.
Murphy, a long-standing personality in women’s basketball, is the former head coach and general manager of the Sacramento Monarchs. She has worked as an analyst for women’s college basketball for FSN since 1999 and was the television and radio voice of the Miami Sol from 2000 through 2003. Watson and Murphy have experience as a broadcast team, having worked together on many Pac-10 women’s games over the years.
As a result of the unique circumstance the Olympics have created with a one-month hiatus in the WNBA schedule during August, FSN’s coverage will highlight the league’s Olympians from around the world. FSN will televise the Storm’s last game before the August Olympic break, Sunday, Aug. 1 vs. Charlotte, as well as the Seattle’s first game after the Olympics on Wednesday, Sept. 1 vs. Sacramento.
During the Storm broadcasts, FSN will place in the spotlight several Storm players who will participate in the summer games, including Storm All-WNBA guard Sue Bird, 2003 WNBA MVP Lauren Jackson of Australia and Kamila Vodichkova of the Czech Republic. Storm Head Coach Anne Donovan, an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic team, will also be featured.
For the third straight season and fourth overall in the team’s history, Sports Radio 950 KJR AM will broadcast all 34 Storm regular-season games. KJR will also air the Tuesday, May 18 Storm preseason game against the Phoenix Mercury live from KeyArena.
Play-by-play announcer David Locke enters his fifth season as “Voice of the Storm” on KJR. He will again be joined by game analyst Elise Woodward, who begins her fourth campaign as a commentator for Storm broadcasts. Woodward will fill in as the television analyst on FSN’s June 5 telecast.
The Storm will also have four games televised nationally, three on ESPN2 (June 3 vs. Phoenix, July 3 vs. Sacramento and Sept. 12 at Connecticut) and one on ABC (July 10 at Detroit).
