Goldberg started the network with George Chung, co-founder of the 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 US on the free streaming service Vizio WatchFree+.
Goldberg told CNBC that her childhood passion for sports and her desire for more representation of women in the field inspired her to start the network.
“I wanted little girls to have what we called baseball cards for their new favorite players, and I wanted them to follow 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 for the remainder of this year and through 2025. It will feature a wide range of sports from football, basketball, volleyball and field hockey to cricket, judo and table tennis.
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 seeing amazing basketball being played, and I think more people said, ‘Hey, I want to see more of this.’ “What other sports are women playing that we don’t know about? I love roller derby. I want to get it out there because women are doing it,” Goldberg said.
Chung said that Vizio currently has reached 20 million television sets, and, in the next three to four months, AWSN is expected to be available on more than 100 million devices in the US.
Goldberg admits she faced some initial resistance at the start of the network, but once she met Chung, their goals aligned.
“I love a good business proposition, and I want it to last my lifetime. I want it to be known as ABC, NBC or CBS,” she said.
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