From its inaugural season in 1997 to 2000, Lifetime was one of three broadcasters of the WNBA, alongside NBC and ESPN. Lifetime as well as NBC and ESPN didn't pay the WNBA in rights fees. By 1999, Lifetime was broadcasting 11 regular-season games on Friday nights, the All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden and three playoff dates. In 2000, Lifetime phased out its live broadcasts and replaced them with an original series documenting the lives of WNBA players. The network stated that it wanted to focus on "stories" rather than event coverage; Lifetime transferred its package of games to ESPN2. Lifetime's final live WNBA broadcast was Game 1 of the 2000 WNBA Championship on August 24.
Ratings
At the conclusion of the first WNBA season in 1997, Lifetime Television registered a 0.5 household rating, while ESPN scored a 0.8. Ratings were up 20 percent on Lifetime and 16 percent on ESPN from 1998 to 1999. However by 2000, Lifetime's WNBA ratings were down by 20 percent, and ESPN dropped by 29 percent. Lifetime had created a problem in that being that its a specialty channel aimed a women, whenever a WNBA game aired on the network, the chances were that they were neglecting male viewers who would otherwise, not watch cable channels marketed towards women.
In 1997, the American Women in Radio and Television honored Michelle Tafoya with a Gracie Award for "Outstanding Achievement by an Individual On-Air TV Personality" for her play-by-play calling of WNBA games on Lifetime Television. Upon being let go by the Sacramento Monarchs, Mary Murphy was hired by Brian Donlon, Lifetime Television's vice president of sports and executive producer, to be part of its WNBA broadcast team along with Michele Tafoya and Reggie Miller. Murphy started with her own halftime feature, "Murphy's Law" before joining Miller and Tafoya as a game analyst. When Lifetime ended its WNBA broadcasts in 2000, Murphy moved to ESPN for women's NCAA tournament games and WNBA broadcasts while FOX would bring her on board to call the Pac-12 women's games on FSN in the early 2000s. In the league's inaugural season, Fran Harris was a member of the Houston Comets. She started one game for the Comets but played in 25 games coming off he bench, scoring a total of 104 points on the season as the Comets won the first-ever WNBA Championship. The next season, she was a starter for the Utah Starzz. At the end of the season she was waived from the team's roster, and chose to retire and begin her career in broadcasting with TV partner, Lifetime.
