Beginning in 2017, the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show telecast will be viewed on Fox Sports 1 and Nat Geo Wild, moving from NBCUniversal-owned USA Network after 30-plus years.
It will air in primetime on FS1 live from Madison Square Garden on Monday and Tuesday night as seven Best In Group selections are made, with Best In Show coming on Tuesday night. Daytime coverage will be on Nat Geo Wild and Fox Sports digital platforms from Piers 92 and 94 in New York, and NGW will offer encore airings of each night’s programs.
“We’re really excited to add the Westminster Dog Show to Fox Sports 1’s expanding portfolio,” Bill Wanger, Fox Sports Executive Vice President of Programming, Research & Content Strategy, said in a release. “Event programming has been a big part of FOX Sports’ DNA for more than 20 years, and the Westminster Dog Show has tremendous prestige and cachet.”
“We are excited about our future long-term partnership with Fox,” added Westminster Kennel Club president Seán W McCarthy. “We are both committed to putting on the best conformation show and agility trial possible as Westminster continues in its role as a leader in the sport of dogs.”
Said Geoff Daniels, EVP and GM of Nat Geo Wild: “Nat Geo Wild is thrilled to be joining our partners at Fox Sports 1 as the new home of this pillar of canine programming. As the only network on television fully dedicated to showcasing animals and the people that love them as much as we do, I feel like the Westminster Dog Show is finally coming home!”
At 141 years old in 2017, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is the second-longest continually-held sporting event in the United States, after the Kentucky Derby. It has aired on USA (a TV home it will share with CNBC in 2016) since 1984.
