Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show is a two-day, all-breed benched conformation show that takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City annually. The first Westminster show was held in 1877. The first Westminster show was first held on May 8, 1877, making it the second-longest continuously held sporting event in the United States behind only the Kentucky Derby, which was first held in 1875. (Both events were held even during the World War years.) The show originated as a show for gun dogs, primarily Setters and Pointers, initiated by a group of hunters who met regularly at the Westminster Hotel at Irving Place and Sixteenth Street in Manhattan. They decided to create a kennel club called the Westminster Kennel Club specifically for the purpose of holding a dog show. The prizes for these first shows included such items as pearl handled pistols, of use to the hunters and terriermen who worked these dogs in the field.

The USA Network broadcast the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show from 1984 through 2016, with coverage under the auspices of NBC Sports in later years. Sister network CNBC had also aired portions of the event. On July 28, 2015, it was announced that Fox Sports had acquired rights to the event under a 10-year deal beginning in 2017. Coverage will be split between Fox Sports 1 and Nat Geo Wild. David Frei has co-hosted the event since 1990. His partners have been Al Trautwig (1990-1991, 1993), Bud Collins (1992), Joe Garagiola (1994-2002), Mark McEwen (2003-2004), Lester Holt (2005, 2007-2008), Debbye Turner (2006), Mary Carillo (2009, 2011-Present), and Tamron Hall (2010).

Series details

• Title: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
• Format: Variety
• Language: English
• Premiere date: 1948-02-09
• Status in TVmaze: Running
• Network listed by TVmaze: Fox Sports 1
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 183 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 10069

Cast and credited roles

• David Frei — Host
• Mary Carillo — Co-Host
• Kelli Stavast — Sideline Reporter

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1948: premiered 1948-02-09; final listed air date 1948-02-09.
• Season 2014: premiered 2014-02-10; final listed air date 2014-02-11.
• Season 2015: premiered 2015-02-16; final listed air date 2015-02-17.
• Season 2016: premiered 2016-02-15; final listed air date 2016-02-16.
• Season 2017: premiered 2017-02-13; final listed air date 2017-02-14.
• Season 2020: premiered 2020-02-10; final listed air date 2020-02-11.
• Season 2021: premiered 2021-06-12; final listed air date 2021-06-13.
• Season 2022: premiered 2022-06-21; final listed air date 2022-06-22.
• Season 2023: premiered 2023-05-06; final listed air date 2023-05-07.
• Season 2024: premiered 2024-05-13; final listed air date 2024-05-14.

Source and licence

Adapted from Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.