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Local television and professional sports have a long, complicated relationship in the U.S., and a new agreement in Atlanta shows why that relationship still matters. Gray Media, Inc. (NYSE: GTN) and the Atlanta Hawks announced that every non-nationally televised Hawks regular season game will air free over the air during the 2026 to 2027 NBA season, carried on Gray’s Atlanta station WANF and on Peachtree Sports Network.
The arrangement is notable mainly because of how far it reaches. Fans in the Atlanta market can watch through WANF’s free broadcast signal, and the station is also carried on major pay television providers including Xfinity, Spectrum, DirecTV, and DISH Network, along with streaming services such as YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, and Fubo. Gray owns additional stations in Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, and Savannah, and each of those will carry games locally as well, extending the broadcast well beyond metro Atlanta and into much of Georgia.
For Gray, the deal fits into a broader pattern of leaning into local, community focused programming rather than competing purely on national content. Hilton H. Howell, the company’s Chairman and CEO, described the partnership as an example of what Gray does well, framing it as a chance to give Hawks fans across Georgia one of the most accessible viewing experiences available anywhere in the league. Erik Schrader, general manager of WANF and WPCH, pointed to the station’s independence as an advantage, noting that it allows Gray to broadcast more Hawks games than it had previously been able to offer.
There is also a nostalgic angle here. The Hawks broadcast on WPCH, known earlier as WTCG and then WTBS, from 1972 to 1994, and on WANF, then known as WGNX and later WGCL, from 1986 to 1993. In that sense, this new deal is less a launch and more a return to a broadcast home the franchise had for over two decades. The two sides had already been testing the waters, simulcasting 10 to 11 game packages each season starting in the 2023 to 2024 season. That grew to a 13 game package in 2025 to 2026, and according to Nielsen data, those games drew more than 1.5 times the ratings of the Hawks’ other local broadcasts, a strong enough signal to justify expanding the arrangement to cover the full non national schedule.
Andrew Saltzman, president of business enterprise and chief commercial officer for the Hawks and State Farm Arena, framed the expansion as a reflection of shared priorities between the team and its broadcast partner, centered on reaching as many fans as possible. Beyond the regular season slate, Gray will also broadcast three preseason games and select nationally televised matchups during 2026 to 27, though the full schedule, including tip off times, has not yet been released.
What makes this deal worth watching from a business standpoint is what it signals about local broadcasters’ strategy in a media environment increasingly dominated by streaming and national cable packages. Free, over the air sports content is scarce, and a ratings driven decision like this one suggests local stations still see real value, and real audience demand, in live regional sports. Whether other teams and station groups follow with similar full season, free access deals may be one of the more interesting storylines to track heading into the 2026 to 27 NBA season.
