ATLANTA, Dec. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- After almost 30 years away, the Atlanta Hawks are returning home to Peachtree TV (WPCH) in Atlanta. Beginning with the Hawks home game against Indiana on Friday, January 12th, 2024, Peachtree TV will broadcast every Friday night Hawks game for the remainder of the 2023-24 NBA season with the exception of the team's March 8th game at Memphis. In lieu of that game, Peachtree TV will broadcast the match up versus New Orleans on March 10th.
The Hawks return to broadcast is a homecoming for the franchise, which originally aired on WPCH (previously WTCG/WTBS) from 1972-1994 and WANF (previously WGNX/WGCL) from 1986-1993. To tip off the package, the first two Friday night games (Jan. 12 vs. Indiana and Jan. 19 at Miami) will be broadcast live on Gray TV’s CBS affiliate WANF (Atlanta News First) and Peachtree TV (WPCH).
"This is a tremendous opportunity to give Hawks fans a new, free way to watch our games this season," Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena Executive Vice President/Chief Revenue Officer Andrew Saltzman said. "We are thankful to Peachtree TV and Gray TV for making this a reality and look forward to returning the Hawks to our historic local partner for our Friday games."
The agreement announced today will bring live games to the Hawks’ huge fan base in the Atlanta market through Peachtree TV’s free over the air broadcasts along with its carriage on all major cable and satellite pay-tv systems including Xfinity, Spectrum, DirecTV, and DISH Network. In addition, using the Gray-owned Peachtree Sports Network, Gray will simulcast these games on its television stations in Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, and Savannah in Georgia and in Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, and Montgomery in Alabama.
“We are thrilled to bring the Hawks back to broadcast on Peachtree TV this season,” WANF/WPCH Vice President and General Manager Erik Schrader said. “Sports on broadcast television make the games available to everyone. Not only do longtime fans get their favorite team for free, but it’s the best opportunity to grow new fans!”
The games were made available for local over-the-air distribution as part of the NBA’s agreement with Diamond Sports Group, the owner of Bally Sports Southeast. Peachtree TV will utilize the Bally Sports Southeast production team and the on-air crew of Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, play-by-play announcer Bob Rathbun and courtside reporter Tabitha Turner for this 10-game package of games. On-air talent from Peachtree TV and WANF (Atlanta News First), including Sports Director Baillie Burmaster, will also be featured on telecasts.
The Friday night slate of games includes home and road matchups, highlighted by marquee matchups against the Miami Heat (1/19), Dallas Mavericks (1/26), Phoenix Suns (2/2), and Philadelphia 76ers (2/9). Peachtree TV will also broadcast the Hawks vs Pelicans game on Sunday, March 10, 2024.
Peachtree TV has served as the official broadcast home for the Hawks G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks since 2019. For the full broadcast schedule please visit AtlantaNewsFirst.com/Hawks. For the full Atlanta Hawks season schedule please visit nba.com/hawks/schedule.
# TrueToAtlanta #
ABOUT THE ATLANTA HAWKS
Committed to entertaining and uniting the city of Atlanta since 1968, the Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena, under the leadership of Principal Owners Tony Ressler and Jami Gertz, continue to build bridges through basketball by following its True to Atlanta mantra. On the court, the Hawks’ exciting young core is led by All-Star point guard Trae Young as the organization received the NBA’s top ranking in overall in-game experience for the last two seasons. Off the court, the Hawks organization focuses on positively impacting the lives of Atlantans through providing access to youth basketball, fighting food insecurity, and the recent transformation of State Farm Arena into Georgia’s largest-ever voting precinct for the 2020 elections. The Hawks family also includes the College Park Skyhawks (NBA G League) and Hawks Talon Gaming Club (NBA 2K League). Atlanta Hawks Membership, which includes your seat for every home game, is on sale now at www.hawks.com/membership or by calling 866-715-1500. For more information on the Hawks, log on to www.hawks.com or follow us on social media @ATLHawks.
WANF & WPCH have served Atlanta communities for more than 50 years with local news, weather, sports, and entertainment. WANF & WPCH are owned by Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE: GTN), which is based in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information visit https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/
MEDIA CONTACT:
Erik Schrader | WANF & WPCH Vice President/General Manager | (404) 325-4646 • Erik.Schrader@wanf.com
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