Atlanta-based Gray Media announced this morning that its flagship station, WANF Channel 46 (Atlanta News First) will be the new home of the Atlanta Hawks, starting this upcoming season.
The jointly announced agreement officially answers the question of where the NBA team would now land, since its former broadcast partner, FanDuel Sports Network South, folded earlier this year. Now, all non-nationally televised Hawks games will be seen on WANF, as well as the co-owned Peachtree Sports Network and Gray’s network of locally owned stations across the state. This brings Hawks basketball to Albany (WALB), Augusta (WRDW), Columbus (WTVM), Macon (WPGA), and Savannah (WTOC).
This will be the first time Hawks regular-season games will be seen on broadcast TV since 1994, when they aired on Ted Turner‘s WTBS, as well as a few other stations in Atlanta. They then migrated to regional cable network Fox Sports South, which would later become the ill-fated FanDuel regional network.
For Gray, the deal solidifies the company’s WANF as a local broadcast sports juggernaut, much like its co-owned station WPCH (when it was WTBS) became the home of the Hawks, Braves, and other live sports when it was owned by Turner Broadcasting System. WANF and co-owned WPCH now have arrangements with the Hawks, Braves, Dream, and, just recently announced a deal with ESPN to simulcast
Falcons games to the Atlanta market. Atlanta United has a blanket MLS deal with Apple TV.
“This partnership is a reflection of what Gray Media does best-serving our communities with the content they care about most,” said Gray Media Chairman and CEO Hilton H. Howell, in a statement. “Atlanta is one of the premier sports cities in the country, and we are proud to give Hawks fans across Georgia the most accessible, free viewing experience possible. This is a significant moment for our stations and the fans we serve.”
In addition to the regular season games, which will now be seen on WANF, three preseason and some national games will also air there as well.
WANF aired 13 games during the 2025-26 season, and landed, according to Gray, more than 1.5 times the ratings of the other local games aired elsewhere.
WANF went all out to promote the Hawks’ move to the former CBS affiliate this morning. The team’s mascot, Harry the Hawk, paid an early visit to the station’s headquarters, along with the Hawks’ cheerleaders. The news team was sporting Hawks jerseys on air, celebrating the team’s move to their station. The station even temporarily changed its moniker to “AHF: Atlanta Hawks First”.
“WANF has always been committed to Atlanta, and this partnership takes that commitment to a new level,” said WANF/WPCH general manager Erik Schrader. “A huge advantage of being independent is we can carry even more Hawks games than we’ve been able to do previously, as we continue to bring Atlanta -centric programming to our Atlanta viewers. We can’t wait to tip off the 2026-27 season.”
As for the Hawks, the team is relishing the new relationship with an Atlanta-based company and the improved access to local fans it provides.
Hawks CEO Steve Koonin and president of business enterprise and chief commercial officer Andrew Saltzman went on WZGC’s The Steak House with Steak Shapiro and Sandra Golden to discuss the new deal. Koonin said that having the ability for fans to see the games free of charge without the need for cable, streaming, or apps and their pricey and complicated subscriptions was paramount to the deal.
“Our mantra is ‘True to Atlanta,'” said Koonin. “How can we have all of our fans watch all of our games. And so what we did was simple, we put it on free over the air [on WANF].”
Hawks fans faced years of frustration because the games were seen on FanDuel, which struggled to get coverage on many popular streaming networks like Hulu or YouTubeTV. Those who didn’t have Xfinity or the few streamers that carried FanDuel were shut out of the games. Hawks games now being seen on free over-the-air TV ends that issue. There are also plans to launch a direct-to-consumer free streaming channel for the Hawks.
But for the Hawks, the opportunity to develop more creative opportunities with this new pact was another reason to join Gray. As part of the deal, Gray will help develop sholder Hawks oriented content that features lifestyle and entertainment involving the team, similar to the arrangement the Atlanta Falcons have with their broadcast flagship, WAGA Fox 5 (examples: Dirty Bird Report, Rise Up Tonight)
“It’s endless possiblities and the great news is that we have a partner that wants to help produce and create this programming with us,” said Saltzman to Shapiro.
Koonin, a former Turner executive, also told WANF Sports Director Baillie Burnmaster that recent changes in how viewers watch TV have brought live sports full circle, from pay TV back to free TV.
“The industry is changing,” he said. “I think going back to where television became the most popular activity, broadcast TV, here we are, here’s our game.”
Atlanta Hawks Facebook post with Harry The Hawk.
One issue that hasn’t been settled yet is who will be the broadcast team for the new Hawks games. There has been speculation that Bob Rathbun and Dominique Wilkins will continue as play callers, but Hawks and Gray executives say decisions are currently being made on talent and will be finalized and announced later. Salzman said that talent and crew from Gray could supplement the incoming staff as well.
According to Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal, the Hawks will be getting a lower rights fee payment, from $8 to $20 million with Gray, instead of the $30 million they got with Main Street Sports Group, the parent company of FanDuel Sports South. The Hawks will supplement their revenues by increasing reach, merchandise, ticketing, and advertising revenues. Gray will handle local and national advertising sales for the games.
The official start of the Hawks’ season on WANF begins in October.
Updated from an earlier post.
