Improvement on the court led to improvement in the local TV ratings for the Hawks this season.

The average rating for Hawks regular-season telecasts on Bally Sports Southeast (formerly Fox Sports Southeast) was up 11% from the 2019-20 season, up 63% from the 2018-19 season and the highest since the pre-rebuild 2016-17 season.

The 71 Hawks games shown on BSSE this season averaged a 0.98 rating in the Atlanta TV market, translating to an audience of roughly 26,000 homes per game. That’s up from a 0.6 rating two seasons ago and a 0.88 rating last season, bucking a league-wide trend.

“In a season when two-thirds of NBA teams experienced ratings that were flat or down from last season, we are very pleased with the significant ratings growth the Hawks delivered this season,” said Jeff Genthner, senior vice president and general manager of Bally Sports South and Southeast. “Interest in the Hawks’ run for the playoffs surged during the last month of the season when ratings were up roughly 30% over the then year-to-date average.”

The eight Hawks telecasts in May averaged a 1.22 rating in the Atlanta market.

The rating represents the number of homes, out of every 100 in the market, tuned in to a telecast.

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Hawks television analyst Dominique Wilkins (left), along with play-by-play announcer Bob Rathbun, will call all three exhibition games. (David Zalubowski/AP 2021)

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