SWAC games are coming to free, over-the-air television. The Southwestern Athletic Conference, Triple B Media and Gray Media announced Oct. 20 that Gray stations will simulcast dozens of SWAC athletic events, adding local broadcast TV to the SWAC TV FAST channel that launched in September.

Gray stations in Huntsville, Ala., Montgomery, Ala., and Jackson, Miss., will air events from their local SWAC schools, including football, basketball, soccer, and other men’s and women’s sports. The announcement did not include a broadcast schedule or start date, and the conference directed fans to check local listings.

The announcement follows new viewership numbers for SWAC TV. On Oct. 6, Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland told FOX 54 sports director Mo Carter that more than 200,000 viewers watched the slate of college football games SWAC TV aired on Oct. 3, with about 5.5 million minutes watched live, not counting on-demand views.

Where the Games Will Air

The announcement named six Gray stations across three markets:

The release describes these as Gray markets with SWAC institutions and lists them as examples. It does not say whether stations in other markets will join, or how many events each station will carry.

Gray is headquartered in Atlanta and trades on the New York Stock Exchange. The company owns stations in 117 full-power television markets that together reach about 37% of U.S. television households, and it describes itself as the nation’s largest owner of top-rated local television stations.

“This collaboration shows Gray’s continued focus on free local sports for local viewers,” said Joshua Pila, Gray’s vice president of content acquisition. “We appreciate the forward-thinking of both SWAC and Triple B to reach fans everywhere.”

“We remain committed to making SWAC athletic events accessible to our fans through a variety of viewing options,” McClelland said. “We appreciate the continued efforts of our media partners to support the visibility of our member institutions and student-athletes.”

Another Layer on Top of SWAC TV

The simulcast marks SWAC TV’s second distribution expansion in about a month. The conference’s own streaming app launched Aug. 1, 2025, and on Sept. 19 a linear SWAC TV channel went live on Prime Video, Plex, Xumo Play, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV and Dingo TV. Triple B Media operates and distributes that channel. SWAC TV Expands to FAST Platforms, Adding Prime Video, Google TV and Four More walks through that launch and Triple B’s role.

Over-the-air broadcast reaches a different audience than either streaming option. Viewers with an antenna, or a cable or satellite package that includes their local stations, can watch without downloading an app or using a streaming device.

The new arrangement sits alongside the SWAC’s outside media partners, including ESPN, which will carry SWAC football and basketball through 2030-31. ESPN and the SWAC Extend Their Media Rights Deal Through 2030-31 lays out how those partnerships fit together. Financial terms of the Gray collaboration were not disclosed.

What the Oct. 3 Numbers Show

The Oct. 3 figures show a single week of SWAC TV’s audience. About 5.5 million live minutes in one football Saturday is roughly 9% of the more than 60 million minutes the platform logged across its entire first year, a total that covered about 480 events. McClelland: SWAC TV Topped 60 Million Minutes in Year One has the full first-year numbers.

The Oct. 3 count also excludes on-demand viewing, so total minutes for that slate would be higher.

Carter’s post did not say how many games were in the slate, which teams played, or whether the count includes viewing on the FAST channel platforms.

Data Driven HBCU covers the financial reality of HBCU athletics and conference operations using publicly available data and official announcements.

Sources

Southwestern Athletic Conference. “SWAC, Triple B Media, and Gray Media Collaborate to Bring Live SWAC Sports to Over-the-Air Television Viewers.” October 20, 2026.

Carter, Mo (@MoCarterFOX54). Post on X, October 6, 2026.