Bears, FOX43 Announce Expanded TV Schedule for 2023-24 Season

October 11, 2023

The 2023 Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears and WPMT FOX43 have announced the preliminary television broadcast schedule for the 2023-24 season.

For the fourth straight year, FOX43 and the Bears have partnered to bring the action to homes across Central Pennsylvania. The expanded partnership will see FOX43 televise more games than ever before, including increased coverage from the road as all six of the club's road games at Lehigh Valley will be televised this season. Nine home games from GIANT Center are scheduled, including the club's home opener and Calder Cup Banner Raising Ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 14 versus Belleville. Additional road games are expected to be added at a later date, and fans are asked to check HersheyBears.com and FOX43.com for the latest television schedule.

Select games are slated to air in high definition on the station's main channel, available to anyone in the region with an antenna, digital tuner, cable subscription, or streaming service that includes local channels. Additional broadcasts will air on the station's digital channel, Antenna TV, WPMT 43.2. GIANT is the presenting sponsors of game broadcasts.

The following games will be televised in partnership with FOX43:
Saturday, Oct. 14 vs. Belleville, 7 p.m. on Antenna TV 
Sunday, Oct. 15 vs. Cleveland, 5 p.m. on Antenna TV
Saturday, Nov. 11 at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. on Antenna TV
Sunday, Nov. 12 vs. Lehigh Valley, 3 p.m. on Antenna TV
Sunday, Dec. 10 vs. Charlotte, 5 p.m. on FOX43
Saturday, Dec. 30 at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. on Antenna TV
Sunday, Jan. 7 vs. Lehigh Valley, 3 p.m. on Antenna TV
Saturday, Jan. 13 at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. on Antenna TV
Wednesday, Jan. 31 at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. on Antenna TV
Friday, Feb. 2 at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m. on Antenna TV
Saturday, Feb. 3 vs. Bridgeport, 7 p.m. on FOX43
Saturday, Feb. 10 at Springfield, 7:05 p.m. on Antenna TV
Sunday, Mar. 3 at Lehigh Valley, 3:05 p.m. on Antenna TV
Sunday, Mar. 17 vs. Hartford, 5 p.m. on Antenna TV
Friday, Mar. 22 at Cleveland, 7 p.m. on Antenna TV
Saturday, Mar. 23 at Cleveland, 7 p.m. on Antenna TV
Sunday, Apr. 14 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 5 p.m. on Antenna TV
Saturday, Apr. 20 vs. Charlotte Checkers, 7 p.m. on Antenna TV

Dates and channels are subject to change. Additional road game broadcasts will be added at a later date.

Tickets to Hershey Bears home games are available online via Ticketmaster, and fans will want to be part of the action at GIANT Center this season. If you cannot make the game, be sure to join us on FOX43 and Antenna TV this season.

Joining the FOX43 broadcast team is former Hershey Bears captain Garrett Mitchell, who will provide color commentary alongside the award-winning Voice of the Bears, Zack Fisch. Mitchell played 400 games for the Chocolate and White from 2010-18 and announced his retirement this summer after playing the past four seasons for the Rockford IceHogs.

Fisch and Mitchell will team up with esteemed FOX43 Sports Director Todd Sadowski, who will provide rinkside analysis and in-game reporting. Sadowski has covered the Bears for over 20 years, reporting on the team's 2006, 2009, 2010, and 2023 Calder Cup Championships. He provided commentary and interviews from the ice in Coachella Valley following Hershey's Game 7 win to claim the Calder Cup in June.

FOX43 reporters Andrew Kalista, Lyndsay Barna, Evan Brooks, and Alex Cawley will provide additional coverage while FOX43's Ed Albert will serve as producer for all games, working with Hershey's Great Save Productions on home broadcasts. 

Last season, FOX43 televised the club's run to the Calder Cup, seeing ratings reach an all-time high. For the organization's work, they were selected as the recipient of the American Hockey League's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for the 2022-23 season. This prestigious honor is presented annually in recognition of outstanding media coverage of the American Hockey League. 

Televised Bears games will continue to be heard on the Bears Radio Network and via the Bears Mobile app as all games will be simulcast. Games will also be available on the AHL's streaming video platform, AHLTV.

WPMT FOX43 is Central Pennsylvania's FOX station serving Harrisburg, York, Lancaster, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and surrounding areas. Owned by TEGNA Inc., FOX43 is the area's leader for local and national sports coverage. In addition to the Bears, the station carries the NFL on FOX, MLB on FOX, NASCAR on FOX as well as local high school football pregame show, The FOX43 High School Football Frenzy. FOX43 is also Central PA's official Philadelphia Eagles station carrying both preseason and regular season games.

Antenna TV may be found on WPMT 43.2, Xfinity Ch. 247 and 1178, Verizon FiOS Ch. 463, Blue Ridge Ephrata Ch. 91, and Blue Ridge Newberry/Duncannon Ch. 88.

In addition to television broadcasts of games, the organizations will partner to feature regular Hershey Bears content on the FOX43 Sunday Sports Frenzy show, which airs Sunday evenings at 11 p.m. as well as digital content online and via social media.