The broadcast group renews all 28 of its Alphabet Net affiliates in 25 markets.
The newly acquired stations will manage their national ad sales in-house like the rest of Gray’s stations.
The station group will exclusively use Comscore’s local TV currency in 80 of its 91 markets.
In wrapping up its $3.6 billion purchase of Raycom Media, it expands its footprint to 91 markets and 24% of TV homes. In connection with the merger, Gray and Raycom also completed the divestitures of nine stations in overlap markets to Tegna, Scripps and Lockwood.
Tegna Completes Purchase Of WTOL, KWES
It closes on the $105 million purchase from Gray Television of the CBS affiliate in Toledo and the NBC affiliate in Midland-Odessa, Texas.
Hilton Howell, Gray Television chairman, president and CEO, had a holiday present for the group’s employees that he conveyed in a Dec. 21 email to Gray GMs and VPs.
Exclusives
The $3.6 billion merger creates another TV mega-group with stations in 92 markets reaching 24% of TV homes (or 17% with the UHF discount the FCC uses in calculating compliance with its 39% ownership cap).
In an email to media agencies obtained by TVNewsCheck, Gray VP of National Sales Becky Meyer says it will allow its current contract with Nielsen to expire on Dec. 31 because “it does not have sufficient confidence in the new methodology.”
Gray and Raycom must divest television stations in nine markets to receive approval of the $3.6 billion merger.
Gray Opens Newly Renovated KNOE Facility
The $4 million renovation of Gray’s CBS affiliate in Monroe, La., is the latest milestone in the station’s 65-year history.
Gray’s Third Quarter Revenue Climbs 28%
The increase to $279.3 million comes from higher retrans revenue and increased political ad money. Both local and national revenue were again down by single digits.
To accommodate the hearing impaired, the FCC requires stations to caption news and other live programming that they broadcast with minimal delays between the audio and captions. Some broadcasters would like to go beyond the regulatory mandate and caption all the programming they put on digital media. Automated captioning, helped by artificial intelligence, is closing in on making that a real possibility.
The $500 million in notes are being offered to finance — together with cash on hand and anticipated debt facilities and indebtedness of Gray — the acquisition of Raycom Media.
The broadcaster wants to replace its existing priority revolving credit facility with a new five-year revolving credit facility and amend its current term loan.
Gray President-CEO Hilton Howell: “Our station footprint spans the entire U.S. and nearly all of the most politically contested areas in this cycle. We are therefore uniquely positioned to offer valuable, unbiased insights into how the makeup of Congress might shift this election.”
NCTA: Gray Hasn’t Made Case For Duopoly
Cable operators not looking for a boost in broadcaster retrans leverage have told the FCC that Gray Television has not made a case for being allowed to own two of the top four stations in Honolulu. Gray is seeking to retain both stations in its deal to buy another high-rated station in the market. Gray in June struck a deal, subject to FCC approval, to buy Raycom for $3.6 billion.
The station group reups deals for stations in 26 markets that were set to expire at the end of this year.
College Sells KNCT License To Gray
The Central Texas College Board of Trustees voted Tuesday to move forward in assigning the broadcasting license of KNCT Waco, Texas, to Gray Television for $375,000. The college voted in February to pull the plug on the PBS station rather than move in the FCC’s spectrum repack. Gray also owns Waco CBS affiliate KWTX.
The CBS affiliate is being bought by Marquee Broadcasting, which already owns independent WSST in the market. The sale is the first of nine spin-offs of stations in duopoly markets that Gray pledged to make to clear the way at the FCC for its $3.6 billion aquisition of Raycom.
Mel Watson Named WTVG News Director
The Ohio news veteran will lead Gray’s CBS affiliate in Toledo, Ohio.
Gray To Acquire WFFP/WLHG-CD Roanoke
WFFP will be rebranded WZBJ and operated as a duopoly with Gray’s WDBJ.
Gray Aims For A Hole In One In Augusta
The new 30,000-square-foot home under construction for WRDW-WAGT, Gray’s CBS-NBC duopoly in Augusta, Ga., will do more than house the latest tech and workflows, it will also serve as a “billboard” to remind the locals to tune in, as well as a classy venue for schmoozing Gray advertisers and investors, especially during the annual Masters golf tournament.
Gray Core Slips, But Overall Outlook Is Strong
Gray EVP Kevin Latek said that Gray has received “very strong interest” in the nine stations that Gray said it would spin off from the Raycom merger to comply with the FCC local ownership limits. The interest has come from established broadcasters and new entrants. “We expect to finalize the divestiture agreements and get them to the FCC and the antitrust division for review by the end of this month.”
Gray’s Second Quarter Revenue Climbs 10%
The increase to $250.3 million comes from higher retrans revenue and higher political ad money.
An Alabama law firm that advertised on television is accusing the six biggest owners of TV stations — Sinclair Broadcast Group, Tribune Media, Gray Television, Hearst Corp., Nexstar Media Group and Tegna — of scheming to artificially inflate the price of ads, according to a new antitrust class action lawsuit.
The new 30,000-square-foot operation will house the group’s WRDW and WAGT and is slated to launch late next year.
The American Television Alliance tells the FCC that Gray Television shouldn’t be allowed to buy KDLT because it already owns KSFY in the South Dakota market and duopoly ownership of two top-four affiliates would give Gray too much retrans negotiating power.
Each of these four individuals succeeds a regional VP-GM who, until now, have been running a local station as well as overseeing additional Gray television stations. The former RVPs will now oversee Gray television stations on a full-time basis in the new position of television vice presidents.
The three are the latest station groups that will employ end-to-end technology powered by automated intelligence to advance marketing solutions.
The seventh annual Devoncroft Executive Summit on April 8 in Las Vegas features a TV broadcasting panel where Brian Lawlor, E.W. Scripps Co.; Kevin Latek, Gray Television; and Steven Pruett, Sinclair Broadcast Group, will discuss what broadcasters are doing to make sure their medium adapts and prospers and how it fits into the larger TV firmament.
Compensation: No Bonuses For Gray Execs
The company’s record revenue results in 2017 were the result of having newly acquired stations in the lineup, which didn’t activate bonuses. But that didn’t mean Hilton Howell Jr., James Ryan and Kevin Latek were hurting — they all got stock rewards.
According to most pure-play station groups, this recent sluggishness by auto dealers has been replicated in their automotive advertising sales, which typically account for around a quarter of their spot revenue. However, some group execs see things improving as the year progresses.
2018 Could See A Billion $hades Of Gray
In its earnings call Tuesday, the NBC-heavy group says this time next year it’s likely to be reporting revenue topping $1 billion, aided by Super Bowl, Olympics plus 20% higher retrans.
Gray Reports 4Q Revenue Down 15%
The drop to $234 million comes from lower political that wasn’t offset by increases in local (13%) and national (29%) advertising as well as a 34% boost in retransmission consent money.
The local television business continues to rapidly change with acquisition, consolidation and a push towards new digital streams. With 100 stations across 57 television markets and over 7,200 hours of monthly original local content, Gray Television’s Hilton Howell is no stranger to these shifts.
The station group is purchasing the CBS affiliate from Mark III Media. The price wasn’t disclosed. The move follows the news last week of Gray’s agreement to buy KCPM Fargo, N.D.
The owner of the market’s NBC affiliate is buying KCPM, currently an MNT affiliate.
Gray Television said Wednesday it completed its previously announced public offering of 17.25 million shares of its common stock at $14.50 per share. Gross proceeds were approximately $250.1 million. It said it will use the money “for general corporate purposes, and such net proceeds may be used from time to time for, among other things, repayment of outstanding debt, capital expenditures, the financing of possible future business expansions and acquisitions, increasing our working capital and the financing of ongoing operating expenses and overhead.”
Gray Television announced Wednesday that it has priced its previously announced public offering of 15 million shares of common stock at $14.50 per share. The offering is expected to close on Dec. 4. Gross proceeds are expected to be approximately $217.5 million (or approximately $250.1 million if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares). Gray said it intends to use the proceeds for, among other things, repayment of outstanding debt, capital expenditures, financing possible business expansions and acquisitions, increasing working capital and financing ongoing operating expenses and overhead.
Gray Television on Monday said it has underwritten a public offering of 15 million shares of common stock. In addition, Gray said it expects to grant the underwriters an option for 30 days to purchase up to an additional 2.25 million shares. It said it expects to use the money raised to purchase additional shares for general corporate purposes.
