Gray Television Q1 Revenue Rises 3%

Gray Television this morning announced that total revenue for the first quarter of 2024 came in at $823 million, an increase of 3% from Q1 2023.

That revenue total comprised:

• Core advertising revenue (excluding political) was $374 million, an increase of 4% from a year ago. In the first quarter of 2024, it earned approximately $18 million of net revenue from the broadcast of the Super Bowl on its 54 CBS channels compared to an aggregate of $6 million of net revenue relating to the broadcast of the Super Bowl on its 27 Fox stations during the first quarter of 2023.
• Political advertising revenue of $27 million, up 238%.
• Retransmission consent revenue of $381 million, down 4%.
• Production companies revenue of $21 million, down 64%.
• Other of $19 million, flat from the year-ago quarter.

Total broadcasting expenses were $583 million, up 5%.

The company said: “Overall, we believe that our businesses have started 2024 in a strong position. The first quarter of 2024 produced strong core advertising results, including $372 million in core advertising revenue, an increase of $15 million or 4% compared to 2023. Our core advertising business has more than fully recovered from the pandemic, with core advertising revenues 3% higher in the first quarter of 2024 than the corresponding quarter of the pre-pandemic year of 2019. Our first quarter results benefited from continued strong advertiser demand for our local content including numerous professional sporting events on our stations, from the Super Bowl to local packages of NBA games. We believe these solid results are attributable to real-world confidence among advertisers and businesses in local markets who rely on our high-quality television stations to reach local audiences.

“Our portfolio and strong local news stations is positioned well to capitalize on competitive political races in dozens of markets across the country, although we do not yet have sufficient visibility to provide guidance for political advertising revenue for the full year.  We continue to anticipate strong political advertising revenues for the full year that will materialize later in the year than they historically have done. Consistent with expectations, we are currently guiding for political advertising revenue in the second quarter of 2024 to range between 55% and 72% higher than the second quarter of 2020.

“On February 8, 2024, we received $110 million in pre-tax cash proceeds from the closing of the previously announced sale of Broadcast Music, Inc. (“BMI”). Fifty million dollars of the net proceeds from the sale of BMI were used to pay in full the amount then outstanding under our Revolving Credit Facility. Also, in addition to our required minimum principal payments that were paid during the first quarter, on April 1, 2024, we used a further $50 million of cash on hand to voluntarily pre-pay additional portions of our outstanding term loans.

“On February 16, 2024, we completed an extension and upsizing of our revolving credit facility. Due to strong demand, our banking group increased their commitments to our revolving credit facilities to $625 million, which includes a new $552.5 million revolving credit facility maturing on December 31, 2027, and $72.5 million facility maturing on December 1, 2026.

“On May 6, 2024, our Board of Directors authorized us to use up to $250 million of available liquidity to repurchase our outstanding indebtedness through December 31, 2025. The extent of such repurchases, including the amount and timing of any repurchases, will depend on general market conditions, regulatory requirements, alternative investment opportunities and other considerations. This repurchase program does not require us to repurchase a minimum amount of debt, and it may be modified, suspended or terminated at any time without prior notice.”

Read the company’s report here.