Gray Television
 | |
| Public | |
| Traded as | NYSE: GTN |
| Industry | Broadcast television |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Headquarters |
Atlanta, Georgia, Albany, Georgia |
Area served | United States (Nationwide) |
Key people | Hilton Howell (President) |
| Products | 77 terrestrial TV stations |
| Revenue | $508 million USD (2014) |
Number of employees | 2,086 |
| Website |
www |
Gray Television is a television broadcast company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1946 by James Harrison Gray, a New Englander who moved to Southwest Georgia, he formed Gray Communications Systems (now Gray Television) which has grown since 1993 into a modern-day, successful television group based out of Atlanta, Georgia through a series of acquisitions ranging from 1993-2014.
Gray Television owns and/or operates 77 television stations in 44 television markets broadcasting 140 program streams including 76 affiliates of the Big Four networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox). Gray Television's owned and/or operated stations include 26 channels affiliated with the CBS Network, 24 channels affiliated with the NBC Network, 16 channels affiliated with the ABC Network and 10 channels affiliated with the Fox Network.
The combined station group owns and operates the number-one ranked television station in 28 of those 44 markets and the number-one or number-two ranked television station operations in 41 of those 44 markets. The combined TV Station Group reaches approximately 8.1 percent of total United States television households.
History
In 2006, the company spun off its five daily newspapers and wireless messaging business into the newly formed Triple Crown Media, which subsequently merged with Host Communications.
On July 30, 2009, Gray Television was awarded a contract to manage seven Young Broadcasting-owned stations. Through December 31, 2012, Gray would earn $2.2 million and an opportunity to earn additional specified incentive fees if certain performance targets were exceeded.[1][2][3]
On November 4, 2013, Gray Television announced that it would purchase Yellowstone Holdings for $23 million, adding local stations: KGNS-TV, KGWN, KCWY, and KCHY-LP.[4] Three weeks later, on November 20, Gray announced it would purchase Hoak Media and Parker Broadcasting for $335 million, and North Dakota's Fox affiliate KNDX/KXND for $7.5 million. As part of the deal, stations KAQY, KHAS-TV, and KXJB, were proposed to be sold to Excalibur Broadcasting and operated by Gray under a "local marketing agreements".[5] On December 19, it was announced that stations KREX-TV and WMBB would be sold to Nexstar Broadcasting Group, while KFQX would be sold to Mission Broadcasting.[6] On March 25, 2014, Prime Cities Broadcasting, owner of KNDX/KXND, requested that the FCC dismiss the sale of KNDX/KXND to Excalibur.[7]
The sale was completed on June 13, 2014. However, some stations were forced to go off the air and their programming was moved to a multicast stream on adjacent channels, due to some stations unable to receive regulatory approval, after FCC recent ruling on joint sales agreements. Those silent stations would then be sold off to minority interest, pending FCC approval.[8][9]
On July 24, 2014, SJL Broadcasting announced that it would sell WJRT-TV, WTVG and WT05 to Gray, for $128 million.[10][11] The sale was completed on September 15.[12]
In September 2015, Gray announced that it would acquire the television and radio stations of Schurz Communications for $442.5 million.[13][14] It also purchased KCRG-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from the locally owned Gazette Company, who owned the station from its sign-on in 1953.[15][16]
Owned and operated television stations
(Stations arranged alphabetically by state and by city of license).
Notes:
- (++) – Indicates a station previously owned by Benedek Broadcasting. All stations, except for KGWN/KSTF and KOSA, were acquired by Gray in 2002.
- (¤¤) – Indicates a station owned by Hoak Media prior to its acquisition by Gray in 2014.
- (§§) – Indicates a station owned by Schurz Communications, prior to its acquisition by Gray in 2016.
| City of license / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Owned Since | Network Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dothan, Alabama | WTVY ++ | 4 (36) | 2002 | CBS MyNetworkTV (DT2) The CW (DT3) |
| WRGX-LD | 23 (23) | 2013 | NBC | |
| Anchorage, Alaska | KTUU-TV §§ | 2 (10) | 2016 | NBC |
| Colorado Springs, Colorado | KKTV ++ | 11 (49) | 2002 | CBS MyNetworkTV (DT2) |
| Grand Junction, Colorado | KJCT-LP | 8 (20) | 2013 | ABC The CW (DT2) |
| KKCO | 11 (12) | 2005 | NBC MeTV (DT2) Telemundo (DT3) | |
| Panama City, Florida | WJHG-TV | 7 (8) | 1960 | NBC The CW (DT2) |
| WECP-LD | 18 (18) | 2012 | CBS MyNetworkTV (DT2) | |
| Augusta, Georgia | WRDW-TV | 12 (12) | 1996 | CBS MyNetworkTV (DT2) Antenna TV (DT3) |
| WAGT §§ | 26 (30) | 2016 | NBC | |
| Thomasville, Georgia - Tallahassee, Florida | WCTV | 6 (46) | 1996 | CBS MyNetworkTV/This TV (DT2) |
| Valdosta, Georgia - Albany, Georgia | WSWG (Semi-satellite of WCTV) |
44 (43) | 2005 | CBS MyNetworkTV (DT2) The CW (DT3) |
| Twin Falls, Idaho | KMVT | 11 (11) | 2015 | CBS The CW (DT2) |
| KSVT-LD | 14 (14) | 2015 | Fox/MyNetworkTV | |
| Freeport - Rockford, Illinois | WIFR ++ | 23 (41) | 2002 | CBS Antenna TV (DT2) |
| South Bend, Indiana | WNDU-TV | 16 (42) | 2006 | NBC Antenna TV (DT2) |
| Cedar Rapids, Iowa | KCRG-TV | 9 (9) | 2015 | ABC MyNetworkTV (DT2) Antenna TV (DT3) |
| Topeka, Kansas | WIBW-TV ++ | 13 (13) | 2002 | CBS MyNetworkTV/MeTV (DT2) |
| Hutchinson - Wichita, Kansas | KWCH-DT §§ | 12 (19) | 2016 | CBS |
| KSCW-DT §§ | 33 (12) | 2016 | The CW | |
| KDCU-DT | 31 (31) | 1 | Univision | |
| Ensign, Kansas | KBSD-DT §§ (satellite of KWCH-DT) |
6 (6) | 2016 | CBS |
| Goodland, Kansas | KBSL-DT §§ (satellite of KWCH-DT) |
10 (10) | 2016 | CBS |
| Hays, Kansas | KBSH-DT §§ (satellite of KWCH-DT) |
7 (7) | 2016 | CBS |
| Bowling Green, Kentucky | WBKO ++ | 13 (13) | 2002 | ABC Fox (DT2) The CW (DT3) |
| Lexington, Kentucky | WKYT-TV | 27 (36) | 1993 | CBS The CW (DT2) |
| Hazard, Kentucky | WYMT-TV (Semi-satellite of WKYT) |
57 (12) | 1993 | CBS This TV (DT2) |
| Alexandria, Louisiana | KALB-TV ¤¤ | 5 (35) | 2014 | NBC CBS (DT2) |
| Monroe, Louisiana | KNOE-TV ¤¤ | 8 (8) | 2014 | CBS ABC (DT2) The CW (DT3) |
| Presque Isle, Maine | WAGM-TV | 8 (8) | 2015 | Fox CBS (DT2) |
| Flint - Saginaw, Michigan | WJRT-TV | 12 (12) | 2014 | ABC MeTV (DT2) Weathernation (DT3) |
| Onondaga - Lansing, Michigan | WILX-TV ++ | 10 (10) | 2002 | NBC Weathernation (DT2) Antenna TV (DT3) |
| Marquette, Michigan | WLUC-TV | 6 (35) | 2016 | NBC Fox (DT2) |
| Meridian, Mississippi | WTOK-TV ++ | 11 (11) | 2002 | ABC MyNetworkTV (DT2) The CW (DT3) |
| Springfield, Missouri | KYTV §§ | 3 (44) | 2016 | NBC |
| KYCW-LD §§ | 15 (15) | 2016 | The CW | |
| K17DL-D §§ | 17 (17) | 2 | Independent | |
| KSPR | 33 (19) | 3 | ABC | |
| Washington - Greenville, North Carolina | WITN-TV | 7 (32) | 1997 | NBC MyNetworkTV (DT2) MeTV (DT3) |
| Lincoln, Nebraska | KOLN | 10 (10) | 1998 | CBS NBC (DT2) |
| Grand Island, Nebraska | KGIN (Satellite of KOLN) |
11 (11) | 1998 | CBS NBC (DT2) |
| Superior, Nebraska | KSNB-TV | 4 (4) | 2013 | NBC MyNetworkTV/MeTV (DT2) |
| North Platte, Nebraska | KNOP-TV ¤¤ | 2 (2) | 2014 | NBC Fox (DT2) |
| KNPL-LD (Semi-satellite of KOLN) |
10 (25) | 1998 | CBS | |
| KIIT-CA ¤¤ | 11 | 2014 | Fox | |
| Omaha, Nebraska | WOWT ++ | 6 (22) | 2002 | NBC |
| Reno, Nevada | KOLO-TV | 8 (8) | 2002 | ABC |
| Bismarck, North Dakota | KFYR-TV ¤¤ | 5 (31) | 2014 | NBC Fox (DT2) MeTV (DT3) |
| Dickinson, North Dakota | KQCD-TV ¤¤ (Satellite of KFYR) |
7 (7) | 2014 | NBC Fox (DT2) MeTV (DT3) |
| Minot, North Dakota | KMOT ¤¤ (Semi-satellite of KFYR) |
10 (10) | 2014 | NBC Fox (DT2) MeTV (DT3) |
| Williston, North Dakota | KUMV-TV ¤¤ (Satellite of KMOT) |
8 (8) | 2014 | NBC Fox (DT2) MeTV (DT3) |
| Fargo - Grand Forks, North Dakota | KVLY-TV ¤¤ | 11 (44) | 2014 | NBC CBS (DT2) MeTV (DT3) |
| Toledo, Ohio | WTVG | 13 (13) | 2014 | ABC The CW (DT2) Weathernation (DT3) |
| Rapid City, South Dakota | KOTA-TV | 3 (7) | 2014 | ABC |
| KEVN-LD | 7 (23) | 2015 | Fox | |
| Lead, South Dakota | KHSD-TV (Satellite of KOTA-TV) |
5 (5) | 2014 | ABC |
| Sioux Falls, South Dakota | KSFY-TV ¤¤ | 13 (13) | 2014 | ABC The CW (DT2) |
| Aberdeen, South Dakota | KABY-TV ¤¤ (Satellite of KSFY) |
9 (9) | 2014 | ABC The CW (DT2) |
| Pierre, South Dakota | KPRY-TV ¤¤ (Satellite of KSFY) |
4 (19) | 2014 | ABC The CW (DT2) |
| Knoxville, Tennessee | WVLT-TV | 8 (30) | 1996 | CBS MyNetworkTV (DT2) |
| WBXX-TV | 20 (20) | 2016 | The CW | |
| Laredo, Texas | KGNS-TV | 8 (8) | 2013 | NBC ABC (DT2) Telemundo (DT3) |
| KYLX-LD | 13 (13) | 2015 | CBS The CW (DT2) | |
| Odessa - Midland, Texas | KOSA-TV ++ | 7 (7) | 2015 | CBS MyNetworkTV (DT2) |
| Sherman, Texas | KXII | 12 (12) | 1999 | CBS MyNetworkTV (DT2) Fox (DT3) |
| Waco, Texas | KWTX-TV | 10 (10) | 1999 | CBS The CW (DT2) |
| Bryan, Texas | KBTX-TV (Semi-satellite of KWTX) |
3 (50) | 1999 | CBS The CW (DT2) |
| Charlottesville, Virginia | WVAW-LD ++ | 16 (16) | 2002 | ABC |
| WCAV | 19 (19) | 2004 | CBS | |
| WAHU-CD | 27 (40) | 2005 | Fox MyNetworkTV/This TV (DT2) | |
| Harrisonburg, Virginia | WHSV-TV ++ | 3 (49) | 2002 | ABC MyNetworkTV/MeTV (DT4) |
| WSVF-CD | 43 (43) | 2012 | Fox CBS (DT2) | |
| Roanoke - Lynchburg, Virginia | WDBJ §§ | 7 (18) | 2016 | CBS MyNetworkTV (DT2) |
| Eau Claire/La Crosse, Wisconsin | WEAU | 13 (38) | 1998 | NBC The Local AccuWeather Channel (DT2) Antenna TV (DT3) |
| Madison, Wisconsin | WMTV ++ | 15 (19) | 2002 | NBC WeatherNation TV (DT2) Antenna TV (DT3) |
| Wausau, Wisconsin | WSAW-TV ++ | 7 (7) | 2002 | CBS MyNetworkTV (DT2) |
| WZAW-LD | 55 (33) | 2015 | Fox MeTV (DT2) Movies! (DT3) | |
| Huntington - Charleston, West Virginia - Portsmouth, Ohio |
WSAZ-TV | 3 (23) | 2005 | NBC MyNetworkTV (DT2) |
| WQCW | 30 (17) | 2014 | The CW | |
| Parkersburg, West Virginia | WTAP-TV ++ | 15 (49) | 2002 | NBC |
| WOVA-LD | 22 (22) | 2012 | Fox | |
| WIYE-LD | 47 (47) | 2012 | CBS MyNetworkTV (DT2) | |
| Casper, Wyoming | KCWY-DT | 13 (13) | 2013 | NBC The CW (DT2) |
| Sheridan, Wyoming | KSGW-TV §§ (satellite of KHME) |
12 (13) | 2016 | ABC |
| Cheyenne, Wyoming | KGWN-TV ++ | 5 (30) | 2013 | CBS The CW (DT3) |
| KCHY-LP (Satellite of KCWY) |
13 | 2013 | NBC, also on DT2 of KGWN | |
| Scottsbluff, Nebraska | KDUH-TV §§ (Satellite of KHME) |
4 (7) | 2016 | ABC |
| KSTF ++ (Semi-satellite of KGWN) |
10 (29) | 2013 | CBS | |
Other Notes:
- 1 Owned by Entravision Communications, Gray operates KDCU-DT under a joint sales agreement, with sister stations KWCH & KSCW.
- 2 Owned by Branson Visitors TV; Gray holds a 50.1% interest in this company.
- 3 Owned by Schurz Communications, Gray operates KSPR under a shared sales agreement, with sister stations KYTV.
Former stations
| City of license / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Years Owned | Current Ownership Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Dorado, Arkansas - Monroe, Louisiana | KTVE | 10 (27) | 1967-1996 | NBC affiliate owned by Mission Broadcasting (operated through a LMA by Nexstar Broadcasting Group) |
| KAQY | 11 (11) | 2 | MeTV affiliate, KMLU, owned by Legacy Broadcasting | |
| Albany, Georgia | WALB-TV 1 | 10 (10) | 1954-1998 | NBC affiliate owned by Raycom Media |
| Wichita, Kansas | KAKE ++ | 10 (10) | 2002-2016 | ABC affiliate owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group |
| Colby, Kansas | KLBY ++ (Satellite of KAKE) |
4 (17) | 2002-2016 | ABC affiliate owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group |
| Garden City, Kansas | KUPK ++ (Satellite of KAKE) |
13 (13) | 2002-2016 | ABC affiliate owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group |
| Helena, Montana | KMTF | 10 (29) | 2014-2015 | PBS member station, KUHM-TV, owned by Montana State University |
| KTVH-DT | 12 (12) | 2014-2015 | NBC affiliate owned by Cordillera Communications | |
| Fargo, North Dakota | KXJB-TV | 4 (38) | 2 | Cozi TV affiliate, KRDK-TV, owned by Major Market Broadcasting |
| Grand Junction, Colorado | KJCT 3 | 8 (7) | 2013-2014 | Cozi TV affiliate, KGBY, owned by Chang Media Group |
| Winchester, Virginia | TV3 Winchester 4 | 3 (Cable Only) |
2007-2013 | defunct |
Notes:
- 1 Former flagship station
- 2 Owned by Parker Broadcasting, Gray operated KAQY & KXJB under a shared services agreement, with sister stations KNOE & KVLY, respectively.
- 3 Owned by Excalibur Broadcasting, Gray operated KJCT under a Local marketing agreement, with sister station, KKCO.
- 4 TV-3 Winchester was Winchester, Virginia's cable-only ABC affiliate. The station is a joint operation of WHSV-TV of Harrisonburg, Virginia, and Shenandoah University, and appeared on cable systems located only in the northern Shenandoah Valley counties. The channel was also simulcasted on WHSV-DT3.
Management of Young Broadcasting stations
On July 22, 2009, a New York bankruptcy judge approved a plan transferring ownership of Young Broadcasting and its stations to the company's secured lenders. The plan included Gray Television coming in as an outside party and advise on operations of Young-owned stations in seven markets through December 2012. (The new Young Broadcasting still has final word on the stations' operations, including programming and personnel.)[1][3]
The Young-owned stations managed by Gray Television include:
- WKRN-TV in Nashville, Tennessee
- WTEN in Albany, New York and translator WCDC-TV in Adams, Massachusetts and a SSA with WXXA
- WRIC-TV in Richmond, Virginia
- WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin
- KWQC-TV in Davenport, Iowa
- KELO-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and its translators throughout South Dakota
- KLFY in Lafayette, Louisiana
Young Broadcasting would retain ownership of all of its stations, including three stations that Gray would not operate: KRON-TV in San Francisco, California, WATE-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee, and WLNS-TV in Lansing, Michigan, the latter two due to Gray already owning stations in those markets. Gray considered the possibility of purchasing the Young stations if they go on the market.[17]
The agreement ended without any further extensions on December 31, 2012, and Young agreed to a merger with Media General in mid-2013.
References
- 1 2 "Banks' Bid on Young Stations Clears Hurdle", from broadcastingcable.com, 7/22/2009
- ↑ "Gray to manage most Young stations", from rbr.com, 7/22/2009
- 1 2 Who's Really Running Young Broadcasting?" from tvnewscheck.com, 2/1/2011
- ↑ "Gray Buying Yellowstone Stations". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 4 November 2013.
- ↑ "Gray Buying Hoak, Prime Stations For $342.5M". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- ↑ Gray Sell Grand Junction Duop To Nexstar, "TVNewsCheck", 19 December 2013
- ↑ Paxson, Ann Thomas (March 25, 2014). "Re: Prime Cities Broadcasting, Inc. Request for Dismissal of Group Application for Assignment of Broadcast Station License(s)…" (PDF). CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
- ↑ Gray closes Hoak deal; completes refinancing., rbr.com, Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ↑ Press Release from Gray Television, 13June 2014
- ↑ "Gray Buys Stations in Flint, Toledo For $128M". TVNewsCheck. 24 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
- ↑ Baird, Kirk (29 August 2014). "TV in the news Channels 24, 13 expanding newscasts; CW13 to replace WT05". The Toledo Blade. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- ↑ Gray Closes on Flint, Toledo Station Buys, TVNewsCheck, Retrieved 15 September 2014
- ↑ "Schurz Communications to sell WSBT and other TV, radio stations". South Bend Tribune. September 14, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
- ↑ Kuperberg, Jonathan (September 14, 2015). "Gray Acquiring TV, Radio Stations from Schurz for $442.5 Million". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
- ↑ http://gray.tv/index.php?page=press-releases&releaseid=2084226
- ↑ "KCRG-TV9 sold to Gray Television", KCRG.com (Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Gazette Communications), September 1, 2015, retrieved September 1, 2015
- ↑ "Gray Sees Young Stations As Possible Buy", from tvnewscheck.com, 3/1/2011
External links
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