Gray Media is forming a new venture called Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network that will carry all of the locally televised games of the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans.

Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment will be anchored by Gray’s WVUE in New Orleans.

Also carrying Pelicans games over the air are Gray’s Louisiana stations in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Monroe and Alexandria. 

The games will also be on Gray’s stations in Biloxi, Jackson, Hattiesburg and Meridian, Mississippi, and Mobile, Alabama.

Gray and the Pelicans said the new network will reach 4.1 million households, 16 times its reach on the Bally Sports New Orleans regional network owned by bankrupt Diamond Sports Group.

Several teams have been abandoning cable-based regional sports networks in favor of local broadcasters.

“Gray Media is thrilled to be able to leverage our resources to connect our loyal viewers with the growing number of Pelicans fans across the Gulf South,” Gray Media chief operating officer Sandy Breland said. “The Pelicans are putting their fans first as now all fans will have the ability to watch the games free over-the-air or through any basic cable, satellite service, or streaming provider that carries the Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network.”

“This partnership with Gray Media represents our commitment to our fans, community, and partners across Louisiana and the Gulf South,” added Pelicans Governor Gayle Benson. “Our focus has been to make Pelicans games accessible to as many fans as possible, and this deal means that Pelicans games will now be available to millions of more fans with this free, over-the-air broadcast product.”    

In New Orleans, WVUE will air at least eight Pelicans regular season games and all available post-season games, with the remaining regular season games airing on the Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network. 

The first New Orleans Pelicans game will air live on WVUE and simulcast on GCSEN October 23 when the Pelicans take on the Chicago Bulls.

Gray Television reported higher net income for the second quarter, but warned that it expected revenues to be lower than expected for the full year.

“While we are overall pleased with our results in the second quarter, macro-economic and other factors largely beyond our control appear likely to result in somewhat lower revenues for the year than we previously anticipated,” the company said in its earnings announcement.

Gray  said core — or non-political — advertising revenues were $373 million in the second quarter, which was below the low end of the guidance previously provided by the company and down 2% from a year ago. For the third quarter, Gray anticipates core advertising being flat to up by low single digits.

“In light of results to date and political advertising revenues arriving later in the year than originally anticipated, we currently anticipate core advertising tevenues of approximately $1.525 billion for full-year 2024, down from our earlier guidance of $1.6 billion,” the company said.

Second quarter net income rose to $22 million from $4 million a year ago. 

Total revenue in the second quarter rose 2% to $826 million.

Political advertising revenue was $57 million, up front the $29 million the company registered in 2020, the last presidential election year.

Gray said it expects to see $180 million to $200 million in political ad Q2 was $371 million, 

Retransmission revenue fell 6% to $71 million.

The company said it expects retransmission consent revenues in the range of $365 million to $370 million for the third quarter and a total of approximately $1.475 billion for full-year 2024.

“While we have made good progress managing costs and expenses this year, our management team is redoubling its efforts to improve the efficiency of our stations and other businesses by both increasing revenues and by further managing operating costs, capital expenses and investment opportunities for the remainder of the year and beyond, the company said.

Gray Television has made a deal with Tegna and the Seattle Kraken to air Kraken National Hockey League games in two Alaska markets.

Tegna earlier made a deal to broadcast 70 regular season Kraken games on KING and KONG, its stations in Seattle, as well as KGW in Portland, Oregon, and KREM and KSKN in Spokane, Washington.

Gray’s KAUU Anchorage and KYEX Juneau will also air the games.

Tegna said additional broadcasters in Washington and Oregon are expected to be added to the Kraken broadcast network.

“Gray’s leading Alaskan television stations are proud to partner with the Kraken and Tegna to bring Kraken games to free over-the-air television in Anchorage and Juneau,” Sandy Breland, chief operating officer of Gray Media, said. “Gray’s stations and the Kraken are both a key part of the culture in the Pacific Northwest, making this a great win for viewers and fans.”

With cord-cutting contributing to the collapse of regional sports networks on cable, more leagues and teams are putting games on local broadcast stations, counting on getting added reach by putting games over the air.

 Also Read: Will Broadcast’s Local Sports Comeback Stand Up?

“We couldn’t be more excited or more proud to partner with Tegna and Gray Media to expand our broadcast reach into Anchorage and Juneau,” said Jeff Webster, chief commercial officer for the Seattle Kraken. “We’ve built an incredible relationship with the hockey community in Alaska over the years and it’s important that we continue to foster that connection. This partnership is another example of our commitment to making Kraken hockey accessible for our fans in Alaska and beyond.”

The Kraken will open the season by facing off against the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 8. 

“Our partnership with the Kraken is all about their passionate fans and delivering more games to more people in more homes,” Tegna senior VP, media operations Brad Ramsey said. “We are thrilled with the early momentum we are seeing from advertisers and sponsors in Seattle, Portland and Spokane, and grateful to our friends at Gray for helping us expand free over-the-air Kraken games beyond the continental United States.”

Gray Television reported a first-quarter profit as advertising revenues rebounded to above pre-COVID-19 levels.

Net income jumped to $75 million, or 79 cents a share, compared to a loss of $4 million or 48 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenues increased 3% to $823 million.

Core advertising revenue was $372 million, up 4% from a year ago.

The total includes $18 million in ad revenue from airing the Super Bowl on the company’s 54 CBS affiliates. A year ago, the Super Bowl generated $6 million on the company’s 27 Fox affiliates.

Political advertising was $27 million in the quarter. Gray said it expects political advertising to be between 55% and 72% higher in the second quarter of 2020. 

“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,” Gray said in a statement.

“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,” the company said. “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.”

Retransmission consent revenue dipped 4% to $381 million.

Gray Television said its Tupelo Media Group and KVVU Las Vegas are working with SportsGrid to produce five specials that will be part of Tupelo’s Beat The Odds national syndicated sports betting series. 

The first special deals with college basketball and will air on dozens of Gray TV stations.

The SuperBook at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort and Casino will be the title sponsor for the Beat The Odds specials.

“With SportsGrid, we will partner with the best-in-class original programming, information, data, insight, and analysis including their strong roster of experts and contributors in the sports betting space,” Michael Korr, co-creator of Beat The Odds and general manager of WVVU, said.

SportsGrid has a free ad-supported streaming television network that focuses on real time covering of pregame and in-game odds, data and gaming. The special will include SportsGrid analytics, opinions and analytics.

“Working with Tupelo Honey and Gray producing this type of premium content focused on major sports events furthers our relentless effort to serve the sports betting audience and fuels the continued growth of the SportsGrid brand with the right partners,” SportsGrid president and founder Louis Maione said. 

Gray Television’s WXIX signed a multiyear agreement with the Cincinnati Bengals that makes the station the new home of the team’s preseason games and other programming.

Fox affiliate WXIX replaces CBS station WKRC as the official Bengals station.

Starting with the 2024 season, WXIX will air Bengals Weekly on Sunday mornings at 10 a.m. during the regular season and From the Jungle: Bengals-All Access at 10:30 am. The station will also produce a new weekly Bengals show that will air Fridays at 11:30 p.m. starting in August.

The station will work with the team on special post-draft, training camp and season preview shows.

“This is such an amazing opportunity, and we are proud to become the new flagship station for the Bengals,” Jennifer Rieffer, VP and general manager of WXIX, said. “The new content we have planned will have fans pumped all year long and we can’t wait to get started.”

Gray Television, which will air a package of five Cleveland Cavalier basketball games on two Ohio stations this season, said it made deals with Nexstar Media Group, Cox Media Group and Tegna to put the games on additional stations in Ohio.

The move is the latest in a series following an agreement between the National Basketball Association and Diamond Sports Group, the bankrupt owner of the Bally regional sports networks, to increase reach by shifting telecasts to broadcast from cable.

NBA teams have made similar arrangements in markets including Milwaukee, Dallas, New Orleans and Los Angeles.

Gray’s WUAB Cleveland and WXIX Cincinnati will air the five games starting March 8 when the Cavs take on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In Columbus, Tegna will air two games on the WBNS primary channel and another game on digital channel 10.2, which usually carries MeTV programming.

In Dayton, Nexstar’s WBDT will air three games, while CMG’s WHIO will air a pair of contests on digital channel 7.2.

In the Wheeling, West Virginia-Steubenville, Ohio, market, Nexstar’s WTRF will air all five games on digital channel 7.2.

In Youngstown, Nexstar’s WYTV will air all five games on digital channel 32.2.

The five games will not appear on Bally Sports Ohio. 

“We are excited to share that in addition to airing these five games on Gray’s WUAB in Cleveland and WXIX in Cincinnati, Gray has partnered with local television broadcasters to expand the coverage of Cavaliers basketball throughout the region,” said Matt Moran, senior managing VP for Gray Television. 

“These agreements will offer an exceptional viewing experience with unparalleled reach. This is a significant victory for the Cavaliers and sports fans throughout the region,” Moran said.

Terry McFadden, who anchors early evening and late news at WNDU South Bend, Indiana, retires March 1. He joined the station, known as 16 News Now, in 1982. 

McFadden was part of an extremely rare brother-and-sister anchor team with Maureen McFadden, who retired in 2019. 

McFadden grew up in South Bend and attended Notre Dame for both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. As an undergrad, he landed a part time job at WNDU, where his older sister was an anchor. 

After he graduated, and a stint in radio, McFadden rejoined WNDU as a news and sports reporter. He jumped to WSBT in South Bend in 1987, where he was a weekend anchor. 

He came back to WNDU in 1993 and, a year later, took on the 5 p.m. news alongside Maureen. 

The McFaddens were an anchor team until she retired in 2019. Maureen told B+C in 2014, “People think it’s a weird thing to be an anchor with your brother. But I’m actually more comfortable.”

Terry and Maureen team up again for the 6 p.m. news March 1, after which Terry signs off. 

McFadden currently shares the WNDU anchor desk with Melissa Stephens. George Mallett will replace him, according to the South Bend Tribune. 

Mike Pease, assignment manager at WNDU, told the Tribune, “He’s got a passion for news. People look up to him. He brings his A-game every day.”

TVSpy previously reported of McFadden's retirement. 

Gray Television owns WNDU, an NBC affiliate. South Bend-Elkhart is Nielsen’s No. 99 DMA. Located on the Indiana-Michigan border, the region is known as Michiana. 

Broadcast stocks got hammered last week, with the sports streaming venture formed by ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery being the latest development to spook investors about the station business.

On earnings calls Friday, station-group heads tried to persuade Wall Street that despite the venture, eroding subscriber numbers and questions about the ad market, the sky wasn’t falling, and that local broadcast, in particular, was still a good bet.

Scripps stock dropped 19% after reporting a fourth-quarter loss, mainly due to special charges related to acquisitions and restructuring.

Also Read: Questions Surround Blockbuster Streaming Sports Venture

“I completely understand why even the most seasoned media investors are struggling to sort through the chaos,” E.W. Scripps Co. CEO Adam Symson said on his company’s call. "I've been a part of this business for a while … and it feels like the market is always ready to believe the worst about broadcast.”

From the standpoint of viewers, Symson said he sees the new streaming venture as cannibalizing other streaming products, rather than impacting broadcast.

Symson noted that the streaming venture — which does not involve CBS or NBC — will have only part of March Madness, half of the NFL game broadcasts and none of the Olympics.

“It's the introduction of yet another service into a fragmented landscape that will likely confuse and confound an already frustrated consumer,” he said. “This is not to say that the new offering won't get subscribers. If, as the partners say, it will target cord-cutters, we at Scripps will very much benefit from increased distribution fees and strength and reach.”

More importantly, the sports venture will be carrying the ABC and Fox broadcast networks, and Scripps and other broadcasters will receive retransmission-consent payments when subscribers sign up.

“[Network] executives have confirmed over and over that affiliates like Scripps will be carried along and compensated just as we are with the other virtual MVPDs,” Symson said. 

“I can't see why analysts nor investors would see this as some sort of killer app,“ he said. ”But hey, if it adds new value to linear television, I'll be happy to root for its success and take advantage of its reach because we'll get paid for our ABC and Fox affiliates.”

Gray Television also reported earnings on Friday. Its stock also plunged 22%. Sinclair, Tegna and Nexstar shares were also down a few percentage points Friday.

“We think broadcast television is as healthy now, if not healthier than it’s been in decades,” Gray CEO Hilton Howell said.

“We actually did a video for our general managers back to the future. And because what we’re seeing is a return to broadcast television,“ Howell said. “Now I know that doesn’t fit the narrative out in New York, but too many people confuse the term linear television. A lot of people, what they mean by that, is cable-distributed cable networks.”

Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos, explained the market’s reaction to Gray’s results in a note Monday. “During a day where legacy media continued to fall out of favor, Gray added to the pressure by posting a solid end to 2024 and then offering one of the most baffling retrans guides in recent memory,“ Kurnos wrote.   

“Somehow, with 56% of subs up for renewal this year, management suggested that gross retrans growth could be down year over year, effectively implying that subscriber losses were finally outweighing rate gains,” Kurnos said. “While there are several Gray-specific factors that likely go into that equation, the ramifications for the industry are profound if it ends up being closer to a blanket statement (early indicators lean more towards Gray-specific).”

Bullish About Local Ads, CTV

Executives with Scripps and Gray talked about the local ad market improving and new revenue being generated by connected TV (CTV) and other digital properties.

“One of the things that we have been so successful at is growing our digital revenue,” Howell said. “That’s 100% ours, and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger every year. And so I think there’s just a tremendous amount of opportunities for growth. And I think you’re going to see us have an extraordinary 2024.”

At Scripps, connected TV revenue was up 70% year-over-year and the company is expecting 45% growth in CTV revenue in the first quarter and more than 40% for 2024.

“We're benefiting from continued audience growth as Americans seek out new options for ad-supported free TV,” Scripps chief operating officer Lisa Knutson said.

Knutson said Scripps will be aggressive in the upfront. “Our partnership with the WNBA and the National Women's Soccer League are the foundation for recasting Ion into an entertainment destination for younger and more diverse audiences at scale, which is more attractive than ever to advertisers,” she said.

Sports are drawing new advertisers to Ion and other Scripps Networks across all time periods, she said.

“Sports advertising is serving as the tip of the spear for scatter-market advertising in general,” said Knutson. ’To that end, we are focused on growing our base of regular advertisers drawn by our sports programming and expanding into CTV and into our popular entertainment brands, with a specific focus on multicultural.” 

Scripps also talked about Tablo, its broadcast digital video recorder.

Symson said Walmart started selling Tablo in January, but that Amazon accounts for about 60% of sales. HSN sold out in a few minutes when it launched Tablo in October.

Tablo could also fuel a data business at Scripps.

“Tablo is the only platform in the market that directly measures over-the-air viewing. Our back end measures all of the same data that set-top boxes do and more,” Symson said. “That valuable data and the monetization of the fast platform are the recurring revenue streams that drive value further downstream and will make up the average revenue per user metrics we’ll share with you in the future.”

Gray Television said it turned in a fourth-quarter loss following record political advertising revenue a year ago.

Gray’s net loss was $22 million, or 24 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, compared to net income of  $173 million, or $1.90 a share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 19% to $864 million. The company said the decline was “entirely the result” of the reduced political spending in a non-election year.

The company said core advertising -- not including political spending -- rose 2% to $415 million.

Gray said it saw continued improvement in the automobile advertising category with a 16% year-over-year increase.

Retransmission revenue rose 3% to $365 million.

For the first quarter, Gray forecasts total revenue of $810 million to $830 million.

Total core revenue is expected to be between $365 million and $375 million, which would represent a low- to mid-single-digit increase.

The company expects $18 million in net revenue from airing the Super Bowl on its 49 CBS affiliates. That compares to $6 million it generated last year when the Super Bowl was on Gray’s 27 Fox affiliates.

Retransmission revenue in the first quarter is expected to be between $375 million and $380 million and political revenue is forecast to be in the $30 million to $33 million range.

Gray Television announced that chief financial officer Jim Ryan plans to retire after 2025 and will be succeeded by Jeff Gignac.

Gignac is currently a managing director and head of media and telecom investment banking at Wells Fargo Securities.

Gignac will join Gray effective April 1 as executive VP, finance. He will become CFO on July 1, working closely with Ryan and through the end of 2025.

“Jim has made tremendous contributions to Gray Television during his 25-year tenure,” said Gray executive chairman and CEO Hilton Howell. “He has helped guide the company through a period of tremendous growth, innovation, and transformation that has made Gray the industry leader that we are today. His steady leadership will be missed but will not be forgotten.”

Ryan joined Gray as CFO in 1998 when Gray acquired Busse Broadcasting. 

With Ryan minding the store, Gray divested its newspapers, paging and satellite uplink businesses, while acquiring scores of television stations through multiple transactions. 

Ryan will remain with Gray as a senior adviser through his retirement to assist with a seamless transition of his duties.  

“We are fortunate that Jeff Gignac will join Gray’s senior leadership team as our next CFO. Over the past several years, Jeff has led our debt financing efforts for the Raycom and Meredith transactions and the AR securitization facility,” Howell said.  “With Gray’s current focus on deleveraging and prudent balance-sheet management, Jeff is the perfect candidate to lead our finance functions for the next chapter of our corporate history.”

Three Wisconsin stations owned by Gray Television will broadcast 10 Milwaukee Bucks games this season.

The deal was made between Gray, the Bucks, Diamond Sports, which televises the team’s games on cable, and Weigel Broadcasting’s WMLW, which will air the games in Milwaukee.

In addition to the three Gray markets — WBAY Green Bay, WYOW-WSAW Wausau and WEAU-WECX in Eau Claire — the package of 10 Bucks games will be on the air on Morgan Murphy’s WISC Madison and Tegna’s WQAD Moline, Illinois, in the Quad Cities market that covers Illinois and Iowa.

More teams and leagues are moving games back to free over-the-air broadcasts as cord-cutting erodes subscribers and viewers on cable regional sports networks.

“We are thrilled to offer the Bucks fans in Green Bay, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Wausau and nearby areas the chance to watch these ten games for free,“ Gray TV senior managing VP Matt Moran said. “This is a fantastic opportunity for Gray stations WBAY/WBAY 365 in Green Bay, WYOW/WSAW in Wausau and WEAU/WECX in Eau Claire-La Crosse to provide complete access to these Bucks games, regardless of how you watch TV.” 

The first Bucks telecast in the package is February 23 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“We’re thrilled to reach Bucks fans statewide on broadcast television stations,” said Peter Feigin, president of the Bucks and Fiserv Forum. “Over-the-air is an easy and affordable way for Bucks fans to watch our games and we’re excited to work with Weigel to make them widely available in Wisconsin.”

Gray Television said it agreed to a swap that gives it Marquee Broadcasting’s FCC permit to build KCBU Salt Lake City, Utah, a new station.

Marquee receives KGWN Cheyenne, Wyoming, and KCWY Casper, Wyoming, from Gray.

Neither company will receive additional cash or compensation in the transaction.

Salt Lake City is market number 27. Cheyenne-Scottsbluff (Nebraska) is market 194 and Casper is market 198.

“Marquee is excited to acquire Gray’s leading stations in Wyoming and Western Nebraska,“ Marquee CEO Patricia Lane said. “We are looking forward to building on the legacy there.”

Patricia and Brian Lane founded Marquee in 2013.  It focuses on smaller markets markets because that’s “where our community involvement can mean the most, and make the biggest difference.”

Marquee uses the motto “because local matters.” 

Backed by Gray Television, Morgan Murphy Media and the National Association of Broadcasters, OTT video company Syncbak is launching Zeam, a new free streaming platform for local stations.

Syncbak and Gray launched VUit, another local streaming platform in 2020. VUit will be shut down in favor of Zeam.

Zeam will offer live and on-demand news, sports and culture programming from 300 local TV stations covering 80% of the U.S.  owned by groups including Gray, CBS Stations, News-Press & Gazette, Hearst Television and Morgan Murphy.

The launch will be backed by an eight-figure marketing campaign and a commercial featuring actor John Stamos.

Zeam will air the commercial on about 100 stations during Super Bowl LVIII, which means the ad revenue will go to stations rather than CBS, which is broadcasting the game nationally.

“As viewers and the industry continue to migrate to streaming, local television stations need to find a way to build a sustainable business that helps them not just survive but thrive in the streaming age,” Syncbak CEO and founder Jack Perry said. “That’s why we are launching Zeam, which not only serves as a master connector between stations, advertisers and viewers, but will also redefine what a successful model for local OTT looks like by breaking down the biggest obstacles local stations face in streaming — cost and complexity.”

Stations are already streaming the content on platforms ranging from Roku and Amazon Fire to Allen Media Group’s Local Now and Sinclair's NewsOn.

Sinclair recently sold Stirr, its local-station streaming platform.

Zeam is designed to help local stations by distributing their content nationally and generate new revenues by using Syncbak’s advertising technology to sell ads to national and local advertisers.

Syncbak estimates that Zeam will have 5 billion advertising units to sell, giving it one of the largest ad inventories and first-party data pools in streaming.

Also being launched is Zeam360, a Zeam-branded van that serves as a mobile production studio and provides a 24/7 livestream mobile channel.

Zeam360 will go on a barnstorming tour, stopping at nearly 30 local broadcast stations en route to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. Zeam has also established a new studio in New York’s Times Square. In addition to hosting independent content creators, the studio will serve as a billboard to promote local TV to the crowds who pass through Times Square daily.

According to Syncbak, VUit was profitable and served as a proof-of-concept for a local streaming platform. The average VUit viewer tuned in 29 times a month to watch programming from several markets. Some stations generated more than 100,000 a month in streaming revenues through VUit.

“Under Jack Perry’s leadership, Syncbak has a long-established reputation for being the champion of local content that the industry needs and deserves,” Gray TV co-CEO and president Pat LaPlatney said. “With the launch of Zeam, we are taking this to a whole new level, providing a platform that will benefit not just local station groups and advertisers, but also viewers themselves.”

For the pro teams looking at life beyond bankrupt regional cable network Bally Sports, moving to free over-the-air broadcast television is a tradeoff of a sure regional-sports-network paycheck vs. expanded reach. 

The New Orleans Pelicans, which is one of three NBA franchises contracted with Bally Sports to carve out an arrangement to show 10 games on local broadcast TV this season, experienced the upside of that equation on Friday night. 

With the Pels facing the defending champion Denver Nuggets on Gray Television's WVUE-TV (channel 8), simulcast on Bounce TV (channel 8.2), the telecast averaged a 7.4 rating and 50,000 local viewers, according to Gray, citing Nielsen data. (Editor's note: Gray's WVUE originally spoke to local New Orleans paper the Times-Picayune about this ratings story.)

That's more than three times the audience of the biggest Bally Sports viewership, which tops out at about a 2.0 rating. Comparing apples to oranges, it also usurped the local performance on ABC last June of the NBA Finals, which averaged a 7.24 rating locally in the Big Easy market. 

Kicking the tires on that latter comparison, offered up by Gray, a rep for the station group conceded with us that it's strange to compare the local Pelicans broadcast to a national feed of the Finals, which didn't feature the Pels last June.

"But it would be huge news if a Washington Commanders game ever had more viewers than the Super Bowl in the DC market," the rep responded. 

Fine. 

The NBA has carved out an arrangement with Sinclair Broadcast Group bankrupt subsidiary, Diamond Sports Group, which manages the Bally channels, to reduce rights fees for its Bally Sports teams this ongoing season. But once next season starts, the teams are free from Bally Sports and can pursue any local TV rights arrangement they wish.

A few NBA teams, including the Pels, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Atlanta Hawks, are exercising a clause that lets them also show up to 10 of their games this season in the local broadcast market. 

Gray Television said it promoted Liz Knight to general manager of WALB-WGCW Albany, Georgia.

Knight grew up in southwest Georgia watching WALB, Gray said. 

She had served as general sales manager of WALB, an NBC affiliate, WGCW, a The CW station, and WTSG, a Telemundo affiliate, for the past five years. 

She succeeds Bruce Austin, who moved to Gray’s Knoxville stations late last year.

The Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association are returning to broadcast for 10 games this season with Atlanta-based Gray Television after 30 years on cable.

Gray acquired rights to the games in a deal with Diamond Sports Group, the bankrupt owner of Bally Sports Southeast and other regional sports networks.

Gray’s WPCH — known on-air as Peachtree TV — will air nine of the Hawks’ remaining Friday-night games, starting with the January 12 contest against the Indiana Pacers. 

The game against the Pacers, as well as the January 19 game against the Miami Heat, also will be simulcast on WANF-TV, the CBS affiliate in Atlanta owned by Gray.

Peachtree TV’s 10th game in the package will air March 8, when the Hawks fly to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies.

The deal is the latest to bring sports from cable, which is losing subscribers, to broadcast, which offers teams greater reach.

”This is a tremendous opportunity to give Hawks fans a new, free way to watch our games this season,“ Atlanta Hawks & State Farm Arena executive VP and chief revenue officer Andrew Saltzman said. “We are thankful to Peachtree TV and Gray TV for making this a reality and look forward to returning the Hawks to our historic local partner for our Friday games.” 

The Peachtree games will also air on Gray stations in Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon and Savannah, Georgia, and Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville and Montgomery, Alabama.

“We are thrilled to bring the Hawks back to broadcast on Peachtree TV this season,” said WANF/WPCH VP and general manager Erik Schrader. “Sports on broadcast television make the games available to everyone. Not only do longtime fans get their favorite team for free, but it’s the best opportunity to grow new fans.”

Gray noted that in addition to over-the-air, Peachtree TV is carried by major cable and satellite distributors.

Peachtree TV will utilize the Bally Sports Southeast production team and the on-air crew of Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins, play-by-play announcer Bob Rathbun and courtside reporter Tabitha Turner for the 10 games it will air. On-air talent from Peachtree TV and WANF, including sports director Baillie Burmaster, will also be featured on telecasts.

The Hawks games previously appeared on what is now WPCH (then known as WTCG and later as the nationally distributed SuperStation WTBS) from 1972 to 1994 and on WANF (then known as WGNX and later WGCL) from 1986 to 1993.

Peachtree TV has been airing games of the Hawks’ G League team, the College Park Skyhawks, since 2019.

Gray Television said it has reached an agreement in principle with NBCUniversal to renew its NBC network affiliations.

The affiliations were set to expire at the end of 2023.

Gray owns and operates NBC affiliates in 56 markets.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Overall, Gray has stations serving 113 markets, reaching about 36% of U.S. TV households.

Gray Television said it named Bruce Austin as general manager of its TV stations in Knoxville, Tennessee, CBS affiliate WVLT and The CW outlet WBXX.

Austin was general manager of WALB-WGCW-WTSG Albany, Georgia, for five years.

Before that, he spent 10 years as general sales manager at WALB, a station the Georgia native grew up watching. 

Under Austin, WALB expanded local programming and was named station of the year by the Georgia Association of Broadcasters.

Gray TV launched WALB in 1954.

Austin succeeds Peter Veto in Knoxville.

After bolting regional sports network Bally Sports over the spring, the NBA's Phoenix Suns are about to see their new local TV home, KTVK Arizona's Family, pulled off YouTube TV amid a dispute between the vMVPD and station owner Gray Television. 

"As of November 18th, 2023, YouTube TV will no longer carry Arizona’s Family 3TV. This means that YouTube TV subscribers will lose access to live sports, our market-leading local news, and your favorite programs like Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune," reads warnings sent to KTVK viewers that started late last week. 

"We are disappointed that YouTube TV has come to this decision, as we have done everything in our power to reach a market-based agreement," the station warning added. The good news is that you have options. Arizona’s Family is available on providers like Cox, Fubo, DirecTV, and Dish, as well as free over-the-air with an antenna." (The Gray warning did not mention the Suns' new DTC streaming channel, Suns Live.)

The dispute between Gray and the virtual MVPD involves only Gray-owned independent stations. For example, Gray's KPHO-TV (aka "Arizona’s Family CBS 5") will remain on YouTube TV, with Paramount Global negotiating carriage of the CBS affiliate directly with the vMVPD. 

As an independent operating under existing retrans rules that differ or virtual MVPDs vs. linear ones, KTVK has very little leverage in any kind of fee negotiation with YouTube TV. 

In April, mortgage mogul Mat Ishbia announced that his pro hoops teams, the Suns and the WBNA's Phoenix Mercury, would not renew their deals with Bally Sports and instead enter deals to air regular season games on Gray's KTVK -- agreements that ostensibly expanded the teams' reach to the entire Arizona region. 

YouTube TV added an industry-leading 600,000 subscribers in the third quarter, according to an estimate released by Leichtman Research Group on Tuesday. The virtual service is closing in on Dish satellite TV to become the fourth largest pay TV service in the U.S., with between 6.5 million - 7.3 million subscribers.  

Gray Television reported a loss in the third quarter as a charge against earnings related to sports rights outweighed a small gain in core advertising revenue.

The third-quarter loss was $53 million, or 57 cents a share, compared to net income of $95 million or $1.04 a share a year ago.

The loss includes a $43-million charge related to bankrupt Diamond Sports Group dropping Gray’s Raycom Sports unit’s Atlantic Coast Conference rights package. Diamond was replaced by new, lower-valued deals with The CW and ESPN.

Revenue fell 12% to $803 million.

Core advertising revenue — excluding political spending — rose 1% to $363 million, while political advertising was just $26 million, compared to $144 million a year ago.

Retransmission revenue rose 4% to $378 million.

For the fourth quarter, Gray said it expects total revenue of $854 million to $864 million.

Core advertising revenue is expected to grow by low single digits, to $410 million to $414 million, with political advertising of $34 million to $35 million. 

Retransmission revenue is expected to be up by low single digits, to $362 to $365 million.

“Gray continued to execute across its portfolio of high-quality television stations and digital platforms as it combines its market-leading local news with strong network programming to deliver unparalleled reach for advertisers,” the company said in its earnings announcement.

“We are particularly pleased with the performance of our television stations during the quarter, whose core advertising revenue increased 1% on a year-over-year basis. We saw continued improvement in the automobile advertising category with an 18% year-over-year increase,” Gray said. “Given these solid performances across our television stations in the first three quarters of 2023, we currently anticipate that our television-station operations will grow advertising revenues during the remainder of 2023, due to our strong positions in local markets and the exceptional efforts of our local station staff.”

Jonathan Katz, who launched Bounce TV and other early digital broadcast networks, has formed Free TV Networks working with programmers Warner Bros. Discovery and Lionsgate, along with station owner Grey Television.

The new company will focus on free over-the-air and streaming channels, starting with digital broadcast channels The365, serving African-American viewers, and Outlaw, featuring Westerns. 

Both are set to premiere January 1 with distribution in 80% of the U.S., the company said. 

In addition to Gray stations, the networks will be catered by  stations owned by RNN Media Group and HC2 Broadcasting.

Martin Luther King III, who was a co-founder of Bounce, and boxing promoter Alan Haymon will serve on Free  TV Networks’ board.

Free TV also plans to launch FAST (free ad-supported streaming television) versions of The365 and Outlaw, plus VCR Action and VCR Haha, FAST channels featuring action and comedy movies and series from the VHS era.

“Never underestimate the power of ‘free.’ Audiences and advertisers have driven the thriving ad market for digital broadcast networks to well over $1 billion, with FAST channel revenues now more than $5 billion,” said Katz. “The Free TV Networks team has a successful and profitable track record scaling well-defined brands designed to serve the ever-growing number of value-conscious consumers combining free over-the-air and FAST channels with their favorite streaming services.”

Katz, a former Turner program acquisitions exec, started Bounce and Katz Networks, an early player in the digital broadcast network space in 2011. He sold Katz Networks to E.W. Scripps Co. in 2017 for $302 million.

He left Scripps and became president of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment in 2022, leaving less than a year later.

Now he’s looking to start up a new batch of channels with both digital broadcast and FAST channels becoming increasingly popular with viewers and a good business for program distributors.

“We have a long and successful strategy licensing our world-class content to every platform—from networks and syndication to digital and streaming,” said David Decker, president, content sales at Warner Bros. Discovery. “Free TV Networks fits this perfectly, and we’re happy to offer our hit films and television shows to their audiences.”

“These digital broadcast and FAST channels bring together two content leaders, one of the nation’s largest broadcast companies, and a respected industry pioneer in support of a strong lineup of African American and Western programming,” said Jim Packer, president of worldwide television distribution at Lionsgate. “This is a great opportunity to serve two large and scalable demos with world-class IP in a well-defined market segment.”

The content airing on The365 (billed as ‘Black All Day, Every Day’) includes I Am Legend, Purple Rain, Queen Sugar along Crash, Monster’s Ball, Jackie Brown, Madea’s Family Reunion and the satirical comedy/drama Dear White People.

Outlaw’s programming will include Unforgiven, Chisum, Pale Rider and Wyatt Earp.

Station owners have been betting that viewers are getting sticker shock from cable and streaming and will spend more time with free over-the-air television.

“Serving diverse communities is a key piece of our strategy at Gray and has served us well for decades,” said Pat LaPlatney, president of Gray. “Our partnership with Free TV Networks is another illustration of our strong commitment to the continued growth of broadcast television within today’s media ecosystem and the importance of delivering high-value entertainment without high costs to our viewers.”

Katz also named the top executive team for his new company, many of whom worked at Katz Networks, Scripps and Turner.

The executives include Maria Harvey, Chief Financial Officer; Phil Oppenheim, Chief Content Officer; Richard Steiner, Chief Digital Officer; Jackie Trube, Chief People Officer; Jon Marks, Chief Research Officer; Noriko Ishihara, Executive VP, Ad Sales Operations; Joe Cantrell, Executive VP, Network Operations & Development; Bryan Slonaker, Executive VP , Creative Services Tracy Underwood, Chief of Staff; Jim Mitchell, Senior VP, Chief of Technical Operations; Amber Hrabovsky, Senior VP, Content Operations; Jeff Carr, VP, Content and Nia Dozier, VP, Standard and Practices.

Maybe the sky isn’t falling on broadcast. 

Gray Television on Tuesday became the latest large station owner to stand up and tell Wall Street that business is good because the outlook for distribution revenues —including retransmission-consent fees — are expected to grow at a healthy rate.

Nexstar Media Group made a similar presentation last week and a few days later E.W. Scripps said it expects 15% growth in distribution revenue and a 40% jump in net distribution dollars.

Wall Street seems to be listening. Gray stock was up 3% Tuesday morning. 

Other broadcasters were showing gains Tuesday (October 17): E.W. Scripps was up 5.25%, Nexstar Media Group was up 2%, Sinclair was up nearly 2% and Tegna edged up 0.34%.

Over the last five days, station-group stocks have been on the upswing, with Scripps up 17%, Gray up 0%, Sinclair up 8%, Nexstar up 5% and Tegna up 4%.

Despite the gains, the broadcast stocks remained near their 52-week lows.

Broadcast has been suffering from the perception that the TV world is turning to streaming, leaving local stations in the dust. Advertising has been weak and it appeared that it would be difficult for stations to wring increases in retransmission fees from pay TV providers whose subscriber bases are eroding due to cord-cutting.

Two big retrans disputes added to the gloom, with Nexstar stations blacked out on DirecTV and The Walt Disney Co. going dark on Charter, which declared its business would be just fine without Disney’s cable networks, broadcast networks and stations.

When the dust settled and Charter and Disney made a deal, Nexstar declared stations a winner. 

Gray’s new presentation also maintains  the Charter-Disney agreement is positive for stations.

On the first page of its presentation, Gray declares “we believe that broadcast retrans remains significantly undervalued” and “we believe that the current environment favors continued growth for retrans revenues.”

Gray also argued that “the network/affiliate model aligns participants’ interests in curbing MVPD sub churn and in growing retrans for affiliates.”

The Disney/Charter deal, which allows Charter to no longer carry several less-watched Disney cable channels, will shift viewing and carriage fees in the stations’ direction, Gray said.

And with the regional sports network business imploding, sports teams and leagues are moving high-rated games from cable to broadcast, which will lead to higher retrans fees. 

Also Read: Phoenix Suns Fast-Break to Broadcast With Gray From Bankrupt Bally RSN 

Gray said that if half of RSN feels were reallocated to broadcast stations, retrans revenues would rise by $3 billion, or 23%.

In its conclusion, Gray said that “broadcasters continue to deliver Premium Content that is the most watched and valued by consumers. Gray in particular provides the most valued content across its well-diversified footprint of 113 large, midsize and small markets.”

The broadcaster reiterated that networks and affiliates are aligned in preserving and growing retrans revenues, and that broadcasters and distributors are aligned in slowing subscriber churn.

“The MVPDs’ $40 billion annual spending on linear programming fees will continue to be reallocated to premium content providers, and especially to broadcasters, particularly as the number of cable nets and RSNs continues to decline,” Gray said.

Gray Television said it promoted Jason Hall to VP of Spanish Media Sales for the Gray TV Telemundo Station Group.

Hall has been senior director of Spanish Media Sales for Gray’s 42 Telemundo stations since joining the company in August of 2022.

“Jason’s Hispanic media sales expertise has been key to our Telemundo stations and overall sales success. Jason’s track record with Gray has been invaluable, and we look forward to having him continue leading the charge for Spanish language media sales at Gray,” Susan Sim Oh, VP of strategy and operations, Gray TV Telemundo Station Group, said.

Before joining Gray, Hall was with Audacy, Estrella Media and Univision.

Peachtree Sports Network launches Sunday, October 1 on WPCH Atlanta’s channel 17.2. Known as Peachtree TV, WPCH is an independent station that’s owned by Gray Television. Besides being available over the air, Peachtree Sports Network will be on Comcast and Spectrum cable.

The sports network will later air on Gray-owned over-the-air channels across the state, including stations in Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon and Savannah. 

“As a lifelong sports fan, I know firsthand I became a fan by watching my local teams play on broadcast television,” WANF-WPCH VP and general manager Erik Schrader said. “While existing fans may follow their teams behind paywalls, there’s no question that new sports fans are born watching broadcast stations. Georgia has so many tremendous teams that simply need an audience and so many sports fans that just need a station where they can watch live events. We’re proud and eager to be at the very beginning of what will become a legacy sports tradition across our state.”

Peachtree Sports Network will broadcast live games from the College Park Skyhawks of the NBA G-League, high school football through Score Atlanta, hockey from the Atlanta Gladiators and the Savannah Ghost Pirates of the ECHL, the Georgia Swarm of the National Lacrosse League and the Atlanta Hustle of the American Ultimate Disc League.

The first live sporting event will be Friday, October 6, from sports marketing company Score Atlanta, when Cass takes on Cartersville at 8 p.m. 

“Peachtree Sports Network gives us the opportunity to bring all sports together on one television platform,” Score Atlanta president I.J. Rosenberg said. “This is an incredible opportunity to give athletes more exposure, and develop more programming focused on high school sports.”

Gray Television’s WPCH in Atlanta, known as Peachtree TV, will become a The CW affiliate starting September 2 under a new agreement between Gray and the Nexstar Media Group-owned network.

The CW programming now appears in Atlanta on WUPA, one of the CBS-owned stations that will become an independent station after CBS parent Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery sold their majority stake in the CW to Nexstar.

As part of The CW affiliation, WPCH will carry some Georgia Tech football and basketball games as part of the network’s deal with the Atlantic Coast Conference. 

The deal between The CW and Gray also cover affiliation agreements for 42 of Gray’s 55 CW affiliates. The other 13 CW affiliates are covered under previous agreements with the network.

Financial terms were not disclosed. 

“Gray Television has been a great partner of The CW from the beginning,” The CW president Dennis Miller said. “We look forward to sharing more success together as we transform and grow the network and add WPCH-TV to The CW’s expanding portfolio of affiliate partners. Atlanta is an important market for the CW, especially with ACC football and basketball debuting this fall and NASCAR’s Xfinity Series racing coming in 2025.”

Gray Television said that it promoted Garrett Pope to senior VP, sales operations, effective September 1.

Pope has been VP, traffic and sales systems for Gray for the past three years. 

He recently built Gray’s sales research hub and his promotion reflects the expansion of his duties and contribution, the company said.

Pope joined Gray in 2019 as general manager, traffic operations, from Raycom, which is now a part of Gray. He started his TV career with Univision Communications.

Gray Television said it is “actively engaged” in discussion with professional sports teams and leagues whose games could be broadcast on Gray stations.

Gray is one of a number of broadcasters circling as the regional sports network business sinks under high debt, cord cutting and spiraling rights costs.

In May, Gray reached an agreement to air games of the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury of the NBA and WNBA respectively, when the teams’ deal with Diamond Sports expires.

E.W. Scripps, Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcasting have also made deals to air more sports programming on their stations.

“Our discussions with other teams and leagues indicate that the new sports rights deal we have in Arizona can work in other markets as well,” Gray president and co-CEO Pat LaPlatney said on Gray’s second-quarter earnings call Friday. “Whether we replicate that structure or find new ways to partner with professional franchises, we see a growing recognition in the market at returning professional sports to local broadcast stations will increase marketing value, advertising sales revenues, fan engagement as well as team value.”

LaPlatney said Gray is  spending a lot of time analyzing professional sports opportunities. 

“In the coming months, we hope to have more innovative sports rights partnerships that will return local teams to our broadcast stations and to local fans,” he said.

Gray stations in several large markets including Phoenix, Atlanta, Portland, Oregon, and Cleveland on which it could air games without disrupting network programming.

Gray also said that it will be making its new InvestigateTV Plus weekday program available to local stations owned by other broadcasters.

“While we have no plans to become a new syndicated programming house, we have been pleasantly surprised by tremendous audience reaction to our InvestigateTV weekend show,” LaPlatney said. 

“Despite not airing at a consistent time period or having national promotion behind it, the current Investigate TV weekend program has been posting ratings that surpassed many well-known broadcast and cable programs that unlike our weekend program are cleared in 100% of the country,” he said. “This tells us that there is an audience for good quality news programming, particularly in pieces that highlight otherwise unknown issues and that consistently produce results.”

Gray Television reported a second-quarter loss as revenues fell in a non-political year.

The net loss of $9 million, or 10 cents a share, compared to net income of $86 million, or 92 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 6% to $813 million. The company said total revenue was up 49% from the last non-election year, including acquisitions.

Broadcast cash flow fell 23% to $251 million.

Gray said that core advertising revenue, not counting political spending, was $379 million, up 4% from a year ago.

“We saw continued improvement in the automobile advertising category with a 20% year-over-year increase, which was fueled by even larger increases year-over-year in the national segment of that category,” the company said. “Given these solid performances across our television stations’ in the first half of 2023, we anticipate that our television station operations will grow advertising revenues during the remainder of 2023, as well as future years.”

Gray said construction of the Assembly Studios portion of its Assembly Atlanta development was substantially complete, along with much of the infrastructure for the project. Key tenant NBCUniversal has started moving in and Gray expects to start to generate revenue from long-term and short-term leases of soundstages and other facilities later this year.

Looking ahead, Gray said it expected core advertising revenue to be flat to up low-single digits and for retransmission revenue to be between $370 million and $380 million.

Political advertising revenue is expected to be between $15 million and $16 million.

Gray noted it will record a non-cash charge of between $33 million and $43 million in the third quarter because of Sinclair’s bankrupt Diamond Sports unit’s decision to give up rights to certain ACC football and basketball games, sublicensed from Gray’s Raycom Sports unit. The renegotiated rights now belong to Nexstar’s The CW.

Gray Television said it promoted Brian Daugherty to general manager of WCSC, the CBS affiliate in Charleston, South Carolina.

Daugherty joined WCSC as general sales manager last year. 

He succeeds Dan Cates, who recently retired.

Daugherty began his career in media at SunShine Pages in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 2023. He joined Raycom as a senior digital sales specialist at WAFB there before the station was acquired by Gray in 2018.

Sinclair's bankrupt Diamond Sports Group has dropped a court objection to a distribution agreement reached in April between broadcaster Gray Television and the Phoenix Suns, as well as the NBA franchise's WBNA sibling, the Phoenix Mercury. 

“I am excited to be able to deliver to our Suns and Mercury fans this industry-shifting partnership with Gray Television," the teams' owner, Mat Ishbia, said in a statement provided to Sports Business Journal. "This deal gives more than 2.8 million homes across Arizona access to Suns and Mercury games for free.” 

The Suns and Mercury had expiring TV rights deals with Diamond to show their games in their local area on regional sports network Bally Sports Arizona. The teams signed a deal with Gray in late April to move their games back to free over-the-air broadcast TV.

Diamond was able to convince the court overseeing its bankruptcy to block the deal, temporarily, based on a clause in its contract with the teams giving it the right to match or exceed any outside offer for renewal. 

According to the Sports Business Journal, it was ultimately concluded that in a declining pay TV market, Bally Sports Arizona's reach couldn't match the 2.8 million homes the Gray TV deal promises to deliver. 

Pundits believe the Suns/Mercury deal could be a trend-setter, with the NBA's Utah Jazz also leaving the RSN business to return to broadcast TV. 

Diamond's capitulation, meanwhile, could also be an indicator that the subsidiary will also cut loose Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks from the team's Bally Sports Arizona contract. (Wouldn't pay TV operators demand to renegotiate their carriage deals after a major tenant like the Suns leaves the channel?)

Diamond is using the leverage provided by Chapter 11 to negotiate the Diamondbacks down from their $75-million-a-season licensing rate, plus give up their DTC streaming rights at no additional cost.

As reported earlier this week by the New York Post, Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is pushing back on that deal.

And as Next TV reported late Thursday evening, the league is working with pay TV operators, including DirecTV, to set up a new channel for the Diamondbacks. For its part, DirecTV petitioned the Houston bankruptcy court, trying to ensure that if it launches a new Diamondbacks channel, it won't also be on the hook to pay licensing fees on a bereft Bally Sports Arizona. 

We'll know soon if Diamond and the Diamondbacks can agree -- they're set to report their negotiating status to Judge Chris Lopez in Houston on Monday. 

Should the Suns, Mercury and Diamondbacks all flee Bally Sports Arizona, the only remaining tenant would be the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes. And entire RSN floated to a desert community on pro hockey. Let's see how that skates. 

Gray Television said that it reached a new deal with Paramount Global covering the renewal of all 54 of Gray’s current CBS affiliates.

The agreement covers stations in seven markets acquired from Meredith and 47 stations previously owned by Gray. 

The stations’ signals will continue to be available to subscribers of Paramount Plus and on virtual MVPD platforms.

“At a time when local news is more valued than ever — and under greater pressure than ever — Gray is very pleased to have reached an agreement that builds upon the decades-long relationship with CBS in dozens of markets, large and small,” Pat LaPlatney, co-CEO of Gray Television, said. “With this renewal, we intend to continue to invest in local news, weather and sports reporting, while bringing CBS’ premium programming to our local communities.”

In less than two years since Gray acquired Meredith and Quincy Media in the second half of 2021, the company said it has approved capital investments exceeding $74 million for those stations, including more than $40 million collectively on WANF, the CBS affiliate in Atlanta, and KMOV, the CBS affiliate in St. Louis. 

Across just the seven former Meredith CBS markets, Gray has launched local news bureaus, added state-of-the-art equipment, created more than 100 hours of additional locally produced news programming each week and added 154 full-time local journalists and other station employees, the company said. Gray said it is now recruiting to fill an additional 74 open positions in those seven CBS markets.

Gray is the largest independent owner of CBS affiliates in the country, covering nearly 18% of the U.S. television households and nearly 22 million households. Nearly all of Gray’s CBS affiliates have been broadcasting CBS network programming from their very first days on the air.

Gray Television said it promoted Joel Swisher to general manager of WSAZ-WQCW, its stations in the Charleston-Huntington, West Virginia, market, effective June 26.

Swisher had been general sales manager at WSAZ and WQCW and has been with the station in sales and management positions since 2016.

He succeeds David Hughes, who is moving to Cleveland to run Gray’s stations there.

At WSAZ, Swisher was instrumental in expanding the station’s community involvement with events including “The Sternwheel Regatta” and “Live on the Levee," the company said.

Before moving to Gray, he spent 13 years with the West Virginia Radio Corp. 

David Hughes has been named general manager of WOIO-WUAB Cleveland. He comes from the top spot at WSAZ-WQCW Charleston-Huntington, West Virginia, where he had been GM since late 2021. 

Gray Television owns both duopolies. 

Hughes starts June 26 and succeeds Matt Moran, who was named senior managing VP at Gray Television. Moran also ran WSAZ-WQCW before taking on WOIO-WUAB. 

Before he took the GM job at the Charleston-Huntington stations, Hughes was general manager at WVIR Charlottesville and news director at WDBJ Roanoke. Those are part of Gray Television as well. 

He also worked in the newsrooms of WFLA Tampa, Florida; WRAL Raleigh, North Carolina; and WMAZ Macon, Georgia, earlier in his career. 

Cleveland-Akron is DMA No. 19.

Gray Television is suing the Federal Communications Commission over its decision to fine the broadcaster over half a million dollars for an affiliation move in Alaska the regulator said violates its duopoly restriction.

That is according to an appeal filed late Wednesday (May 24) in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, whose jurisdiction includes Atlanta, where Gray is based.

The FCC concluded that Gray's purchase of the CBS affiliation from KTVA Anchorage, Alaska resulted in the equivalent of the purchase of a second top-four station in the market. It fined the station the maximum amount for what the FCC said was a violation of its prohibition on owning two of the top four stations in a market, unless it has done so through “organic growth,” meaning unless it owned both stations before they were in the top four due to increased ratings.

Gray owns two stations in the Anchorage market, NBC affiliate KYUU and KAUU, formerly KYES, which received the CBS affiliation purchased from KTVA. 

Also Read: Gray: FCC Should Restore Rule Deregulation

Gray says the FCC got it wrong on multiple counts: 1.) The FCC had no authority to regulate the purchase of the CBS programming because that was not a license transfer but a programming purchase; 2) the FCC's contention that the transfer of CBS programming was the “functional equivalent” of a transfer exceeds its authority because Congress did not authorize it in statute to regulate “functional equivalents;” and 3) the fine exceeds the FCC's authority and violates First Amendment because it “penalizes” Gray’s programming choices without furthering the “legitimate” government interest that any such regulation of speech must further.

Gray wants the court to vacate the fine. The appeal came after the FCC denied Gray's appeal of the decision to the commission. 

The FCC vote to uphold the company's fine was 3-1, with Republican Brendan Carr voting with Democrats Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks. Republican commissioner Nathan Simington dissented.

The FCC first proposed the fine in July 2021, a first for the acquisition of a network affiliation. Gray appealed but the agency rejected the appeal.

Gray Television said it promoted Matt Moran to senior managing VP.

Moran had been regional VP overseeing Gray’s TV stations in Binghamton and Watertown, New York. In his new post he will oversee a group of Gray stations in the midwest.

Previously Moran had been general manager of Gray’s stations in Cleveland, WOIO-TV, WUAB-TV and WTCL. He joined Gray as general sales manager at WQCW-TV in Charleston-Huntington, West Virginia and later became GM of the station.

Gray also announced that Matt Jaquint was named chief revenue officer and Mike King was promoted to chief marketing officer.

Jaquint and King had been senior managing VPs at the company and will continue to oversee groups of Gray stations and digital properties.

In his new role Jaquint will develop ad sales strategies and lead new business development initiatives and sales training programs. King will oversee marketing and brand strategy for company-wide and multi-market station initiatives. King will also lead Gray’s design and marketing groups, as well as its recruiting team.

Gray Television said it promoted Sandy Breland to executive VP and chief operating officer, effective immediately.

Breland had been senior managing VP at Grey. She succeeds Bob Smith, who recently retired after a long career at Gray.

“Sandy has vast talents and experience in leading local news-focused operations that have earned her enormous respect within Gray and throughout our industry,” Gray executive chairman Hilton H. Howell said. “She is the natural choice to lead Gray’s unique portfolio of leading television stations, and we are thrilled to announce her promotion as our new chief operating officer.”

Breland joined Gray in 2019 when Gray acquired Raycom Media. Earlier in her career, she was general manager of stations in New Orleans, and Baton Rouge, and executive news director in Phoenix and New Orleans.

As they've played to a 2-3 deficit in their best-of-seven Western Conference Semifinals series with the Denver Nuggets, the NBA's Phoenix Suns have struggled with the dominant rim protection of Denver's perennial league MVP, Nikola Jokic (aka “The Joker”).

Turns out U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez is a pretty effective shot blocker, too.

The Texas judge, who is overseeing the bankruptcy restructuring of Bally Sports’ parent subsidiary Diamond Sports Group, has ordered a halt to the Suns' plan to bolt their expiring deal with Bally Sports Arizona and enter a new local TV rights agreement with broadcaster Gray Television. 

The judge cited a clause in the Suns’ deal — as well as WNBA franchise the Phoenix Mercury — that prevents the teams from leaving Bally Sports without first giving the regional sports network a chance to enter a more competitive licensing bid. 

Also Read: Diamond Sports Sues the Phoenix Suns After NBA Team Bolts Bally Sports for Gray TV Local Broadcast Deal

According to sources familiar with the teams’ negotiations, the Suns were being paid around $25 million a season in their previous deal with Diamond. Initially at least, the over-the-air broadcast deal with Gray TV, as well as a direct-to-consumer streaming side deal with Kiswe Mobile, paid the team significantly less money. 

The Suns announced their deal two weeks ago and were sued by Diamond for breach of contract shortly after that announcement. 

Also Read: Phoenix Suns Could Have Big ATSC 3.0 Distribution Plans, and Other Teams, Including the Utah Jazz, Might Soon Follow

Attorneys for the team argued that the Gray TV deal didn't preclude the Suns from renewing their RSN deal with Bally Sports. 

However, citing a “media blitz” from the pro hoops team that paid nary a mention of Bally Sports Arizona, the judge didn't buy that. 

“The Suns are saying one thing outside the court and another thing inside it,” Lopez said.

Gray Television reported a first-quarter loss as it recorded charges around the studio facilities it is building in Georgia.

Gray had a $44 million net loss in the quarter, or 48 cents a share, compared to net income of $49 million, or 52 cents a share, a year ago.

During the first quarter of 2023, Gray’s production segment recorded $35 million in unanticipated operating charges, the company said. The charges included $18 million to resolve litigation related to the Atlanta Assembly project, and $17 million of allowance for credit losses related to the bankruptcy filing of Diamond Sports Group. 

Gray said that it expects to complete construction of its studio this summer. At that point, the company said, it will pause work “while we evaluate opportunities to maximize the long-term value of this unique real-estate investment.”

Revenue fell 3% to $801 million. The company said that revenue was up 47% compared to 2021, the last non-election year.  

Core ad revenue, minus political advertising, was down 2% to $357 million.

“We attribute these solid results to real-world confidence among advertisers and businesses in local markets who rely at least in part on our high-quality television stations to reach local audiences,” Gray said.

“Looking ahead, we anticipate that our television stations will maintain advertising and retransmission revenues at a level generally flat to somewhat ahead of revenues in recent years due to our strong position in local markets,” the company said.

Gray said it “took several steps in the first quarter to manage its leverage and ensure its access to ample liquidity should the macroeconomic circumstances become more challenging the rest of the year.”

Gray offered investors guidance that second-quarter revenue would be between $784 million and $802 million. The company said it expected core revenue to be up in the low single digits. It expects to take in $5 million to $6 million in political advertising.

“We believe our investments in Atlanta Assembly will provide some diversification from our broadcasting segment with new exposure to the growing film and television production industry in Georgia,” Gray said.

Gray Television has become the first major broadcast station group client for Detroit-based Waymark, the maker of a generative-AI software tool that automatically produces TV commercials and voiceovers for clients using already created assets. 

Atlanta-based Gray Television, which operates 113 stations reaching 36% of the U.S., said it will deploy Waymark's solution across its national footprint. Waymark already announced a deal with Charter Communications’s advertising sales arm, Spectrum Reach, earlier this year. 

Next TV witnessed a demonstration of Waymark’s technology at NAB Show in Las Vegas two weeks ago. Creating a prototype commercial for a local coffee shop, the artificial-intelligence tool was able to scour the internet for the business’ website and any other associated marketing material, creating a serviceable 30-second spot for the coffee shop within minutes that could be sweetened and customized as needed. 

Founded 13 years ago, Waymark has been privately funded with $4.5 million, according to Crunchbase. It markets the tool to clients like Gray with the pitch that it will open up TV advertising to smaller clients who don't have the resources and know-how to create their own commercials. 

“Waymark’s easy-to-use platform is helping us bring a bigger focus to video marketing in local markets,” Pat LaPlatney, president and co-CEO of Gray Television, said in a statement. “In return, we’ve been able to produce video at a higher rate and our sales reps have found a great deal of success in utilizing the tool. We’ve already been fortunate to see the benefits of Waymark’s platform throughout our organization nationally.”

Added Wamark CEO Alex Persky-Stern: “We’re thrilled to be rolling out across the nation with Gray Television’s market-leading local broadcast stations. Our AI-video platform is allowing local advertisers the opportunity to create customized, high-quality commercials in record time and at very affordable rates.”

Diamond Sports Group, which runs the Bally Sports regional sports networks, said that the agreement the NBA’s Phoenix Suns announced today to have games broadcast on TV stations owned by Gray Television breaches its contract with the team and violates bankruptcy law.

A subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Diamond filed for bankruptcy protection in March. Regional sports networks are under pressure because cord cutting is eroding subscriber revenue and reducing the number of eyeballs watching games via pay TV. 

In bankruptcy court, Major League Baseball has been arguing that its teams should get their TV rights back from Diamond unless the RSN company pays the rights fees previously agreed to. The Bally RSNs have continued to televise baseball games while its case works its way through bankruptcy court.

The NBA’s regular season is over, but the WNBA is playing and the Suns’ deal with Gray, under which games will air on stations KTVK and KPHE, includes the co-owned WNBA Phoenix Mercury.

“The Phoenix Suns breached our contract and violated bankruptcy law, and Diamond Sports Group will pursue all remedies against any parties that attempt to exercise control over our property interests while we reorganize,” Diamond Sports said in a statement. “This is an improper effort by the Suns to change their broadcasting partner without permitting Diamond to exercise our contractual rights.”

Suns and Phoenix Mercury CEO Josh Bartelstein responded to Diamond's assertion in a statement that said “Diamond’s position is totally inaccurate. We are moving forward with this deal and could not be more excited about what it means for our fans and our future.”

Gray Television had no comment on Diamond’s claims.

The Phoenix Suns are taking to the air, reaching a rights deal with Gray Television that will put all of the games played by the Suns and the Phoenix Mercury of the Women’s National Basketball Association on free over-the-air broadcast television starting next season.

The deal is another sign that sports leagues and teams are looking at returning to broadcast as an alternative to regional sports networks, which have been losing subscribers on cable and satellite because of cord-cutting and can no longer pay big bucks for local sports rights.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

As part of the agreement, the NBA team’s games will also stream on a new direct-to-consumer app created by Kiswe, an interactive video technology company.

The Suns games last season appeared on Bally Sports Arizona. Bally’s parent, Diamond Sports Group, a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, declared bankruptcy with revenues shrinking and costs rising.

With baseball season underway, Diamond Sports has not paid all of the Major League Baseball teams whose games it televises. Major League Baseball has asked the bankruptcy court to return the rights to the teams if Diamond’s doesn’t pay up. 

While RSNs struggle, broadcasters are pitching their ability to reach more viewers, creating more fans and selling more tickets and merchandise. The Suns were listening.

Also Read: Diamond Sports Says Suns Breached Contract With Gray Deal

“I’ve said from day one that our focus is our fans, our community, and every member of our organization and this deal checks every box,” Phoenix Suns and Phoenix said Mat Ishbia, who bought control of the Suns and Mercury in February. “By going entirely over the air and building our own DTC product, the Suns and Mercury will now be accessible to millions more fans in Arizona and globally. Success comes from new and innovative ways to invest in our players, continue our mission to build a world-class organization on and off the floor, and make our product available to as many people as possible.”

The Suns, a contender for the NBA title after acquiring star Kevin Durant, said moving to broadcast would offer increased reach for corporate partners and enhanced value for courtside signage because fans won’t have to subscribe to a pay TV package to watch games.

“We’re thrilled this partnership will connect our loyal family of viewers with the Phoenix Suns and Mercury,” Pat LaPlatney, president and co-CEO of Gray Television, said.  “In a very short window, [Suns owner] Mat Ishbia has begun to build a world-class organization both on and off the court.  And with today’s announcement, Mat has made good on his promise to focus on the community and put their fans first.  We are very pleased to play a part in that effort with our stations in Phoenix, Tucson, and ultimately Yuma.”

With Gray, Suns and Mercury games will appear on KTVK Phoenix and the newly launched KPHE Phoenix.  All non-national exclusive games will be broadcast on one of the two stations. KTVK will air 13 of the Mercury’s remaining regular-season games and all available postseason games. The rest of the Mercury’s regular-season games will appear on KPHE.

Next season, the Suns will have at least 40 regular season games on KTVK, with the remaining games airing on KPHE. 

KPHE is part of Arizona’s Family Sports & Entertainment Network, which will be expanding into the Tucson and Yuma markets in the next few weeks.

Through those stations, the Suns and Mercury games will be available to 2.8 million households, tripling the teams’ reach and enabling fans who have been unable to watch via cable and satellite to tune in, Gray said.

Fans will also be able to watch games through a DTC streaming option being offered by Kiswe.  Subscribers will be able to access the DTC streaming through a Suns or Mercury branded app on their smartphones or smart TVs. The 2023 Phoenix Mercury season will stream DTC for free. 

“Cord-cutters, cable subscribers, fans with an antenna — everyone will be able to watch Suns and Mercury games on Arizona’s Family,” said Ishbia. “Coupling that with a partnership with an industry leader like Kiswe to provide an innovative digital streaming solution allows us to transform the way fans watch our games, giving them more options and access than they’ve ever had.”

“We are excited to be partnering with the Phoenix Suns, Phoenix Mercury, and Gray Television on this groundbreaking new direct-to-fan distribution model,” said Glenn Booth, CEO of Kiswe. “Kiswe's goal is to bring live sports to all fans through immersive digital experiences, and we can't wait to start streaming games to any Arizona basketball fans who want to watch these iconic teams.”

Other broadcasters have been looking to pick up sports rights as RSNs falter.

Earlier this season, Nexstar Broadcast Group made a deal to broadcast 15 Los Angeles Clippers games on KTLA Los Angeles. The games also aired on Nexstar’s other California stations. Clippers games last aired on KTLA in 2009. The deal came while the Clippers were negotiating a renewal with Bally Sports SoCal. Nexstar CEO Perry Sook said Nexstar was talking to at least two other NBA owners looking to carve out similar broadcast deals. ”You’ll see more of this as time goes on,” Sook said. 

In December, E.W. Scripps Co. formed a sports division that would work with leagues, conferences and teams using its national networks, broadcast TV stations and connected TV channels as the RSN business failed. Earlier this month, Scripps announced a deal with the WNBA that creates a package of Friday night games airing on Scripps’ Ion network.

Regional sports networks used to be a good business, drawing big ratings and collecting large license fees from distributors. Sinclair borrowed about $9 billion to buy the Fox RSNs from The Walt Disney Co. Disney acquired the RSNs when it acquired 21st Century Fox, but had to sell them due to antitrust concerns because it owned ESPN.

Cord-cutting reduced revenue for the RSNs much faster than expected and Sinclair and its Diamond Sports unit found themselves in a financial crunch that led to a bankruptcy filing in March.

Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns four AT&T SportsNet RSNs, is also looking to get out of the business. 

The first Phoenix Mercury game will air live on KTVK and be simulcast on KPHE May 25 when the Mercury take on the Minnesota Lynx.

Lee H. Berke, president & CEO of LHB Sports, Entertainment & Media, advised Gray Television and Kiswe on the development of the Suns/Mercury agreement.

Gray Television said it named Eric Walters as general manager of its TV stations in Twin Falls, Idaho, effective June 12.

Walters will oversee KMVT, the CBS affiliate in the market, and KSVT, which carries Fox programming. 

He will succeed Kathy Silk, who is retiring after nearly 30 years in the broadcast business.

Walters is currently news director at WDBJ-WZBJ, Gray’s stations in Roanoke, Va. WDBJ has launched several new newscasts, including a weekly digital newscast in Spanish.

Robert (Bob) Smith, executive VP and COO of Gray Television since 2013, resigned on Thursday. 

He decided to retire, the company said in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Smith started his TV career as an account executive at WEAU-TV in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in 1986. He later became the station's local sales manager.

He worked at stations in Virgina and Illinois before becoming general manager at WMTV in Madison, Wisconsin, owned by Benedek Broadcasting. When Gray bought Benedek, he took on oversight of seven stations before being promoted to COO.

Smith was inducted into the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2018.

Smith’s retirement follows the sudden death of Lesley Swick Van Ness,  former news anchor and director of talent acquisition at Gray.

Van Ness, 42,  was vacationing with her family in Floriday and suddenly became ill, according to WGEM-TV, Quincy, Illinios, where she used to work. She was taken to a hospital April 6 and died on April 10.

“It is with a very heavy heart that we share some devastating news with you. Lesley Van Ness, who we have been so fortunate to have as part of the Gray family, passed away [Monday] morning,” said Jennifer Dale, VP of recruiting at Gray Television in a statement. “Lesley and her husband Tom have two precious young boys. Please keep all of them in your prayers.”

 Van Ness started her career as a reporter at WGEM-TV, Quincy, Illinois, in 2003, becoming weekend anchor in 2006 and weekday anchor in 2008.

She served as talent acquisition specialist for Quincy Media until it was acquired  by Gray.

Gray Television reported higher profit as political advertising surged and acquisitions generated additional revenue.

Net income in the fourth quarter was $173 million, or $1.88 a share, up from $29 million, or 17 cents  a share, a year ago. 

Revenue rose 49% to $1.1 billion, mainly because of political advertising. Political spending rose tenfold, to $225 million in the quarter compared to $20 million a year ago.

Core advertising revenue rose 13% to $406 million and retransmission revenue increased 20% to $353 million. The increases reflect acquisitions made by Gray in the past year.

On a combined historical bases, including the year-ago results from acquired properties, total revenue was up 25% and total core revenue was down 4%, reflecting displacement caused by political ad demand.

Looking ahead, Gray said it expected first-quarter revenue of $777 million to $796 million.

First-quarter total core revenue is expected to be between $350 million and $360 million, which would be down 3% from last year. The Super Bowl on Gray’s 27 Fox affiliates will generate $6 million in net revenue for the company, compared to the $13 million the company garnered from airing the Olympics on its 56 NBC affiliates in 2022.

Gray expects first-quarter retransmission revenue to be between $387 million and $393 million, down about 6%, and political revenue to be just $2 million to $3 million.

“Despite concerns about a possible macroeconomic recession discussed publicly in the general media and by certain sectors of the economy, we believe that our businesses performed well throughout last year and have started 2023 in a strong position,” the company said.

“Looking ahead, we anticipate that our television stations and production companies will maintain revenues at a level generally flat with recent years should macroeconomic conditions, particularly in local markets, slow during 2023. In addition, we anticipate that our retransmission revenues in the first quarter of 2023 will increase by approximately 10% to 11% over the fourth quarter of 2022 as rates increases continue to outpace negative subscriber trends,” the company said.

Gray has also been investing to build a production facility in Atlanta. 

“We currently anticipate that construction on the Assembly Studios portion of the development and much of the infrastructure for the entire project will be completed in the summer of 2023. At that time, we expect that the new facilities will begin generating revenue from both long-term and short-term leases of soundstages and related facilities to various content producers,” Gray said. 

“Also at that time, Gray intends to pause its funding of construction projects at Atlanta Assembly to evaluate carefully certain opportunities to maximize the long-term value of this unique real estate investment,” the company said.

Analyst Steven Cahall of Wells Fargo noted that Gray’s financial results came in ahead of its conservative guidance for the fourth quarter. He said that the company’s guidance for the first quarter points to better pacing for ad sales and retransmission fees in line with expectations.

“On the [company’s earnings call with analysts and investors], investors will be curious about retrans trends and ‘23 cash available for debt reduction,” Cahall said. ■

Gray Television said it agreed to a swap with Marquee Broadcasting Group that will give Gray a full-power station in all of the markets in Georgia, where the company is based.

Gray is selling KNIN, the Fox affiliate in Boise, Idaho, to Marquee. KIVI, owned by E.W. Scripps, provides KNIN with local news programming and back-office services under a shared-services agreement.

At the same time, Marquee is selling WPGA, a MeTV affiliate in Macon, Georgia, to Gray. 

Both transactions are expected to close in the second quarter of 2023 following receipt of regulatory and other approvals. ■

Gray Television said it named Robby Thomas as general manager of WIS Columbia, South Carolina, and Valerie Russell as general manager of the company’s stations in Dothan, Alabama, WTVY and WRGX, effective February 13.

Thomas had been GM at WTVY and WRGX for the past three years. He’s been in the business for 19 years, starting as a broadcast journalist.

Thomas succeeds Lyle Schultze, who is no longer with the company.

Russell succeeds Thomas at WIS. For the past two years, she’s been the station’s general sales manager. Under her, the station posted records for local direct business and digital revenue, Gray said. 

Russell began her career as a morning show producer at WOLO Columbia.  ■

Giant station owners Sinclair Broadcast Group, Nexstar Media Goup, Gray Television, E.W. Scripps Co., Tegna, Hearst Television and Cox Media Group have pulled their stations’ signals from FuboTV in a dispute with Paramount Global’s CBS Television Network, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The conflict shows some of the strains between networks and their affiliates at a time when media companies are shifting programming to direct-to-consumer streaming platforms.

Carriage deals for FuboTV and other streaming virtual multichannel video programming distributors (vMVPDs) have been handled at the network level, but the CBS affiliate board rejected the terms of the deal CBS negotiated with Fubo.

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CBS is providing a network feed — without local programming — to FuboTV for markets where affiliates have not agreed to the deal. The network is using programming from the CBS News Streaming Network to replace local newscasts.

CBS's owned and operated stations are being carried by Fubo, Fubo said.

Most individual station owners declined to comment. The affiliate board has hired a public relations agency to be able to put out a unified message. Hearst and Scripps confirmed their stations were no longer on Fubo.

UPDATE: Nexstar put out a statement: “Nexstar’s CBS stations are currently not available on the streaming service Fubo, denying Fubo subscribers the critically important local news, weather updates and other local programming we provide. This programming is being denied to Fubo subscribers because CBS’s owner, Paramount, has been unwilling to include Nexstar and other local broadcast groups in the negotiating process and unwilling to allow them to negotiate with Fubo on their own.”  

UPDATE: The only station group with a representative on the CBS Affiliate Board whose stations are still on Fubo is Allen Media Broadcasting, part of Allen Media Group. Allen Media Broadcasting said paperwork approving the deal was signed in error and sent to CBS. The company is trying to have its approval rescinded. “The arrangement that CBS has proposed is not appropriate,” Allen Media Broadcasting said. 

Neither CBS nor sports-focused Fubo has said how many CBS affiliates are allowing their signals to be streamed by Fubo after Monday’s deadline, which came after CBS’s broadcast of the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, one of the highest-rated telecasts of the year.

UPDATE: Fubo has published a website showing CBS affiliates and whether or not they're available on Fubo. One CBS affiliate noted several errors on the website, but said it appeared that non-CBS owned affiliates representing less than 10% of the country were still available on Fubo.

“CBS, through our Affiliate Board, provided our affiliates a fair opportunity to continue their carriage on FuboTV with short-term, mid-term and long-term options, including under the existing contract,“ CBS said in a statement. “Unfortunately and inexplicably, the Board did not endorse any of our multiple solutions. As a result, some CBS affiliates have elected to discontinue their local feeds on the FuboTV platform.

“In an effort to prevent a viewer disruption in affected markets, CBS may provide a network content feed to ensure that FuboTV subscribers retain access to news, sports and entertainment programming from America’s most-watched broadcast network,” CBS said. “We are committed to working in good faith, and we hope the Affiliate Board will reconsider the opportunity on behalf of its CBS affiliates.”

In a note to stations last week, the CBS affiliate board said it “remains adamantly opposed to Paramount’s insistence on controlling the retransmission rights of independently-owned local CBS affiliates on vMVPD platforms like Fubo.”

The board noted that “Paramount negotiates on behalf of 100% of all local stations in conjunction with Paramount’s other over two dozen cable networks. Once Paramount reaches an agreement conferring unknown value on its own cable channels and other assets, it presents a take-it-or-leave-it' offer to 'opt in' to a vMVPD distribution agreement with no changes.”

The board said it does not endorse the deal proposed by CBS. ■

Gray Television said Debra Alfarone will join the company as an anchor for Local News Live, the company’s streaming news network, and as a national correspondent for Gray’s TV stations, effective January 23.

Alfarone has been with CBS anchoring the CBS News Streaming Network and reporting from the White House. She has reported stories that appeared on CBS Mornings, CBS Evening News and CBS Weekend Evening News.

In her new post, Alfarone will lead Local News Live’s special programming and live event coverage. She will also handle feature stories, interviews from Gray’s Washington news bureau that will be available to Gray stations.

“LNL showcases the most interesting stories across the country told by people who know them the best, local journalists,” Gray senior VP of local media Sandy Breland said. “Debra’s warmth and strong interview skills make her the perfect fit to help take LNL to the next level.”

Also: Gray Pulling Local Station News Content From Sinclair's NewsOn

Before CBS, Alfarone was with WUSA Washington, D.C., WPIX New York, WVIT Hartford, Connecticut and News 12 Connecticut.

“We are thrilled Debra is joining our team,“ Lisa Allen, general manager of Gray's Washington operations, said. “Gray D.C. strives to cover national news through a local lens. Whether it’s from behind the anchor desk or the halls of Congress, I know Debra will help us achieve that goal.” ■

Gray Television said Al Lancaster, general manager of WSAW Wausau, Wis., will retire in March after leading the station for 23 years, and that Betsy Keefe will succeed him.

Keefe has been general sales manager at WSAW for 10 years. She is a native of Wausau and started her career as a research assistant at WITI Milwaukee. 

Keefe has created a sales culture focused on growing local businesses and developing people, Gray said. 

Keefe also served as the director of government affairs for the Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce and has served on the board for the Wausau Conservatory of Music.  

Lancaster joined WSAW as GM in 2000. Before that, he was station manager at WLAX-WEAU in the La Crosse-Eau Claire market. He started his career as an account executive at WIZM radio in La Crosse. ■