Gray Television announced fourth quarter revenue of $77.5
million, down 18% from the same quarter the previous year. Local ad revenue was
up 5%, national revenue was down 1%, and Internet advertising was flat in the
quarter.
Gray execs said the numbers are looking brighter in 2010.
"While we continue to operate our
business in a challenging environment, the operating results we expect to
report following completion of the audit of our financial statements are better
than we had initially forecasted. We have seen some improvements in our core
local and national advertising revenue and believe we are well positioned to
benefit from expected increases in political advertising in 2010," said Gray in
a statement.
Political advertising was down 82%
to $5 million in the quarter, while retransmission consent revenue was up 346%
to $3.7 million.
Gray also collected $.6 million in
the fourth quarter from its consulting agreement with Young Broadcasting
concerning most of the Young stations.
Atlanta-based Gray operates 36
stations in 30 markets.
