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Gray Media’s stations provide local news and network programming to viewers across the United States. Businesses and political advertisers pay to reach those viewers through television commercials and ads on station websites and mobile apps. Cable, satellite and online television distributors also pay for permission to retransmit the stations’ signals, with fees based on their active subscriber counts. Advertising and these retransmission fees account for nearly all revenue and are broadly comparable in size.
Advertising income depends on attracting audiences that advertisers want to reach and on advertisers’ budgets. Financial, legal, medical and automotive businesses supply a substantial part of non-political advertising, although no single advertiser dominates. Political spending rises in even-numbered election years. Gray also relies heavily on network programming, particularly from CBS and NBC: it pays networks for programming, while the networks keep most advertising time within their shows. Maintaining these affiliations and renewing distribution agreements are important to both advertising and retransmission income.
The stations need Federal Communications Commission broadcast licenses to operate. FCC approval is required for station acquisitions and license transfers, and local and national ownership limits restrict how far Gray can expand.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Nexstar and Gray Media share exposure to local advertising budgets and fees paid by distributors to carry their network-affiliated television stations. Nexstar’s station advertising and distribution revenue offer a comparison for Gray’s two main revenue sources.
Sinclair and Gray Media both rely on advertisers buying time on local television and distributors paying to carry their channels. Watch Sinclair’s local media carriage revenue as a comparison for Gray’s retransmission fees, which depend on both the price per subscriber and active subscriber counts.
E.W. Scripps and Gray Media compete for businesses’ local television and digital advertising budgets, and have agreed to exchange stations. Watch approvals for the no-cash swap: Gray is to receive WSYM in Lansing and KATC in Lafayette, with closing still subject to conditions and regulatory approval.
Gray Media pays Fox for programming on its FOX-affiliated stations, while Fox’s own stations and advertising-supported properties compete for advertisers’ spending. Watch the appeal of FOX network programming: Gray’s FOX-affiliated channels generated approximately 14% of its total revenue in 2025.
Entravision Communication’s Univision and UniMás affiliates compete with Gray Media’s Telemundo stations for Latino viewers and local advertisers. Watch Entravision’s sales of television spots bundled with digital campaigns to businesses targeting Latino consumers, a concrete comparison for advertising demand around Gray’s Spanish-language stations.
Alphabet’s Google and YouTube compete for the advertising budgets that fund Gray Media’s television spots and digital ads, including video and local business promotion. Watch YouTube advertising and Google Search ads that prompt customers to click and contact businesses as competing uses of those budgets.
Meta Platforms competes with Gray Media for marketers’ spending by selling advertising on Facebook and Instagram rather than television stations and station websites. Its app advertising revenue shows the scale of a competing outlet for businesses seeking customer leads or brand awareness.
Meta Platforms, Inc. earningsMETA
Meta Platforms’ report will show how advertising on Facebook and Instagram is moving, offering a read on how strongly it competes for the budgets Gray Media seeks for its stations and websites.
Watch the direction of Meta Platforms’ app advertising revenue. Growth would show marketers putting more money into an outlet for brand awareness and customer leads, intensifying competition for Gray Media’s advertising budgets; slower or falling revenue would weaken that signal, but would not prove Gray is gaining the spending.
Fed Interest Rate Decision
Gray Media’s Fed interest-rate decision matters because it signals the direction of rates that can change what Gray pays on variable-rate debt and leave more or less cash for its obligations.
Expected4.0%Last release4.0%
If it comes in above expectations
Higher-than-expected rates could raise interest costs on Gray Media’s variable-rate borrowings, leaving less operating cash for other obligations.
If it comes in below expectations
Lower-than-expected rates could ease interest costs on Gray Media’s variable-rate borrowings, leaving more operating cash for other obligations.
Entravision Communication earningsEVC
Entravision’s report will show how sales of television and digital campaigns aimed at Latino audiences are faring, a market where Gray Media’s Spanish-language stations also seek viewers and advertisers.
Watch Entravision’s sales of television spots bundled with digital campaigns. Stronger sales would show advertisers still paying to reach Latino consumers, making competition tougher for Gray Media’s Telemundo stations; weaker sales would suggest less pressure from this source, but would not mean Gray’s own sales are rising.
Skydance Corporation earningsSKYD
Skydance’s report may shed light on the appeal of CBS programming and the fees charged to stations; CBS-affiliated channels generated about 37% of Gray Media’s total revenue in 2025.
Watch what Skydance says about CBS programming’s appeal and the fees it charges affiliates. Strong appeal on manageable terms would support Gray Media’s CBS stations in drawing viewers and advertisers; weaker appeal or higher fees would pressure those stations’ advertising appeal or economics. CBS channels are a large part of Gray’s business, but Skydance’s disclosures are not Gray’s own results.
Sinclair, Inc. earningsSBGI
Sinclair’s report will show how revenue from distributors paying to carry its channels is faring, offering a market comparison for Gray Media’s retransmission consent fees.
Watch Sinclair’s local media carriage revenue, and whether it explains per-subscriber fees and subscriber counts. Stronger revenue would suggest a more supportive market backdrop for distributors’ payments to local broadcasters, a positive reference for Gray Media’s retransmission consent fees; weaker revenue would flag possible pressure, but Sinclair’s rates and subscriber mix do not establish Gray’s contract terms.
Gray Media, Inc. earningsThis company
Gray Media earns mainly from advertising and retransmission consent fees, and this report will show how well advertiser spending and distributor payments are supporting those two revenue streams.
Read core advertising revenue alongside retransmission consent revenue—the fees cable and other television distributors pay to carry a station’s signal. Stronger core advertising with stable or higher fees would show that both advertiser demand and distributor payments are supporting Gray Media’s broadcasting business; weakness in both would put pressure on its two main revenue sources and leave less cash to cover programming and debt costs.
