ATLANTA—Gray Media announced updated financial guidance for the quarter ending September 30, 2026 that indicates the company is expecting more political ad revenue than it had previously forecast in August for Q3 2026.
Gray said that it was updating its guidance from August 7, 2026 in connection with lender meetings to potentially refinance its credit facility and presentations to investors.
The new guidance for Q3 2026 expects that core advertising (excluding political) will be down by 1% to flat compared to $355 million seen in Q3 2025.
Political advertising revenue will, however, increase to a new level somewhere between $188 million to $195 million in Q3 2026, compared to the $8 million of political ads in Q3 2025.
The new estimate is also significantly higher than the $165 million to $185 million in political ads that Gray had given in its August 7 Q3 revenue guidance.
Based on those revisions, Gray said it is expecting $305 million worth of political ad revenue for the first nine months of 2026, up from $247 million for 2024 and $260 during the last midterms during 2022.
Gray reported that the 2026 estimate for the first nine months assumes $192 million of third quarter political advertising revenue, the midpoint of Gray’s updated guidance, and includes an estimated $9 million of political advertising revenue from recent acquisitions through September 30, 2026, which is included in the updated guidance.
Overall the improved outlook for political ad revenue increases its guidance for total ad revenue to a figure somewhere between $950 million to $965 million, up from $749 million reported in Q3 2025.
This is also higher than the August 7 guidance, which told investors it was expecting between $935 million to $965 million in total revenue.
Gray stressed that it is in the process of finalizing its third quarter financial results and that the following updated estimates reflect the most current operational information and expectations available to the company as of the date of this release. For the estimates not listed below, our original guidance issued on August 7, 2026, remains unchanged. As always, guidance may change in the future based on several factors and therefore may not reflect future actual results.
