ATLANTA—CBS said WUPA Atlanta will become its new network outlet in that city. The station, which broadcasts on Channel 69, will begin broadcasting CBS programming on Aug. 16.

CBS News & Stations has owned WUPA, currently branded on-air as Atlanta 69, since 1994. Currently an independent, WUPA was an affiliate of The CW from 2006 to 2024.

Effective Aug. 16, WUPA will rebrand as CBS Atlanta and plans to launch a streaming CBS News Atlanta channel, covering the latest regional weather, traffic, local and breaking news.

Gray Media’s WANF had been the CBS affiliate since 1994. Gray said WANF will become an independent station focued on its local news operation.

CBS owns and operates 27 stations in 17 of the country’s biggest markets. It operates a streaming service, CBS News 24/7, which includes streaming news feeds from many of its owned stations.

“Launching our first owned CBS station in Atlanta is a milestone moment for us,” said Jennifer Mitchell, president of CBS Stations and CBS News and Stations Digital. “This expansion allows us to bring the full strength of CBS’ award-winning news, sports and entertainment programming directly to one of the most vibrant and influential markets in the country. With WUPA and the launch of the CBS News Atlanta streaming channel, we’re not just delivering content—we’re investing in the community, local journalism and ensuring Atlanta viewers receive the same trusted, high-quality journalism that defines CBS in every market we serve.”

WUPA’s live linear feed will also be available on Paramount+.

In a separate announcement, Gray Media said WANF would leverage its local news operation and the resources of its Atlanta-based parent company to better serve the local community with on-air and online content.

“As residents of Atlanta along with our families, this company’s leadership and our corporate colleagues have been keenly focused on improving what we watch every day on WANF and its sister station, WPCH Peachtree TV,” said Gray’s executive chairman Hilton Howell. “We are excited to now take WANF in a new direction that puts full control of the station’s offerings in local hands and that allows us to expand our investment in local news, weather and sports by, for and about the people who, like us, live in Greater Atlanta.”

Gray said that it plans to make additional financial and other resource investments in WANF to enable it to transition successfully to a strong independent local television station.

Gray said it expects that WANF will join the ranks of other successful local independent news stations. Former network affiliates like Gray-owned KTVK Phoenix, WJXT Jacksonville, and WHDH Boston are all high-rated independent stations that have flourished with a strong local news presence, the company said.

“Since acquiring WANF and WPCH in December 2021, Gray has invested tens of millions of dollars to reinvigorate the stations and expand their capabilities,“ Gray Co-CEO Pat LaPlatney said. “Three years ago, WANF adopted its current call sign to emphasize its new commitment to delivering Atlanta News First. This is not just a slogan, it’s the philosophy for the entire organization. The next chapter as an independent station allows WANF to deliver on that commitment more fully, and our experience and our research make us optimistic that viewers and advertisers will increasingly turn to WANF as a result.”

LONDON—The management at music video streaming service ROXi has completed a management buyout of the business in partnership with a investor syndicate including major U.S. broadcasters Sinclair and Gray Media.

FastStream Interactive Limited (FSI), the new company set up post-buyout, has successfully acquired the business and technology of ROXi and has sealed distribution deals with major U.S. broadcasters that will bring FSI’s interactive TV channels to U.S. broadcasters.

“The new technology, FastStream, will revolutionize broadcast TV,” FastStream CEO Rob Lewis said. “For the first time in history, consumers tuning into a normal TV channel will find they automatically start at the beginning of the program, and that they are able to skip, pause or search, even though they are watching normal broadcast TV.”

The first FastStream-powered TV channel to launch will be ROXi, believed to be America’s first interactive TV music channel, will be available for free via NextGen TV. It will allow frictionless access to all the music Americans like whenever they want for free on their TV without the need for an app and with no registration or subscription required, the company said.

“FastStream Interactive will empower Sinclair to deliver a range of cutting-edge, fully interactive TV channels,” Sinclair Vice President and General Manager, Technology and Business Development Skip Flenniken said. “Our viewers across the U.S. will be able to search, skip and engage with content in a seamless, personalized experience.”

The new company has the support of more than 100 major investors, including U.S. broadcasters as well as prestigious names in music and corporate finance, FastStream said.

Shareholders include Sinclair and Gray Media Group, U2 bassist Adam Clayton, Terra Firma Capital Partners founder Guy Hands, British billionaire businessman Jim Mellon and Global Lead of TMT at Rothschilds Warner Mandel, it said.

“Working together with FastStream Interactive, Gray will be introducing fully interactive TV channels to viewers,” Robert Folliard, senior vice president of government relations and distribution at Gray, said. “We see this as a compelling new chapter for TV entertainment and another reason for consumers to be excited about the upcoming NextGen TV transition.”

More information is available on the company’s website.

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL—The Minnesota Twin have inked a new, multi-year partnership with Gray Media and FOX 9, KMSP, to broadcast 10 Tuesday night regular season games per season. All 10 simulcasts of Major League Baseball’s Twins.TV production will air live in the Twin Cities on the main FOX 9 channel, beginning with an exclusive 30-minute FOX 9 pregame show, “Twins Tuesday Live.” Select Gray Media stations in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa will carry each of the 10 Tuesday games, ensuring local over-the-air coverage of Twins baseball across Twins Territory for the first time since 1988.

All locally-distributed Twins regular season games will also be available on Twins.TV Presented by Progressive.

(Read: Local TV’s Role in Pro Sports Flashes Real Staying Power)

“We joined MLB Media and created Twins.TV in 2025 to increase access for all fans, with a big part being the opportunity to return to free, over-the-air television,” said Twins Executive Chair Joe Pohlad. “To achieve that goal with our partners at FOX 9—a station that has long been dedicated to local programming and the game of baseball—is wonderful for the Twins and our fans, and we could not be more excited. We’re also thrilled to join with Gray Media to air Twins games in communities across our region. The expanded reach of these games will allow more fans to sample Twins baseball and increase consideration for enjoying more of our games on cable, satellite or via the Twins.TV direct-to-consumer streaming service.”

Marian Davey, General Manager of FOX 9 KMSP-TV, said of the partnership, “FOX 9 is thrilled and honored to bring the Minnesota Twins back to broadcast television. The Twins are more than Minnesota’s baseball team, they are part of who we are as a state. For generations, the Twins and Minnesota families have been making lifetime memories together. Now it’s time to make new ones.”

“Gray appreciates the opportunity to join with the Minnesota Twins and FOX 9 to bring free, over-the-air baseball back to Twins Territory for the first time in decades,” said Sandy Breland, Chief Operating Officer of Gray Media. “We know Twins fans across the outer market Twins Territory will love it.”

Beyond the 10-game Tuesday package, an additional five Twins contests have been selected for national FOX Saturday Baseball telecasts this season, meaning that 15 regular season Twins games will air locally on FOX 9 in 2025. Before those matchups, FOX 9 will present “Twins Weekend Live,” an exclusive one-hour pregame show.

ST. LOUIS—Gray Media will broadcast 10 selected games from the St. Louis Cardinals MLB franchise on KMOV (CBS) and Matrix Midwest in St. Louis, on Gray-owned or syndicated third-party TV stations in Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky and Oklahoma serving nearly seven and a half million television households. The team will simulcast these games with FanDuel Sports Network, the Cardinals’ television rightsholder partner.

The new partnership marks the first time a package of Cardinals baseball games will be televised locally on a free and over-the-air channel as part of a non-national broadcast since 2010.

The partnership’s first pitch will occur on Friday, April 11 when the Cardinals host the Philadelphia Phillies at Busch Stadium 7:15 C.D.T. on KMOV channel 4 and Matrix Midwest in St. Louis (channel 32 over-the-air and channel 6 on Spectrum cable).

The St. Louis and regional television stations will air the following games:

• Friday, April 25 vs. Milwaukee Brewers 7:15 C.D.T. on Matrix Midwest
• Friday, May 16 at Kansas City Royals 6:40 C.D.T. on Matrix Midwest
• Friday, May 30 at Texas Rangers 7:05 C.D.T. on KMOV Channel 4 and Matrix Midwest
• Friday, June 6 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 7:15 C.D.T. on KMOV Channel 4 and Matrix Midwest
• Friday, June 20 vs. Cincinnati Reds 6:15 C.D.T. on Matrix Midwest

The Cardinals will announce additional free, over-the-air Cardinals games at a later date.

“We are excited that, for the first time in 15 years, fans can watch our games across Cardinals Nation for free and over-the-air, bringing the Cardinals into more homes than ever before,” said Anuk Karunaratne, Cardinals Sr. Vice President of Business Operations. “This expanded reach means more families, communities, and lifelong fans can share in the excitement of Cardinals baseball and cheer on our hometown team throughout the season.”

“KMOV and Matrix Midwest are proud to serve our viewers in St. Louis and across the region, by bringing iconic Cardinals baseball back to free, over-the-air broadcasts,” said J.D. Sosnoff, General Manager of KMOV-TV and Matrix Midwest. “Along with our market-leading co-owned television stations across Cardinals Country, we are ready to bring the excitement from Busch Stadium to the fans.”

Gray’s television stations in Cape Girardeau, Springfield, Memphis, Jonesboro, Rockford, Peoria, Quincy, Evansville, Sioux City, Cedar Rapids, Ottumwa, Davenport, and Rochester/Mason City also plan to air the package.

Matrix Midwest launched in 2024 and is St. Louis’ only free and independent sports and entertainment network, available free over-the-air on channel 32 and channel 6 on Spectrum/Charter.

The announcement is the latest in a number of deals Gray has made to carry professional sports leagues over its local TV stations carrying the FanDuel Sports Network. Last fall, Gray inked a multiyear deal that calls for Gray stations to simulcast 14 Atlanta Braves regular-season games starting in 2025 as well as an agreement to simulcast 10 Kansas City Royals’ regular-season game telecasts.

The station group also began carrying the Chicago Sports Network in Rockford, Ill., and South Bend, Ind., last November, broadcasting games from the NBA’s Bulls, NHL’s Blackhawks and Major League Baseball’s White Sox and other related content free, over-the-air to more than 500,000 households in the two markets.

ATLANTA—The board of directors for Gray Television Inc. has unanimously voted to change the company’s name to Gray Media, Inc. effective Jan. 1.

Up until now, the boilerplate on the company’s press releases read: “Gray Media, or Gray, is a multimedia company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, formally known as Gray Television, Inc.” Gray said the board’s action “aligns the company’s formal name with the widespread practice over the past few years of referring to the company as “Gray Media” or simply “Gray” both internally and externally.”

Executive chairman Hilton H. Howell explained: “Over the past decade, Gray has grown into new geographic and business markets, while also expanding content and product offerings for our loyal viewers. Our reach has diversified beyond local media, and we’re investing time and resources into new business models and technologies — more now than at any other time in the company’s 127-year history. With this growth and change, formally updating the company’s name to Gray Media, Inc. reflects our ongoing transformation and continued desire to lead the way in traditional and new media, alongside our leading broadcast stations.”

The name change does not affect the company’s trading symbols, its CUSIPs, nor the rights of its security holders, the company said. The company anticipates that its common stock and Class A common stock will begin trading under its new name on Jan. 10.

ATLANTA—Derek Rogers has joined station group Gray Media as general manager and director of sales at KXII, its CBS affiliate in Sherman, Texas. KXII also multicasts Fox on a digital subchannel branded as FXII.

Rogers succeeds Rick Dean, who will retire after 39 years with the station, the last 25 years as its general manager.

A 25-year media business veteran, Rogers had been general manager of Morris Multimedia-owned WCBI Columbus-Tupelo, Mississippi, since 2014. That role marked a return to the station where he started his career after three years as GM of NBC affiliate WMGT-TV Macon, Georgia.

“I am excited to join the strong team at Gray and at KXII,” Rogers said in a statement. “I look forward to getting to know the clients and people of Texoma.”

During his first stint at WCBI, Rogers moved up through the ranks as production manager, promotions director, local sales manager and general manager.

A graduate of the Mississippi State University School of Business, Rogers served on the board of the university’s Department of Communications. He is a past president of the Mississippi Association of Broadcasters. An Emmy-nominated producer, he has received multiple Associated Press and MAB Awards, including for Documentary and Achievement in Broadcasting, Gray said.

ATLANTA—Gray Media has announced that three veteran broadcasters serving as general managers at its stations will be retiring in November.

Kelly Landeen is retiring as the general manager and director of sales of WAGM Presque Isle, Maine; Neil Middleton will step down as general manager of WYMT Hazard, Kentucky; and Roger Brokke is retiring as the general manager and director of sales of WIBW Topeka, Kansas.

“The leadership and commitment to the local communities and local stations that Kelly, Neil, and Roger provided will leave a lasting impact,” Gray Chief Operating Officer Sandy Breland aid. “On behalf of Gray and the stations they led, I want to thank them for their service and wish them the best in their upcoming retirements.”

Gray has not yet announced their replacements.

Kelly Landeen started her media career in 1990 at WAGM in Presque Isle as an account executive. Over the years, she rose through the ranks to become the general manager and director of sales of WAGM in 2015. During her tenure in Presque Isle, WAGM won numerous broadcasting awards, creative awards, and was recognized by several partners for its work to support the community. Landeen led WAGM’s many community projects, raising over $1 million for projects to feed the hungry, heat homes and support veterans, the Special Olympics, United Way, Red Cross and others to help the people of Aroostook County. WAGM achieved and maintained the highest-rated 6 p.m. newscast in the country for many years under Landeen’s leadership, Gray said.

Neil Middleton has spent all but two years of his broadcast career serving the communities of Eastern Kentucky. He was named GM of WYMT in 2012 and during his tenure, he helped guide the community through the death of beloved broadcaster Tony Turner, historic tornado outbreaks and floods, police shootings, mine collapses and more, Gray said. Under his guidance, the Mountain Classic scholarship and basketball tournaments were created, supporting both girls’ and boys’ teams.

Through the Mountain Classic, WYMT has helped students in Eastern Kentucky earn more than 2,200 academic scholarships and raised nearly $5 million for local students and schools.

Roger Brokke has worked nearly 50 years in media sales, leading him to Topeka and WIBW in 2004. He was promoted to general manager and director of sales in 2014. WIBW received numerous honors during Brokke's tenure, including 11 consecutive years as Kansas Association of Broadcasters’ Station of the Year; two Tony Jewell Awards for community service; and recognition as a finalist for the National Association of Broadcasters’ Service to America award. Countless community events and fundraisers were successfully launched during Brokke’s time atop WIBW, including the recent “Hear Me. See Me.” campaign to raise awareness for mental health. He most recently served as the chairman of the Kansas Association of Broadcasters board of directors.

ATLANTA—Gray Media has announced that its 24/7 streaming news network, Local News Live, has launched standalone apps for connected TVs and smartphones. 

“Local News Live delivers a local perspective on national stories by tapping into the expertise of Gray journalists in 113 markets,” Gray Chief Operating Officer Sandy Breland said. “With this new streaming presence, our reach will expand to deliver that unmatched breaking news coverage and impactful information to a national audience.”

Local News Live launched in February 2021 as a national news network to provide live streaming coverage on more than 500 Gray station websites, connected TV apps and mobile apps. Local News Live will remain available on Gray’s local apps and continue to provide audiences with nonstop access to local and national news feeds.

“We are excited to grow our footprint to the rest of the US to serve even more viewers with our unique blend of national coverage through a local lens,” Lisa Allen, general manager of Gray’s Wasington operations, said.

Local News Live is based out of Gray’s Washington, D.C., news bureau.

These new apps are now available to download for free by searching “LNL” on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, iOS and Android streaming devices.

ATLANTA— Station group Gray Television said two of its veteran general managers in Texas and Louisiana have set plans to depart the company.

Laura Long will step away from her role as GM at CBS affiliate KNOE in Monroe, Louisiana, effective today (Oct. 4). GM Rick Dean has set his retirement from KXII Sherman, Texas, which carries CBS, Fox and MyNetworkTV, on Dec. 31.

“Laura and Rick exemplify the high quality of leadership and commitment to excellence this company strives for in each of our stations,” Gray Chief Operating Officer Sandy Breland said in a statement. “On behalf of Gray, I thank them for their years of service and wish them the best in their retirement.”

Laura Long began her 35-year TV career in Monroe after attending the University of Louisana-Monroe, joining cable operator Cablevision Systems in 1992 where she advanced to general sales manager. She joined WUPL New Orleans as local sales manager in 1999 and moved to WTOG Tampa, where she served as general sales manager and was eventually named general manager in 2010. She joined Gray as KNOE’s VP and general manager in 2014.

Rick Dean began his media career at an Oklahoma City radio station in 1989. He moved to television and KXII in 1985, working for various owners until Gray acquired the station in 1989. He filled such roles as account executive, assistant sales manger and general sales manager at KXII, advancing to general manager in 2002. During his tenure, KXII won three Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, among other honors.

Gray is currently seeking new leaders for both stations.

Gray has announced its television stations in Rockford, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana, will carry the Chicago Sports Network starting in November. The Chicago Sports Network is a new RSN owned by Standard Media, Chicago Blackhawks owner Wirtz Corp. and Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago Bulls and White Sox franchises. 

The teams—which were on cable network NBC Sports Chicago—left the RSN to launch Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) earlier this year. NBC Sports Chicago shut down on Sept. 30, 2024; multicast-delivered CHSN launched Tuesday, Oct. 1.

This arrangement will deliver games from the NBA’s Bulls, NHL’s Blackhawks and Major League Baseball’s White Sox and other related content free, over-the-air to more than 500,000 households in the two markets, Gray said.

In Rockford, CHSN will air on WSLN channel 19.3, with overflow on channel 19.4. In South Bend, CHSN will air on WNDU channel 16.2, with overflow on channel 16.4. The overflow channels will allow the stations to air two games simultaneously in the event of schedule conflicts.

CHSN’s broadcast schedule will include locally broadcast regular-season games, select preseason games and, for the Blackhawks and Bulls, select coverage of playoff matchups. In addition to live games, the network will provide first-class pre- and postgame shows, in-depth commentary from seasoned sports analysts, and 24/7 multisport programming.

CHSN will broadcast from state-of-the-art studios in Chicago’s United Center and at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“Gray is committed to bringing local sports to our over-the-air viewers,” Gray Chief Operating Officer Sandy Breland said. “We look forward to working with CHSN to provide the Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox to fans in Rockford and South Bend.” 

Added CHSN President Jason Coyle: “We’re committed to reaching our fans wherever they are, including areas outside of Chicago proper that may have not had the opportunity to watch games in the past. This partnership with Gray allows us to provide more options for our Chicago fans so they can cheer on their favorite players and teams.”

The announcement is the latest in Gray's campaign to return live sports to free over-the-air TV. It recently launched the “Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network" with the New Orleans Pelicans and the Rock Entertainment Sports Network, featuring local (non-major league) sports teams in Cleveland and Cincinnati. Last month it signed a deal with the Missouri Valley Conference to air its games in 22 Gray Media markets in Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa and Tennessee and via third-party broadcast partners in markets outside of the Gray footprint.

Gray’s Raycom Sports division recently launched “Big 12 Studios,” a new venture to deliver original programming and content to fans as a FAST (free ad-supported television) channel across multiple major platforms.

Gray Media is partnering with the New Orleans Pelicans to create a new network that promises to bring every non-national Pelicans NBA game to its viewers.

The new soon-to-be launched multi-state distribution venture called “Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network” will be anchored by Gray’s New Orleans television station WVUE (FOX 8 Local First).

The new network will broadcast free, over-the-air and be made available on a variety of pay-TV platforms through Gray’s television stations in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Alexandria, Louisiana; Gray’s television stations in Biloxi, Jackson, Hattiesburg, and Meridian, Mississippi; and Gray’s Mobile, Alabama television station.

Gray and the Pelicans said that by moving the Pelicans games to the new network, the team will be now be available to 4.1 million households, 16x more than the team’s reach through its previous distribution arrangement with a non-broadcast regional sports network.

“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,” said Sandy Breland, Chief Operating Officer, Gray Media. “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,” said 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, overthe-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 Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. when the Pelicans take on the Chicago Bulls.

The map below denotes the network's geographic reach.

ST. LOUIS—Missouri Valley Conference and Gray Media have announced a multi-year agreement to produce and distribute MVC men’s and women’s basketball regular-season games and opening-round/quarterfinal State Farm MVC Men’s Basketball Tournament contests (“Arch Madness”) beginning with the 2024-25 academic year.

The linear over-the-air station package will be distributed in 22 Gray Media markets in the states of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, and Tennessee and via third-party broadcast partners in markets outside of the Gray footprint.

As part of the agreement between The Valley and Gray, the men’s and women’s basketball content will be produced and distributed by Indianapolis-based Tupelo Honey, owned by Gray.

Under the conference’s multi-year contract with ESPN, the entire package will also be simulcast live nationally on ESPN+ and available through the ESPN app without digital blackouts.

“In the ever-changing landscape of live-event production and distribution, the Missouri Valley Conference remains committed to navigating the best path to reach college basketball fans, and this partnership with Gray does just that,” said Jeff Jackson, MVC commissioner.

“Tupelo Honey and Gray have had a long relationship with The Valley, and we’re excited to help them bring games directly to fans free over-the-air,” said John Servizzi, President of Tupelo Honey.

“Gray is committed to bringing live, local sports to its viewers,” added Sandy Breland, Gray’s Chief Operating Officer. “This collaboration with The Valley will benefit fans, schools, and local communities. We couldn’t be more proud to partner with The Valley.”

The Missouri Valley Conference is the nation’s second-oldest NCAA Division I conference and will be celebrating its 118th season in 2024-25. 

ATLANTA—Gray Media has announced comprehensive coverage plans for the 2024 Democratic National Convention that include Gray’s Washington DC Bureau and news teams from 13 Gray affiliates reporting from Chicago on the local impact of the presidential and vice presidential nomination process and the Democratic party platform.

Starting Monday, August 19, through the conclusion of the convention on Thursday, August 22, the coverage will be carried on Gray’s local affiliates and Local News Live, Gray’s national news network that provides live streaming coverage on more than 500 Gray station websites, connected TV apps, and mobile apps.

“The combined reporting power of Local News Live, the DC Bureau, and Gray newsrooms will provide substantial DNC coverage with a unique local perspective to our 113 markets across the country,” Gray’s COO Sandy Breland said. “All Gray-owned Wisconsin news operations will send reporting teams to the convention, including WMTV in Madison, WBAY in Green Bay, WEAU in Eau Claire, WSAW in Wausau, and KBJR in Superior (Duluth). In addition, news crews from Gray affiliates WANF in Atlanta, Georgia, AZ Family in Phoenix, Arizona, WNDU in South Bend, Indiana, KHNL in Honolulu, Hawaii, WCAX in Burlington, Vermont, KTTC in Rochester, Minnesota, KEYC in Mankato, Minnesota, and KVLY in Fargo, North Dakota will be on site to provide daily coverage.”

“We are dedicated to covering the biggest stories through a local lens,” added Lisa Allen, general manager of Gray’s Washington Operation. “With journalists in more than 100 markets, Gray’s teams can cover more ground than any other news source through Election Day.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Fresh off a successful effort to elevate the quality of its video and audio NextGen TV signal to Louisville, Ky., viewers watching WAVE-TV’s Kentucky Derby coverage with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and immersive audio, Gray Television is at it again.

This time the broadcast group will offer NextGen TV viewers in eight of its NBC markets the Paris Olympics in HDR when they open Wednesday, July 24. Viewers in three of those markets also will be able to listen to immersive audio of the games.

As with the Derby, the stations will upconvert the network’s standard dynamic range HD video feed and audio mix to Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos immersive sound.

While the effort will enhance the viewing experience of NextGen TV households, the endeavor takes on added significance because the station group sees the broadcasts as another critical step in promoting NextGen TV to the public.

In this interview, Rob Folliard, senior vice president of government relations and distribution at Gray TV, discusses the station group’s HDR and immersive audio deployment, its plans beyond sports, when it might begin offering the enhancements as part of its NextGen TV broadcasts of other network partners and why broadcasters should waste no time stepping up their efforts to promote NextGen TV.

(An edited transcript.) 

TVTech: How many local Gray Television stations will be offering the Paris Olympics as NextGen TV with HDR and immersive sound?

Rob Folliard: We have eight NBC affiliates that are broadcasting a 3.0 signal right now. I expect all of them will be up and running in HDR by the Paris Olympics. I know for certain at least three of the eight will also have immersive audio—Dolby Atmos. 

TVT: The Paris Olympics deployment of NextGen TV HDR and immersive audio follows a similar deployment for this year’s Kentucky Derby at Gray TV’s WAVE-TV in Louisville. What lessons did you learn from that experience?

RF: A lot of it is related to the marketing and promotion side. We marketed and promoted the heck out of it, and we saw a reaction locally.

We also partnered with a consumer electronics store as well to give away NextGen TVs, and that was successful. We're copying a lot of the promotional effort that we did in Louisville for the Derby. We’re using the Olympics, as well, just to let people know about NextGen TV and create a buzz.

At this stage, that's the most important thing: to let viewers know what we're doing and creating that buzz so people want to buy TVs. Then, if we can turn that into some advertising campaigns in partnership with local retailers, all the better. I think it really was the promotion where the Kentucky Derby project was successful, and we want to model that for the Paris Olympics.

TVT: Can you offer a little more detail on how you are promoting NextGen TV for the Olympics?

RF: We're already promoting the Olympics, so now we're including tags and other info in those promotions that say, “And you can watch the Olympics in HDR.” So, a lot of it we're doing anyway, but now we’re also adding the HDR message. In those markets where there's immersive audio, then we’re adding the Dolby Atmos immersive audio message as well. 

We are also promoting HDR and immersive audio online on our station websites where viewers can learn more. There isn’t a national retail partner, but ideally each market will find a partner.

TVT: Like the Kentucky Derby, your NBC affiliates for the Olympics will be offering the public HDR in the form of Dolby Vision and immersive audio in the form of Dolby Atmos. How did you decide on Dolby’s implementations?

RF: Dolby's been the gold standard for decades. So that was pretty easy. Certainly, on the audio side of things. Dolby has been a great partner for NextGen in general. They've been supportive the whole way. They have involved themselves. They have made themselves available, and they provided a lot of information for our promotion and our marketing as well. I know Dolby is partnering with some other broadcasters promoting the Olympics. 

Dolby's aggressive, and they want to promote NextGen TV, and that goes hand in hand with what we want.

TVT: It won’t be long until we are past the Olympics and into college football and the NFL. Will there be the same technical setup for football? NFL? College?

RF: That's the goal. We are working with our network partners at CBS, Fox and ABC in order to get the necessary approvals. As you know, there are many different special sauces of HDR, and to the extent any network has a preference—like NBC has a specific LUT [Look Up Table] that they want everyone to use—great.  We'll do that if the network has certain specs. We want to work with them on that to make sure we don't get crosswise with anyone.

TVT: What are Gray TV’s plans with respect to other markets where your stations are affiliated with other networks? Are there plans to follow suit in those markets? 

RF: Absolutely. NBC was the priority because of the Olympics. We saw the Olympics as an obvious tentpole segment in August, so NBC had to go first. Then, we expect to have everybody up by the fall for football. Because, you know, nothing moves the needle –nothing makes TV sell—like football. 

The bulk of the TV sets are always sold in the second half of the year, in the fall, and then in the winter during the holiday buying season. It's because of football. So, the promotional campaign will work perfectly well, making it available for football.

TVT: What about the rest of the schedule—beyond sports?

RF: With NBC, we're already doing it 24/7. In Louisville, the moment we turned on the upconversion, it was the full 24/7 stream. It was all of our news, all of our syndicated content, all of our local content and all of NBC’s content.

It'll be the same thing with Fox, CBS and ABC. It'll be the full 24/7 stream that'll be upconverted to HDR so when there are other high profile events in the fall, they'll all be in HDR.

TVT: Obviously, there’s more to NextGen TV than HDR and immersive audio. There’s also program restart and interactive and on-demand content that Gray’s looking to take advantage of? How is that playing out?

RF: They are all coming. Restart is on our menu of things to get launched in the relatively near future. We aren't there just yet, but I expect it'll be up in the next couple of months. At that point, there’s another NextGen TV feature that is promotable, consumer-friendly and is the type of feature that's going to make TVs sell. 

Restart is the most popular feature in Europe with their HbbTV. We'll lean on the lessons that our fellow broadcasters in Europe learned by promoting that. 

Many people from all the different departments within Gray will be meeting within the next couple of weeks to really strategize on how we want to promote this. What can we do? What do we think consumers will like?

We want to get everyone in the company thinking about what NextGen can do. They can take that back to their departments and their teams and start coming up with ideas.

You know, we've now built it out to where it makes sense to start experimenting with NextGen TV features to see what sticks. Given the viewership data we're able to pull for NextGen sets, it's going to be very quick and easy for us to tell what was successful. We'll be able to learn much more quickly than we ever could in the past.

TVT: Pearl TV, to which Gray belongs, has promoted NextGen TV to the public for several years, especially around the holiday buying season. Here Gray is promoting it in conjunction with major sporting events like the Derby and the Olympics. What’s your message to other broadcasters when it comes to promoting NextGen TV?

RF: I think it's critical that we all start promoting NextGen TV, and we all make it more visible. This is the future of our industry. The DTV standard was developed in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s. We can't continue to broadcast with the best technology of 1988, and that's what we’re doing. We need to move forward to a modern IP-based technology. It's not 1988 anymore.

We're not just competing with ourselves. We're competing with Google, Apple, YouTube and Amazon. If they have a better product than we do, then we're going to be in trouble. If they have a better technology than we do, then we're in trouble. We need to keep pace with our real competitors out there, and NextGen is the way to do it. 

But not only do we need to complete this transition, we also need to let consumers know. We need to make consumers excited to buy TVs to watch NextGen because it doesn't do any good if we complete this transition and nobody owns a TV.

We've got a short window to get all of this done and to remain competitive with the streamers who have the advantage of an IP-based system where they can run targeted ads, they can run addressable advertising. We need to catch up, and NextGen TV is our last, best opportunity to do so.

NEW YORK—Altice USA’s Optimum pay TV operations and Gray Media have agreed to a multi-year extension of their retransmission consent agreement. 

The renewal enables Optimum TV customers to continue to enjoy programming on Gray’s broadcast television stations. 

Optimum TV markets with Gray stations include Connecticut, North Carolina, Texas, Louisiana, Kansas, Arkansas, West Virginia, California, Missouri, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, and Ohio. 

The extension also enables Optimum TV customers to continue to enjoy Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury games on Gray stations in their respective markets.

As usual in retrans deals, financial terms were not disclosed. 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC has issued a Memorandum and Order approving a deal between Gray Television and Marquee Broadcasting that would transfer station licenses to Marquee and transfer an unbuilt construction permit from Marquee to Gray.

The application was unopposed. The FCC ruling will allow Marquee to own two top-four network affiliations in the Cheyenne-Scottsbluff Nielsen Designated Market Area. The Local Television Ownership Rule generally prohibits top-four combinations in a market, including the transfer or assignment of ownership of multiple top-four affiliated program streams serving a single DMA.  

The FCC ruled, however, that Marquee should be an exemption because the small market would have made it difficult to provide local news without the exemption. 

After Gray and Marquee signed an Asset Purchase Agreement dated January 30, 2024, the station groups filed applications with the FCC for assignment of certain licenses from Gray to Marquee Broadcasting West, Inc. and, in exchange, to assign an unbuilt construction permit from Marquee to Gray 

As part of that agreement, Gray sought to acquire the construction permit for KCBU(TV), Price, Utah (KCBU) from Marquee and transfer the licenses of television stations KCWY-DT, Casper, Wyoming (KCWY) in the Casper-Riverton DMA; KGWN-TV, Cheyenne, Wyoming (KGWN) and KSTF(TV), Scottsbluff, Nebraska (KSTF) in the Cheyenne-Scottsbluff DMA; and KNEP(TV), Sidney, Nebraska (KNEP) in the Denver DMA; and the related low-power stations to Marquee. 

The applicants assert that the digital noise-limited service contours of KGWN and KSTF in the Cheyenne-Scottsbluff market do not overlap. The agreement would, however, give Marquee ownership of KGWN, which currently has two top-four rated network affiliations on its programming streams in the Cheyenne-Scottsbluff DMA.  

The applicants noted that prior to the transfer, Gray provided over-the-air service throughout the Cheyenne-Scottsbluff DMA through KGWN, which primarily serves Cheyenne, Wyoming, and semi-satellite stations KSTF and KNEP, which serve the Scottsbluff, Nebraska, area. These stations provide 17 hours of local news per week, as well as CBS and NBC network programming.

Gray and Marquee argued that Gray could not sustain the current level of local service to Cheyenne-Scottsbluff viewers for the long term, and that Marquee can maintain and improve KGWN’s local service only if the CBS and NBC affiliations remain intact.

They also stressed that the Cheyenne-Scottsbluff DMA only has 61,010 television households spread thinly over 5,665 square miles and ranking 196th of 210 DMAs in the country, making it a geographically large, but sparsely populated, market covering portions of Wyoming and Nebraska.

In approving the deal, the FCC noted that “the Commission’s Local Television Ownership Rule prohibits, among other things, the transfer or assignment of ownership of multiple top-four rated program streams serving a single DMA.  Upon request, however, we consider case-by-case showings that application of the Top-Four Prohibition is not in the public interest due to specific circumstances in a local market or with respect to a specific transaction.”

After reviewing the filings, the FCC concluded that “The record demonstrates that permitting Marquee to acquire KGWN with both top-four network affiliations intact makes it more likely that Marquee would preserve the service that Gray currently provides in the Cheyenne-Scottsbluff DMA, which would serve the public interest.  KGWN, as the CBS and NBC affiliate in the market, provides the only locally produced television news programming in the market, and in 2023 and early 2024, Gray aired 17 hours of local news each week across the two network streams.  The evidence in the record demonstrates that splitting up the top-four network affiliations currently on KGWN would likely lead to a reduction in network programming or local news in the Cheyenne-Scottsbluff DMA, which would not serve the public interest. We conclude that the public interest harms of Marquee’s proposed ownership of KGWN with the two top-four affiliations intact are outweighed by the unrebutted record evidence of the public interest benefits of this transaction.”

The full ruling can be found here. 

ATLANTA—Gray Television, Inc. is promoting three executives to new leadership positions effective July 1, 2024. The three will work to help the company expand its business opportunities in new digital technologies, including NextGenTV and Generative Artificial Intelligence.

Mike Braun, currently chief digital officer, will be promoted from senior vice president to senior managing vice president. Over the past few years, Braun has led the tremendous expansion of Gray Digital Media to encompass the local media operations acquired from Raycom Media, Quincy Media, Meredith Local Media, among others, as well as the rapid deployment of Gray local news, sports, and weather content and related sales products across hundreds of owned and non-owned streaming and ConnectedTV (CTV) platforms. In addition to leading the Company’s digital initiatives, Braun has served as the senior executive overseeing Rockford and Peoria markets and as a member of the boards of directors of Syncbak and Optic Gaming.

Claire Magee Ferguson will become vice president, assistant general counsel and senior technology counsel. Throughout her career, Magee Ferguson has provided critical legal counsel to the managers of television stations owned by Allbritton Communications, Raycom Media, and, for the past five years, Gray. More recently, she has taken the lead on the Company’s privacy initiatives and its AI Policy Committee. Her leadership positioned Gray to be the first broadcaster to publish Guidelines for Use of Generative AI, which ensure that Gray-originated news content is created by our journalists rather than AI. In her new role,  she will oversee legal and policy matters related to various technology initiatives across the Company, primarily associated with Generative AI and NextGenTV.

Lee Zurik will become senior vice president, news strategy and innovation. For the past several years, Zurik has become one of the nation’s most well-known and awarded investigative journalists through his roles as the Company’s vice president of investigations and as the co-host of Gray’s weekday magazine program InvestigateTV+. In this newly created role, Zurik will report to chief operating officer Sandy Breland and lead the development and implementation of strategies to expand and leverage Gray-produced content across all linear, digital, CTV, and NextGenTV platforms and manage the responsible use of Generative AI in Gray-produced content. Along with these expanded duties, he will continue to oversee Gray’s National Investigative Unit and serve as an anchor and Chief Investigative Reporter at WVUE in New Orleans. will oversee legal and policy matters related to various technology initiatives across the Company, primarily associated with Generative AI and NextGenTV.

ATLANTA—Gray Television Inc. has announced an agreement to bring select American Association of Professional Baseball (AAPB) games to free, over-the-air local television stations in multiple Midwestern markets and across three of Gray’s local sports networks: Arizona Family Sports in Arizona, Peachtree Sports Network in Georgia, and Silver State Sports and Entertainment Network in Nevada. 

The AAPB is a Major League Baseball Partner League that operates in nine states and one Canadian province. Formed in 2006, the league consists of twelve member clubs. On opening day 2023, 23 players had previous experience with MLB clubs; over 65% of American Association players already have Double-A experience or above.

As part of the deal, Gray intends to air the AAPB All Star Game over-the-air across more than a dozen markets on Tuesday, July 23, 2024. 

In addition to a “Game of the Week” format on Gray’s owned over- the-air sports networks, Gray’s television stations in Mankato, MN, Rockford, IL, Sioux Falls, SD, and Cedar Rapids, IA plan to carry games from AAPB teams located in or near those markets.

“Gray is committed to live sports,” said Sandy Breland, Gray’s COO. “This agreement provides another example of ways we are providing viewers what they want with live sports.”

“The partnership with Gray Media allows the American Association to now bring our product to over 8 million television households. That significantly extends our viewership from our 12 home markets to millions more in the United States. It’s a great win for our brand to showcase our elite athletes, including many players with MLB experience, in front of millions of new fans,” said Joshua Schaub, American Association of Professional Baseball Commissioner.

DirecTV continues to add CW affiliates to its streaming line-up, with the addition of four stations owned by Gray Television. 

The four most recent additions are: 

• In Charleston-Huntington, W.V., the Gray-owned CW affiliate WQCW on channel 30. 
• In Madison, Wisc., the Gray-owned CW affiliate WMTV-D2 on channel 15. 
• In Springfield, Mo., the Gray-owned CW affiliate KYCW-LD on channel 25.
• In Wichita-Hutchinson, Kan., the Gray-owned CW affiliate KSCW on channel 33.

The additions follows a recent deal to add CW stations. In April, DirecTV Stream added more local CW stations for its streaming customers in Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Hartford-New Haven Conn., Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle. 

NEW YORK—Chptr and Gray Television have announced that they are introducing a new video solution for funeral homes and communities that will allow funeral directors and individuals to create striking, personalized video tributes that can be shared on local TV and on digital sites. 

The program launched on April 24 with WBNG in Binghamton, N.Y., WCAX - Burlington, Vt. KY3 in Springfield, Mo. and WWNY - Watertown, N.Y. 

The new platform will enable families to create lasting tributes and videos of their ones that can then be shared on local TV networks and their digital sites, ensuring that the celebration of one's life continues to resonate within the community, the companies said. 

Packages range from $99 to $849, based on length of the video, with a third "Made for TV" premium offer that also includes a :30 second video feature that will air on the local TV stations.

"We are thrilled to bring to market a best-in-class video product that finally does justice to the stories of those we have lost," said Glen Hale, vice president of digital content and audience development at Gray TV. "This partnership with Chptr is a game-changer, delivering premium memorial content worthy of airing on our stations."

The two companies said that this collaboration ushers in a new era of remembrance with digital memorials offering photos, videos, stories and memories provided by loved ones. Unlike traditional obituaries where only direct family members can contribute, these memorializations allow anyone who was touched by the deceased, to add reflection and insight on a life well-lived, far surpassing the static obituaries of the past.

"By harnessing the power of video, social connectivity, and cutting-edge AI technologies, we're transcending the limitation of traditional obituaries," said Rehan Choudhry, CEO and founder of Chptr, which is a mobile-first memorialization and celebrations platform that aims to gather, share, and hold memories of lives well lived for generations to come. "With Chptr and Gray at the forefront, we're not only revolutionizing an older tradition that hasn't been updated in generations; we're empowering communities to find solace, strength and unity in the digital age."

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Reruns are nothing new to television, but not so much when Mother Nature typically waits a few hundred years to put on a repeat performance.

Next week’s total solar eclipse, however, is a notable exception. Many of the reporters, news photogs and newsroom personnel covering the Great American Eclipse in August 2017 are still alive and likely working the April 8 redux.

Not only will these broadcasters have the benefit of experience from the 2017 solar eclipse, but also those assigned to cover what Scientific American has dubbed “The Great American Total Solar Eclipse of 2024” will have a few tech, organizational and distribution improvements to enhance their coverage and reach viewers.

“If it exists, we will be using it,” says Lane Michaelsen, group news director at Sinclair Broadcast Group, which has 18 local TV stations in the eclipse path.

“It starts with the simplest [technology], the iPhone with a special lens and the LiveU app,” he says, and ascends up the live television technology ladder to traditional ENG cameras, microwave trucks and SNG vehicles. “Like I said, if it exists, we’re using it.”

Eclipse Basics
Next week’s total eclipse will cross the U.S. border around 12:30 p.m. CDT along the southwest edge of Texas, enveloping Eagle Pass. It will travel in a northeasterly direction across Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. By about 4:35 p.m. Atlantic Daylight Time, it will exit the upper reaches of northeastern Maine, passing into Canada.

While it’s only been seven years since the last total eclipse swept across the nation—that time from the Pacific Coast of Oregon traveling southeast and ultimately crossing into the Atlantic Ocean at South Carolina—it’s a rare occurrence. As Bob Berman, astronomer editor for “The Old Farmer’s Almanac” noted in a recent online article: “For any given place on Earth, a total eclipse of the Sun appears just once every 375 years [on average].”

For example, the last time a total eclipse blanketed what is now Dallas, one of the major U.S. cities in the path of next week’s eclipse, predates the first TV broadcast of a drama in 1928 by 307 years.

The relatively short interval since the last total eclipse to cross the U.S. has given broadcasters and the public a recent taste of what to expect this time around, and it appears people’s appetite for all-things eclipse is enormous—whether that’s in person at outdoor venues like Niagara Falls or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is selling tickets for $20, or watching on a television or digital platform.

Gray Television, for instance, will stream continuous live coverage of the total eclipse on more than 500 group station websites, connected TV and mobile apps as well as via its Local News Live (LNL) streaming news network, says Lisa Allen, vice president and general manager of the Gray Television Washington News Bureau.

The level of interest in the eclipse among the public is so large local and state governments are taking steps as well. Multiple Texas counties have issued disaster declarations for the day. Gov. Eric Holcomb of Indiana has declared a statewide disaster. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has signed an executive order instructing state agencies to make preparations to assist residents and visitors traveling to the state for the event.

Prompting these actions is concern over the sheer number of people who will be visiting these and other locations and the strain they will place on public infrastructure. For example, Indianapolis may see an influx of more than 100,000 people. Ohio is preparing for between 125,000 and 500,000 people visiting to witness the eclipse.

The crush and contribution
Not only does the crush of eclipse gazers raise the prospect of clogged thoroughfares, resource shortages and safety concerns, it also runs the risk of swamping cellular networks in some areas, which raises concerns for broadcasters relying on IP-newsgathering to contribute footage from the field.

“I told our 18 stations [in the path of the eclipse] to make sure those live trucks and satellite trucks start and work because with LiveU we rarely use them [the vehicles],” says Sinclair’s Michaelsen. “But if you are looking at Dayton, Ohio, where they’re talking about shutting down the Interstates and an invasion into the smallest towns, LiveU might not work [on overcrowded wireless networks].”

At some locations along the path of the eclipse, Sinclair has contracted with phone providers for fiber optic drops as an alternative to wireless networks for contribution from its LiveU transmitters, he adds.

The broadcasters interviewed for this article agreed that although 5G wireless networks will play an important role, it is unclear whether they will stand up to the massive cell traffic expected at well-attended venues and deliver the bandwidth required to contribute their shots.

Gray Television, which has at least 23 stations in the eclipse path, also is warning its local newsrooms about the possibility that wireless networks could be overwhelmed. “IP transmitters will be the primary contribution technology,” says James Finch, Gray Television vice president of news services, adding that in some locations satellite transmission will provide redundancy.

That will be particularly important in two locations where the station group has no stations but is sending crews. “Outside the Gray footprint, there are a couple of places that we’ll be going,” says Finch. “We’re planning to be in Indianapolis, and we plan to be at Niagara Falls because we know that there are some big events in those locations.”

E.W. Scripps Company stations will use land connections to ensure contribution from its TVU Networks backpack IP transmitters succeed from heavily attended eclipse-viewing locations when possible, says Matt Simon, deputy managing editor at Scripps.

“They’re talking about up to 1 million people traveling to Texas for the eclipse, and 100,000 going to Fredericksburg [Texas],” he says. “We are looking at a bar-brewery there that has a viewing party and would allow us to [have] hardline transmission so we are not relying on cell cards.”

The broadcaster also will turn to Starlink satellite connectivity for its TVU Networks IP transmitters to bypass potentially swamped wireless networks. “Starlink wasn’t a thing in 2017 during the last total eclipse. Now it is,” says Simon.

Over the past year, Scripps has deployed Starlink transmitters across the station group and successfully used them to contribute reports from Ukraine. “It’s proven reliable, even when in motion from a vehicle,” Simon says.

News-Press & Gazette has two stations in the path of the eclipse, KVIA in El Paso, Texas, and KMIZ in Columbia, Mo., says Michael Fabac, NPG vice president of content and station promotion.  

“Five NPG markets were in the path of totality in 2017, so our coverage plans were much more extensive then,” says Fabac.

“In 2017, we incorporated ENG live trucks in addition to LiveU backpacks, but [we] will be entirely dependent on the wireless technology this time around.”

Coverage, control and distribution
As two of the largest station groups in the country, it should be no surprise that Sinclair and Gray Television have multiple stations along the path of the eclipse, starting in Texas and concluding in Maine.

Both also plan to leverage their extensive digital presence in addition to their on-air channels to deliver in-depth coverage of the eclipse. 

“One of the things mentioned to us from 2017 is the audience found it difficult to find somebody who was just tracking the actual eclipse without people talking over it or without other live shots,” says Michaelsen. 

“This time we’re using technology that should allow us, depending on cloud cover, to track just the eclipse—so no voiceovers, no context and perspective. Just here it is.” Sinclair will live stream that coverage on the websites of its more than 190 stations around the country, not just its news-producing stations, and on YouTube. 

The station group will provide a second feed, produced out of Sinclair’s WJLA in Washington, D.C., via The National Weather Desk platform. Many of the group’s 200 meteorologists will participate in the coverage from different sites around the country.

For instance, a group from San Antonio, Texas, will be with NASA scientists at “a yet-to-be-named” location where powerful telescopes will be used to capture the eclipse, and another will be outside Dayton, Ohio, joining the tens of thousands of people expected on hand to get their reaction, he says.

Two Sinclair meteorologists will anchor the feed and interview in-studio guests and live field guests. “The idea is that we’ll always have the eclipse on the screen, but then we’ll be adding context and perspective and show how it’s affecting people across the country,” says Michaelsen.

Gray Television will operate from two control rooms—one responsible for the two-and-half-hour fully produced Local News Live special on the eclipse and the other to produce a distributed feed of raw footage from cameras of stations from around the group, says David Donaldson, broadcast operations at the Gray Television Washington News Bureau.

“This feed is for use as live pictures, bump-ins and outs for use in a newscast,” he says. “We will be building this guaranteed feed with cameras curated from stations within the Gray footprint, including field cameras with shots of the eclipse as well as fixed skycams pointed at the sun during the event,” says Donaldson.

Building the feed at the station’s Washington, D.C., bureau relieves local Gray Television stations from the burden of “determining where to get a beauty shot,” he says.

Perhaps the biggest difference in technology between the 2017 and this year’s eclipse for Gray is the existence of its Local News Live streaming news network. “For the first time, Gray is able to showcase local markets and their eclipse coverage on one platform,” says Gray Television’s Allen.

“We are giving our local Gray journalists a national platform to share their unique and memorable coverage from their local communities,” she says. “LNL's greatest and most powerful asset is our local journalists who best report the news from the heart of their communities, and we (LNL) take it to the eyes of the country. This is an example of how we can unite our newsrooms and audiences during an unforgettable event.”

For those in their early careers in the newsrooms and the field reporting on the eclipse, one can only wonder what lessons they will take away from covering The Great American Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 that will help them the next time a total solar eclipse traverses the country—20 years from now on Aug. 22, 2044.

(Editor’s note: NBCUniversal Local has announced that it will present comprehensive coverage of the upcoming total solar eclipse on its NBC and Telemundo streaming news channels on April 8, beginning at 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT. Fox Weather has laid out some of its tech plans here. Hearst Television, Nexstar Media Group and CNN were contacted for interviews. They either declined or did not respond.)

ATLANTA—Gray Television Inc. has inked a multi-year agreement with the Arena Football League to bring Saturday arena football games over-the-air to local audiences in at least thirty-four markets across the United States. 

The first AFL games on Gray’s television stations will air on Saturday, April 27, 2024, and continue for the ten- week 2024 AFL season.

Gray’s local broadcast AFL games primarily focus on in-state teams matched to Gray’s local television station markets. For example, the Georgia Force (Atlanta) will air on Gray’s Georgia television stations in Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Albany, Macon, and Columbus via Gray’s Peachtree Sports Network. 

Other Arena teams with in-state games on Gray stations include the Minnesota Myth, Nashville Kats, Louisiana Voodoo, West Texas Hawks, Salina Liberty, Southwest Kansas Storm, Wichita Regulators, and Rapid City Marshals. In addition, many Gray stations in markets that are not currently affiliated with the AFL will air one or more Saturday “Game of the Week” broadcasts of the AFL.

“We’re excited to bring Spring football to local audiences,” said Sandy Breland, Gray’s COO. “This agreement provides another example of how Gray works to strengthen local communities with local and regional sports content.”

“The AFL and Gray TV partnership is a testament to the shared vision to bring spring football into the homes of local viewers,” said AFL commissioner Lee Hutton. “The strength and depth that Gray TV will provide the AFL viewership is firmly motivated in their approach to keep the product and quality to the fans always cutting edge and you never get better action than AFL football.”

The NFL Network will carry a separate package of approximately 30 games on a national basis on Thursdays and Sundays during the AFL season. Gray’s Tupelo Media Group will produce AFL games airing on the NFL Network. 

For additional information visit www.arenafootballusa.com. 

ATLANTA—With broadcasters and MVPDs facing increased regulatory scrutiny over contentious retransmission consent negotiations that have resulted in high profile blackouts of broadcast signals on pay TV operators, Gray Television has announced that it has successfully completed renewals of retransmission consent agreements representing more than 70 percent of its total subscriber footprint among cable, satellite, and telco multichannel video programming distributors.  

The renewals have occurred in its current three-year retransmission renewal cycle that began with the successful renewal of agreements with three of the largest traditional MVPDs in the first quarter of 2023.

“Consistent with Gray’s history of retransmission renewal negotiations since the early 1990s, these negotiations, while often difficult and always complex, were all conducted without any disruption to consumers,” said Gray’s senior vice president Rob Folliard. “We sincerely appreciate the cooperative, constructive efforts of our MVPD partners in this renewal cycle.”

Gray’s executive vice president, Kevin Latek, added, “as a testament to the value of the live, local news and sports content that Gray’s stations provide, we have reached this retrans renewal milestone on rates and other terms that met our budgets and that will allow our stations to continue making considerable investments to expand local news and sports for the benefit of the local communities where our employees and these MVPDs’ employees live and work.”

Based on the successful negotiations with traditional MVPDs to date, Gray currently anticipates that it will complete its current renewal cycle by reaching new deals with a small number of cable operators serving less than thirty percent of our remaining traditional MVPD subscriber base, primarily during the second half of this year. Thereafter, Gray’s next renewal cycle will begin in the first quarter of 2026.

Gray Television, Inc. is a multimedia company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Gray is the nation’s largest owner of top-rated local television stations and digital assets in the United States. Its television stations serve 114 television markets that collectively reach approximately 36 percent of US television households. This portfolio includes 79 markets with the top-rated television station and 102 markets with the first and/or second highest rated television station.

ATLANTA—The WNBA’s Atlanta Dream signed a deal with Gray Television to broadcast its games during the 2024 season. As a result of the agreement, all Dream non-national exclusive games will air locally on Peachtree TV (WPCH) and Peachtree Sports Network. 

The 2024 WNBA season spans May to September, and the Dream will tip off this season against the Los Angeles Sparks in L.A. on May 15.

As a result of the deal, Dream games will be available across the Atlanta market on Peachtree TV’s free over-the-air broadcasts along with its carriage on all major cable and satellite pay-tv systems including Xfinity, Spectrum, DirecTV, and Dish Network. Peachtree TV is also available on YouTube TV and Hulu Live. 

In addition, Peachtree Sports Network will simulcast these games, as well as additional Dream-related programming, on its television stations in Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, and Savannah in Georgia.

“We are thrilled to partner with Gray Television to get the Atlanta Dream into even more households across our state and the Southeast region,” said Dream president and chief operating officer Morgan Shaw Parker. “We believe that 2024 is going to be the most exciting season yet for the Dream. The atmosphere inside our arena is the best in the WNBA, and we are excited to have a television partner who can help us bring that experience to an even bigger audience.”

Peachtree TV has served the Atlanta market since 1967, making it one of the longest running stations in the region. Peachtree Sports Network launched in October 2023 and focuses on live, local sports programming all year long.

Based in Atlanta, Gray Television has made heavy sports investment in its home city, broadcasting Atlanta Hawks and College Park Skyhawks games, as well as high school football, the Atlanta Hustle, Atlanta Gladiators, Savannah Ghost Pirates and Georgia Swarm. 

Peachtree TV also provides additional sports content through its partnership with CW Sports, featuring LIV Golf, ACC college football and basketball games, “Inside the NFL” and the NASCAR Xfinity Series beginning in 2025. Nationally, Gray has broadcast partnerships with the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury, as well as the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, New Orleans Pelicans, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Milwaukee Bucks.

“Across the nation, interest in women’s basketball has exploded over the past few years due largely to the amazing talent on the court. We are excited to be the Dream’s official broadcast partner on Peachtree TV this season,” WANF/WPCH vice president and general manager Erik Schrader said. “It’s another incredible opportunity to grow new fans, on the best platform to reach them, with the top broadcasting company in local television.”

ATLANTA—Gray Television Inc. has announced that chief financial officer Jim Ryan has notified the Company of his voluntary decision to transition into retirement after 2025. Gray and Jim have agreed that he will remain with Gray as a senior advisor through his retirement to assist with a seamless transition of his duties.

To succeed Jim as CFO, Gray announced the hiring of Jeff Gignac, who currently serves as a managing director and head of media & telecom investment banking at Wells Fargo Securities. Gignac has worked closely with Ryan and the Company as one of its lead bankers for the past several years. 

Gignac will join Gray, initially as executive vice president, finance, on April 1, 2024, and he will step into Ryan’s role as executive vice president, chief financial officer on July 1, 2024. Ryan will work closely with Gignac and the entire Gray executive team until he retires from the Company at the end of 2025.

Ryan joined Gray as its CFO in 1998 upon our acquisition of Busse Broadcasting, where Jim had also served as CFO. In the ensuing 25 years, Jim’s role remained the same, but the position became ever more complicated as Gray grew from a small regional media company to the nation’s second largest broadcast company. During his tenure, Gray entirely divested its newspapers, paging, satellite uplink and other businesses, while acquiring scores of television stations through multiple transactions including those involving Bostick Broadcasting (1999), Benedek Broadcasting (2002), the University of Notre Dame (2006), Yellowstone Television (2013), Hoak Media (2014), SJL Holdings (2014), Schurz Communications (2016), Raycom Media (2019), Quincy Media (2021), Meredith Corporation (2021), and many others.

“Jim has made tremendous contributions to Gray Television during his 25-year tenure,” said Gray’s 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.”

Gignac will join Gray after a nearly 20-year career with Wells Fargo. Prior to his current leadership position, He spent 18 years in leveraged finance, focused on the telecom, media and technology (TMT) industries. Prior to Wells Fargo, he worked at Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen. He holds a BA in Accounting from Michigan State University and is a licensed CPA in the State of Georgia.

“We are fortunate that Jeff Gignac will join Gray’s senior leadership team as our next CFO,” said Hilton Howell. “Over the past several years, Jeff has led our debt financing efforts for the Raycom and Meredith transactions and the AR securitization facility. Importantly, Jeff helped to ensure that we raised capital on advantageous terms to facilitate our transformation into a leading multimedia company. 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.”

GREEN BAY, Wisc.—Gray Television has announced that the Milwaukee Bucks are returning to broadcast television in Green Bay, Eau Claire-La Crosse, and Wausau, Wisconsin, on television stations owned by Gray. 

The games are being made available as part of the recently announced Bucks broadcast package from Weigel Broadcasting Co.’s WMLW, which will air the games in Milwaukee. 

Gray’s stations will broadcast 10 Bucks games this season, beginning on Friday, February 23rd, when the Bucks play at the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“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. 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,” said Matt Moran, senior managing vice president for Gray Television.

The games have been made available for local over-the-air distribution as part of the NBA’s agreement with Diamond Sports Group, the owner of Bally Sports Wisconsin. 

The Bucks will utilize their TV broadcast team of Lisa Byington, Marques Johnson and Steve Novak, with Melanie Ricks reporting from the sidelines for these 10 games.

ATLANTA—Gray Television, Inc. has announced its appointment of Liz Knight as the next general manager of WALB and WGCW, the local NBC, ABC and CW affiliates, in Albany, Georgia.

For the past five years, Liz Knight has served as the general sales manager at WALBTV (NBC), WGCW (CW) and WTSG (Telemundo) in Albany, Georgia. Previously, she served as the stations’ local sales manager for nine years and digital sales manager for one year. 

Prior to management at WALB she was an account executive and has eighteen years of multimedia experience in Southwest Georgia. A native of Southwest Georgia, Liz grew up watching WALB-TV, which Gray put on the air in 1954. In 2020, the Georgia Association of Broadcasters recognized WALB as its Station of the Year.

Liz serves as a member of the Dougherty County Rotary Club; this allows her to give back to dozens of non-profits in her community. She is active with women in leadership and the Lee County School System advisory board.

ATLANTA—Gray Television, Inc. has appointed Bruce Austin as the next general manager of WVLT and WBXX, the local CBS and CW affiliates, in Knoxville, Tennessee.

For the past five years, Bruce Austin has served as the general manager at WALB-TV (NBC), WGCW (CW) and WTSG (Telemundo) in Albany, Georgia. Previously, he served as the stations’ general sales manager for ten years. A native of Southwest Georgia, Bruce grew up watching WALB-TV, which Gray put on the air in 1954. Under his leadership, the operation expanded its local service and added additional local programming. In 2020, the Georgia Association of Broadcasters recognized WALB as its Station of the Year.

Bruce serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters and the Albany/Dougherty Co. Military Affairs Committee. He also serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Horizons Cancer Coalition. He begins his new position on January 2, 2024.

ATLANTA—Gray Television, Inc. has announced the promotion of Jason Hall to vice president of Spanish Media Sales, at the GrayTV Telemundo Station Group.

For the last 14 months, Jason has served as the Senior Director of Spanish Media Sales guiding advertising sales growth for GrayTV Telemundo Station Group, which is comprised of 42 Telemundo affiliate markets, including eight markets in Texas and the flagship market in Atlanta, Georgia. Under Jason’s leadership, Gray’s Telemundo Stations have seen consistent ad sales growth and the potential Telemundo network has to offer for years to come, particularly with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, 2024 Olympics, and more. Jason has over 20 years of Hispanic media experience building and managing sales organizations at Univision and Estrella Media.

“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,” said Susan Sim Oh, vice president of strategy and operations, GrayTV Telemundo Station Group.

ATLANTA—Gray Television has launched the streaming news network Local News Live on more than 500 Gray Television station websites, connected TV apps, and mobile apps. It’s also available on Gray stations during non-local news hours on several FAST channels.

The 24/7 Local News Live streaming news network provides live news coverage from Gray’s 113 television markets and Washington DC Bureau. 

“Our viewers value both local news and the unique, local perspectives on national stories Local News Live provides,” said Gray’s chief operating officer, Sandy Breland. “Our goal is to give those viewers the flexibility to watch all the content they are looking for, at any time, from a trusted source.”

Local News Live originally launched to provide content on stations’ streaming platforms during time periods between live-streamed local newscasts. The new configuration provides streaming audiences non-stop access to local and national news feeds on designated channels housed within station CTV apps and websites.

Local News Live’s signature program airs daily at 2:00 p.m. (ET) led by anchor and national correspondent Debra Alfarone. In addition to the expanded streaming opportunities, Local News Live at 2:00 p.m. will now be carried on WIS, Gray’s NBC Affiliate in Columbia, South Carolina. In doing so, Gray will bring Local News Live to an even wider audience by broadcasting the programming over the air on weekday afternoons.

“We are excited to add Local News Live to our daytime lineup and provide viewers a broader scope of national coverage with local impact every day,” said WIS vice president and general manager Robby Thomas.

Local News Live is based out of Gray’s Washington DC News Bureau.

ATLANTA—In another notable example of broadcast station groups expanding their sports programming, Gray Television has announced that its new sports broadcast channel, Peachtree Sports Network, will launch Sunday, October 1st on WPCH 17.2. The channel will focus on live, local sports programming all year long and will feature teams from multiple sports across the state.

The broadcast network will initially launch in Atlanta but will soon air on Gray-owned over-the-air channels in Albany, Augusta, Columbus, Macon, and Savannah in the coming months.

“As a lifelong sports fan, I know firsthand I became a fan by watching my local teams play on broadcast television,” said WANF and WPCH vice president and general manager Erik Schrader. “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 ultimate disc from the Atlanta Hustle of the American Ultimate Disc League, the company said. 

The first live sporting event will be Friday, October 6th from Score Atlanta, where Cass takes on Cartersville at 8pm. “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.”

“We are thrilled to be a part of the new Peachtree Sports Network and have the College Park Skyhawks broadcast throughout the State of Georgia”, said Andrew Saltzman, chief revenue officer for the team. “The G-League has continued to grow and now more fans will be exposed to the excitement of Skyhawks basketball.”

“We are excited about the opportunity to partner with Peachtree TV once again,” said Georgia Swarm co- owner and president Andy Arlotta. “This partnership not only benefits our organization, but also our corporate partners, stakeholders, the National Lacrosse League, and most importantly, our growing fanbase in metro Atlanta.”

“We are enthused to join with Peachtree Sports Network for both of our teams, Atlanta Gladiators and Savannah Ghost Pirates,” said Zawyer Sports president, Bob Ohrablo. “The Gladiators popularity continues to grow with a 22% increase in attendance last season, a new four-year lease with the Gas South Arena and new NHL partner with the Nashville Predators. The Savannah Ghost Pirates stormed into the ECHL last season, setting the record for season tickets in ECHL history and selling out 30 of 33 home games. The affiliate of the Stanley Cup Champions, the Vegas Golden Knights, are preparing for their second season at the Enmarket Arena.”

“The Atlanta Hustle is proud to represent our city and our sport on the Peachtree Sports Network. Ultimate disc is a fresh and exciting sports experience that is emerging as a local favorite for all,” said John Boezi, General Manager of the Atlanta Hustle. “With PSN's support, we're thrilled for the opportunity for a broader audience to discover the Atlanta Hustle next summer.”

When the Peachtree Sports Network debuts Sunday, October 1st in Atlanta, it will be available over the air on channel 17.2 and on Comcast and Spectrum cable.

BURBANK, Calif.—The CW Network has announced that it has expanded and  extended its network affiliation agreement with Gray Television, Inc. (Gray). 

Under the new deal, Gray will continue carrying The CW’s entertainment and sports programming on television stations in a total of 55 markets across the country, 42 of which are covered under the terms of the new agreement and 13 of which are covered by  previous agreements with the network.

In addition, beginning September 2, Gray will launch The CW on PeachtreeTV (WPCH-TV) in Atlanta, Georgia. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.  

“Gray Television has been a great partner of The CW from the beginning,” said Dennis Miller, president of  The CW Network. “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.”  

ATLANTA—Gray Television, Inc. has promoted Garrett Pope to senior vice president, sales operations. Pope will assume the new post on September 1.

For the past three years, Pope has served as vice president, traffic and sales systems, where he oversaw all facets of Gray’s traffic and programming hubs that are responsible for inventory management and optimization for nearly 500 program streams across both broadcast and digital platforms. 

Recently, Garrett built Gray’s sales research hub to provide research insight and strategies for Gray’s sales teams across its portfolio. His promotion reflects the expansion of his duties and contributions within the organization.

During his time with Gray, he has played a key role in incorporating Gray’s many acquisitions and new stations and channels into the company’s sales and traffic workflows. Throughout his career, Garrett worked in all areas of station and sales support including building and operating centralized workflows for Univision, Raycom Media, and Gray.

ATLANTA—Gray Television has appointed Brian Daugherty as the general manager of Gray’s WCSC, the local CBS affiliate in Charleston, South Carolina. 

He succeeds Dan Cates, who recently retired after a long and distinguished career. 

Daugherty began his career in media over 20 years ago in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in print and digital advertising sales. In 2014, he helped launch a digital marketing agency. 

In 2017, he joined Gray’s WAFB, the CBS affiliate in Baton Rouge, as a digital advertising specialist. In 2019, WAFB promoted him to Local Sales Manager. In 2022, Brian moved to Charleston to become WCSC’s general sales manager. 

ATLANTA—Gray Television has announced a new agreement with Paramount Global that renews all of Gray’s existing CBS network affiliations, encompassing seven markets acquired from Meredith Corporation and 47 legacy markets.

Financial terms were not disclosed. 

As part of the agreement, Gray’s CBS affiliates will continue to be available locally to subscribers on Paramount+ and widely distributed across all traditional and 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,” said Pat LaPlatney, co-CEO of Gray Television. “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.”

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. In 2022, according to Comscore, Gray’s CBS affiliated stations had the highest all-day ratings among all local stations in 29 markets and the first or second highest all-day ratings in 45 markets, comprising 83 percent of Gray’s CBS portfolio. Nearly all of Gray’s CBS affiliates have been broadcasting CBS network programming from their very first days on the air.

In announcing the new affiliation agreement, Gray also highlighted its ongoing investment in local news and some of the ratings success those investments helped produce. 

In less than two years since Gray acquired Meredith and Quincy Media in the second half of 2021, the company said that it has approved capital investments exceeding $74 million for those stations, including more than $40 million between 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 station group also noted that Gray is now recruiting to fill an additional 74 open positions in those seven CBS markets.

Gray’s network affiliated and independent television stations were viewed by an average of 1.7 million households (over 2 million adults) during prime time hours and by an average of more than 2.2 million households (over 2.5 million adults) during late news time periods according to Nielsen’s data for April and May 2023. Gray’s television stations serve 113 television markets that collectively reach approximately 36 percent of US television households. The television station portfolio includes 80 markets with the top-rated television station and 102 markets with the first and/or second highest rated television station.

ATLANTA—In a move that could increase ad revenue by making it easier for local businesses to advertise on broadcast TV, Gray Television Stations has inked a deal with Detroit-based Waymark that will allow Gray’s local TV stations to use Waymark’s generative-AI video production platform.

Waymark’s generative-AI video platform allows local businesses to generate high-quality TV commercials with voiceovers in five minutes or less. Gray’s local sales teams are already implementing Waymark’s technology to approach small business prospects with customized creative. 

The companies said Gray plans to rollout the platform at all of its 113 local TV stations.

“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, Gray Television Inc., stated. “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.”

Earlier this year, Waymark and Spectrum Reach, the advertising sales business of Charter Communications, Inc., announced a national deal for the platform. Using Waymark’s platform, local businesses across Spectrum Reach’s footprint are creating real-time, ready-to-air commercials for their TV and streaming TV advertising campaigns. 

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

PHOENIX—As regional sports networks struggle to stay afloat amid an increase in cord cutting and rising sports rights fees, one broadcast station group has decided to follow the cord cutters and bring live professional sports back to free over-the-air TV. 

In an agreement characterized as “transformative,” Gray Television today announced a deal with the Phoenix Suns NBA and Phoenix Mercury WNBA teams to bring every locally broadcast game to viewers for free in a statewide distribution model utilizing Gray’s Phoenix television stations KTVK (Arizona’s Family 3TV) and the newly launched KPHE (Arizona’s Family Sports & Entertainment Network). 

Up until the regular 2022-2023 season, Suns games were aired on Bally Sports Arizona, a division of Sinclair-owned Diamond Sports Group RSN, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month.

The agreement is subject to the approval of the NBA and WNBA and any required resolution with Diamond, which issued a statement immediately following the announcement, claiming that the deal violates its existing agreements with the Suns.  

“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.”

Gray has not issued a response. 

If it survives legal scrutiny, upon the expansion of KPHE into the Tucson and Yuma markets in the next several weeks, the new media rights deal will make the Suns and Mercury games available to nearly 2.8 million households across all three of Arizona’s three media markets, tripling the teams’ reach to fans who have been unable to access the games through its previous distribution arrangement with a non-broadcast regional sports network.

The deal will also allow Suns and Mercury fans to watch games over their smartphones and Smart TVs alongside the over-the-air broadcast product via a Suns or Mercury-branded app developed by Kiswe, a startup that specializes in developing live sports streaming tech. The 2023 Phoenix Mercury season will stream DTC for free.

“Live sports can bring a community together. Combining that with the power of broadcast television and Arizona’s Family, it becomes a multiplier effect benefitting the team, the fans, and the clients,” said Debbie Bush, Vice President and General Manager, Arizona’s Family. “Our goal since day one has been creating a model that provides all fans the ability to connect with and cheer on their favorite teams via the distribution method of their choice. We are confident this model will increase fan loyalty and engagement.”

All Suns and Mercury non-national exclusive games will be broadcast between the two stations. KTVK will air a total of 13 Mercury regular season games and all available post-season games, with the remaining regular season games airing on KPHE. The Suns will have a minimum of 70 games broadcast each season, with at least 40 regular-season games on KTVK and the remaining on KPHE.

“We’re thrilled this partnership will connect our loyal family of viewers with the Phoenix Suns and Mercury,” said Pat LaPlatney, President & Co-CEO of Gray Television. “In a very short window, 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.”

“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.”

The first Phoenix Mercury game will air live on KTVK and simulcast on KPHE Thursday, May 25th at 7p.m. when the Mercury take on the Minnesota Lynx.

This article has been updated to include Diamond's response to the announcement. 

ATLANTA—Gray Television has released its first Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report. The station group says the report, which covers calendar year 2022, describes its progress in many areas with focuses on its people, social impact, sustainable business operations, and responsible business practices.

“Content, communities, and culture define Gray Television,” explained Gray Executive Chairman and CEO Hilton H. Howell, Jr. “The hallmark of our business is delivering unbiased news and information, supporting our local communities, and fostering strong culture everywhere we operate. Through our first ESG Report, we illustrate how these long-standing commitments align with and support accepted frameworks through which responsible companies enhance the well-being of all stakeholders.”

The ESG Report highlights the company’s investments in necessary local journalism and local investigative projects, including a $200,000 grant from the Google News Initiative to support a multiplatform journalism project that focuses on health disparities in the Appalachia region of the country. This six-month series, called "Bridging the Great Health Divide," was shared across Gray stations in the form of newscasts, digital content, and a documentary. 

It also touted its expanded relationship with Spanish language channel Telemundo,  to launch new local Telemundo affiliates in 22 markets that previously did not have a local Telemundo affiliated station, plus an additional eight new Telemundo affiliates in the first quarter of 2023.

Also in 2022, as a part of Pride Month and Hispanic Heritage Month, Gray stations produced and aired content that highlighted local celebrations in local markets in June and September. In addition, Gray donated over $250 million in cash contributions and free air time last year for the presentation of Public Service Announcements promoting the charitable efforts and public awareness campaigns of nonprofit entities, such as local food drives, safe driving, and health advisories.

On the environment side, the station group noted that its  contractors removed, recycled, and reused 88 acres of concrete from a former General Motor plant in Atlanta when construction began in 2021. As a result, no concrete was hauled off site or shipped to landfills, the company said.

The report is available here. 

ATLANTA, Ga.—Gray Television has announced agreements with Marquee Broadcasting, Inc. to swap television stations in Idaho and Georgia.

As part of the deal, Gray will sell KNIN, its Fox Network-affiliated television station in the Boise, Idaho, market (DMA 102), to Marquee. Currently, another broadcaster in the Boise market provides local news programming and back-office services for KNIN under a shared services agreement, subject to the ultimate control of Gray.

Concurrently with the KNIN closing, Marquee will sell WPGA, its MeTV Network- affiliated full-power television station in the Macon, Georgia market (DMA 126), to Gray, the broadcasters said. 

That sale means Gray will own a full-power television station in every television market located in its home state of Georgia.

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

ATLANTA, Ga.—Gray Television, Inc. has announced that Al Lancaster, the General Manager of WSAW (CBS) in Wausau, Wisconsin (DMA 132) will retire this March after nearly 45 years in the broadcast industry. Al has led WSAW for the past 23 years.

On March 20, 2023, Betsy Keefe will succeed Al Lancaster, becoming the station’s next general manager. For the past 10 years, Betsy has served as general sales manager for WSAW. She is a native of Wausau and began her career as a research assistant at WITI in Milwaukee before transitioning into sales. 

She has been a driving force in creating a sales culture focused on growing local businesses and developing people throughout her department. Betsy has 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.

ATLANTA, Ga.—Gray Television has announced the promotion of Collin Gaston, who is currently a regional vice president and the general manager of WBRC FOX6 in Birmingham, Alabama, to the position of senior vice president to oversee Gray television markets in the South, Texas and Colorado. 

In addition, the station group announced that it has promoted Jason Mathews, who has served as WBRC’s general sales manager, to succeed Gaston as the television station’s new general manager.

Collin Gaston has been working in the broadcast television field for 30 years beginning as an intern at WTXL while completing a degree in Media Communications at Florida State University. Upon graduation from FSU, he joined the sales department at WTXL in Tallahassee, Florida. In 1998, Gaston became a regional account executive and later national sales manager for WTEV in Jacksonville, Florida. He thereafter added responsibilities for WAWS, the local FOX affiliate before becoming the local sales manager for WAWS in 2005. Two years later, Gaston joined Raycom Media’s hometown station, WSFA in Montgomery, Alabama, as its general sales manager. Gaston spent four years as the general manager of WSFA and the past nine years as the general manager of WBRC in Birmingham. In recent years, he has also overseen additional markets as a regional vice president in addition to leading WBRC.

Jason Mathews brings 15 years of experience in sales and marketing to his new position as general manager of WBRC, including the past three years as the station’s general sales manager. Prior to that role, Mathews helped oversee various aspects of local, national, programmatic, and digital sales as the director of business development for Gray and predecessor Raycom Media for five years. Mathews has also served as the local sales manager for WBRC. Mathews is a graduate of Auburn University.

ATLANTA—Gray Television has announced that Curtis Miles will join Gray as the General Manager of KCTV (CBS) and KSMO (MyNetwork) in the Kansas City market (DMA 33), effective January 3, 2023.

Curtis Miles has an extensive background in news, marketing, research, and sales. For the past five years, he led WAOW in Wausau, Wisconsin as its General Manager, during which time the television station increased its ratings and revenues. In 2022, the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association named WAOW the News Operation of the Year, Gray reported. 

Prior to WAOW, Curtis spent 13 years with the Disney ABC O&O group where he helped increase ratings and market share at WLS-TV in Chicago and at WTVD in Raleigh. In Chicago, as Vice President of Creative Services and Local Programming, Curtis helped WLS relaunch “Eyewitness News,” led the morning talk show that replaced “Oprah,” and made WLS the “Home of the Chicago Cubs” by broadcasting 28 Cubs games annually. His extensive background in news and news research includes a stint at Frank N. Magid Associates. 

Curtis holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Iowa.

ATLANTA, Ga.—Gray Television, Inc. has promoted Jaime Sayre Kawaja to the role of general manager/general sales manager of WFLX Fox 29 in West Palm Beach, Florida (DMA 39).

Sayre Kawaja brings 25 years of experience in sales and marketing to her new position. 

She began her career as an intern at Gray’s WKYT (CBS) in Lexington, Kentucky. The following year, she joined the station full-time as an account executive. Over the years Jaime held numerous positions at WKYT including regional, digital and local sales manager. Jaime has served as the station’s General Sales Manager since 2018.

Jaime holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing/Management from the University of Kentucky. She is active in several advertising, media and service organizations, including Women Leading Kentucky and the National Association of Women Business Owners. She also helped found the Kentucky chapter of the American Women in Radio and Television. 

She will start in her new position on December 12, 2022.

HONOLULU, Hawaii—Six local TV stations and all four of the major broadcast affiliates have begun offering NextGen TV, aka ATSC 3.0, broadcasts in Honolulu.  

The launch includes KITV (the Allen Media Broadcasting-owned ABC affiliate), KGMB (the Gray Television-owned CBS affiliate), KHON-TV (the Nexstar-owned Fox affiliate), KHNL (the Gray Television-owned NBC affiliate), KHII (the Nexstar-owned MyNet affiliate) and KIKU (the Allen Media-owned Independent). 

For the launch of ATSC 3.0 services in Honolulu, KHII-TV, which is owned by Nexstar Media Group, Inc., has converted to ATSC 3.0 transmissions. 

KHII-TV is broadcasting its own programming, as well as the programming of the other participating stations, in NextGen TV format. 

All programming of all participating stations will continue to be available in the existing DTV format, which can be received on all modern television sets. 

BitPath, which is developing new data broadcasting services, led the planning process and coordinated efforts across the six television stations. 

TV Tech has been tracking all the launches of NextGen TV broadcasts, which now reach 62% of the population in the continental portion of the U.S. Our full list of markets where the services are available can be accessed here. 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The FCC has issued a Forfeiture Order upholding a $518,283 fine against Gray Television first proposed in July of 2021. 

In response, Gray Television has issued a statement saying it plans to take the issue to Federal Court. 

The fine is for violating FCC rules against owning two full power stations in the same DMA that are among the top four rated stations in the market. FCC concluded that the ownership and operation of the KTUU-TV NBC-affiliated station and the KYES-TV CBS-affiliated station by Gray from July 31, 2020 until March 3, 2021 violated its rules.

The action stems from a deal between Gray and Denali Media, when Gray acquired most of the non-license assets of KTVA on July 31, 2020, the FCC reported.

In affirming the fine, the FCC noted that “After considering Gray’s response to the NAL [Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture],  we find no reason to cancel, withdraw, or reduce the penalty proposed, and we hereby affirm the NAL and its proposed forfeiture.”

Commissioner Nathan Simington, however, issued a dissenting opinion, arguing “that a good faith reading of our rules and prior actions could lead a reasonable person to believe that the action punished today was permissible.”

In a lengthy statement contesting the fine, Gray said that “Gray intends to challenge the FCC’s decision and expects a complete reversal by an impartial federal court.”

“The FCC’s Forfeiture Order erroneously concludes that Gray violated an FCC rule adopted in 2016 that prohibits the `swap’ of television station assets that `result in’ one licensee owning two of the top-ranked television stations in the same market,” the statement continued. “In the transaction at issue, Gray acquired non- licensed programming and local news assets from another broadcaster in the Anchorage market who was unable to find a buyer for its station and consequently intended to shut it down, including its local news operation. Gray invested in these acquired assets to place new programming on KYES- TV, Gray’s second full-power television station in the Anchorage market, which Gray had previously acquired with the Commission’s consent. 

"At the time of Gray’s acquisition of the additional programming assets, both KYES-TV and Gray’s KTUU-TV in Anchorage were ranked among the top four local stations in ratings. Consequently, contrary to the FCC’s finding, the disputed acquisition did not involve a `swap’ and did not `result in’ Gray suddenly owning two top-four ranked stations. Moreover, this transaction adhered precisely to the structure of other non-licensed programming acquisitions approved, authorized, and (in some cases) required by the FCC itself in other markets. Following Gray’s development of the local news channel on KYES-TV, Gray invested in the first-ever permanent local television news bureau in the Juneau television market (located hundreds of miles from Anchorage) and expanded local news programming in the Anchorage market to time periods where local news was not previously available.”

“Gray appreciates Commissioner Simington’s strong and cogent dissent, which points out some of the many flaws in the FCC’s order. As Commissioner Simington observed, the FCC’s decision `goes beyond precedent and the text of [its] rules.’ Because Gray already owned two top-4 rated stations in the market, `its behavior was not prohibited under a plain reading of the Rule.’

“As Gray explained last year in its response to the FCC’s proposed finding on Gray’s Anchorage transaction (available here), federal law, including U.S. Supreme Court precedent, simply does not allow the FCC to rewrite its rules to prohibit a transaction structure that it previously approved. Nor does federal law permit the FCC to impose penalties on those who followed the rules as they were written at the time,” the statement said. 

“Gray’s upcoming challenge of today’s Forfeiture Order will be the first opportunity in two decades where an FCC broadcast ownership rule will be considered in a federal court other than the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In 2021, the Supreme Court finally ended the Third Circuit’s unprecedented action seizing for itself exclusive jurisdiction over the FCC’s rules, a power that the Third Circuit used repeatedly over 17 years to block the agency’s efforts to modernize its outdated broadcast ownership rules, some of which date to the 1940s. Gray Television actively participated in that Supreme Court proceeding at both the petition and merits stages, an effort that was vindicated by a unanimous Court decision.

“Gray anticipates that its challenge of today’s Forfeiture Order will likewise end in another strong judicial vindication of its position and another strong judicial repudiation of a federal agency overstepping its authority and failing to adhere to the rule of law and protect the public interest,” the statement concluded. 

PITTSBURGH—Gray Television has launched the first phase of Matrix Solutions’ cross-platform Admiral media sales gateway across all of its stations, Matrix said today.

The first step includes adoption of a modernized sales proposal system for linear advertising. The phase is a jumping-off point for the media industry to transition to converged advertising, the company said.

“We view this phase as a significant first step in transforming our business as we evolve as entities,” said Karen Youger, senior vice president of sales operations at Gray Television. “We are thrilled to be a vested partner working alongside Matrix as they develop this next-level technology that will enable us and our industry to adopt and accelerate converged advertising workflows with ease.”

The fully developed gateway provides the infrastructure and workflows to automate converged advertising sales from demand through order fulfillment for digital and OTT inventory, traditional spots and impression-based/dynamic ad insertion for live linear, the company said.

Proposal system advancements include aggregating multiple markets and different rate cards within the same proposal. Built on an open API infrastructure, Admiral is an open system that supports ingest and dissemination of all data, including any measurement, currency or rate and inventory optimization, it said.

Dynamic interoperability ensures orders are routed automatically to the appropriate execution system. Admiral also will shift orders to new execution if how and what a user sells changes, thereby reducing the impact of change, it said.

Gray Television is one of four investors in Admiral, which is being developed and released in phases. The other investors include CoxReps, Graham Media and Hearts Television. 

The next stage will include a fully converged experience for traditional linear, digital and OTT workflows. Completion is targeted for July 2023, the company said.

ATLANTA, Ga. & MIRAMAR, Fla.—Gray Television, Inc. and NBCUniversal Local’s Telemundo Station Group have announced that they are collaborating to expand Telemundo Station Group’s “Noticias Telemundo Texas” to Gray’s seven Telemundo affiliated Texas stations and that Gray’s stations will produce local news for the program. 

The expansion means that Spanish-speaking audiences in a total of 13 Texas DMAs will receive live news and updates, and weather forecasts on weekday mornings, the companies said. 

“We are elated about the first ever news collaboration with NBCU Local’s Telemundo Station Group,” said Susan Sim Oh, vice president of strategy and operations for Gray Television’s Telemundo Station Group.  ”Serving our audiences with quality news and valuable information is why we are in the television business. This partnership will allow us to provide nearly triple the amount of Texas-based news in Spanish to approximately 429,000 Hispanic homes throughout Gray’s seven Telemundo affiliate markets in Texas,” 

“Noticias Telemundo Texas” is a new two-hour, early morning weekday newscast that was launched by NBCUniversal Local’s Telemundo Station Group on September 26 across five Telemundo owned stations in Texas (Dallas Fort Worth / KXTX, Houston / KTMD, San Antonio / KVDA, Harlingen-McAllen / KTLM, El Paso / KTDO). 

“Noticias Telemundo Texas” is produced from NBC KXAS / Telemundo KXTX studios in Fort Worth with reporters from Telemundo owned stations in Texas contributing with local reports from their communities.

As part of the news collaboration, Gray’s Telemundo affiliated stations in Texas will provide local news content from their respective markets and will broaden the presentation of “Noticias Telemundo Texas” for Spanish-speaking communities in the state. With this collaboration, Gray’s Telemundo affiliated stations in Texas will be providing more news than any other Spanish-language news outlets in its Texas markets.

“We are pleased to team up with Gray TV and to expand our “Noticias Telemundo Texas” newscast to more communities in the state,” added Ozzie Martínez, executive vice president, multi-platform news, original programming, standards for Telemundo Station Group. “From discussing the headlines that are leading the day to providing more context about the issues impacting Texans, our newscast will now reach and inform even more communities.”     

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Gray Television has the inaugural group of participants in the Gray Media Training Center internship program. The first class includes 10 students who will begin the program in late August in conjunction with their fall school semester. The program will run for 14 weeks.

The media training program will prepare students for today’s evolving media environment, while simultaneously improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in media, Gray said. 

Gray has made a commitment to invest more than one million dollars to create the training center.

The Center will educate and train students who attend Mississippi colleges and universities, with a focus on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the state. Students who participate in the Center’s programs will learn today’s best practices for broadcast and digital journalism. They also will receive hands-on training in production, sales, operations, IT, engineering, coding and marketing.

The members of the inaugural class are:  

• Delesha Banks, Alcorn State University
• MeKiyla Brown, Alcorn State University
• Joliyah Daughtry, Jackson State University
• Tiara Jackson, Hinds Community College (Utica)
• De’Nautis Liddell, Mississippi Valley State University
• Harmony Porter, Hinds Community College (Utica)
• Jasmine Puckett, Jackson State University
• Makyla Simmons, Jackson State University
• Dejona Sims, Alcorn State University
• Kori Ann Walters, Jackson State University

ATLANTA—Gray Television Inc. appointed Brad Moses the general manager of WTVG-TV (ABC) in Toledo, Ohio, effective July 25.

Moses joined Gray in early 2015 as general manager of KAKE (ABC) in Wichita, Kan. Upon Gray’s purchase of the Schurz television stations and its divestiture of KAKE the following year, he left KAKE to become the GM of KWCH (CBS) and KSCW (CW) in Wichita. Over the past six years, KWCH and KSCW expanded local news programming to more than 95 hours per week and received numerous awards, including a National Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting. In 2021, the Kansas Association of Broadcasters named KWCH its Station of the Year. 

A native of the Toledo area, the new position brings Moses back to his broadcast roots. He worked at WTVG from 1994 to 2000, first as operations manager and then as director of creative services. He has more than 30 years of experience in television, including as GM of television stations then owned by Media General in Tampa, Fla.; Raleigh, N.C.; and Savannah, Ga. His tenure at each station was marked by award-winning journalism as well as successful new sales, branding and promotional initiatives.

ATLANTA, Ga.—Gray Television, Inc. has named veteran broadcaster Chris Fedele the general manager of WPTA-TV (ABC/NBC) and WISE-TV (CW) in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

Fedele, a native of Northeast Indiana, returns home with this appointment. He spent fourteen years at WPTA-TV, serving at various times as the general sales manager, local sales manager, and national sales manager before a five-year stint as the station’s general manager.

Thereafter, he spent ten years as the director of sales and marketing for WLEX-TV (NBC) in Lexington, Kentucky, followed by the past four years as general manager of Gray’s WTVG-TV (ABC) in Toledo, Ohio. 

Fedele began his broadcasting career at Blair Television in New York after graduating from Ball State University in 1991.