With revenue and adjusted EBITDA exceeding expectations, Gray Media is more than satisfied with its fiscal prowess during the final three months of 2025 as it propels into this year with renewed vigor and a hopeful outlook on “the likelihood of local ownership reform that would help level the playing field for our industry.”
Gray Chairman/CEO Hilton Howell Jr. made the comment ahead of the company’s Q4 2025 earnings call, noting that the broadcast TV station ownership group and Assembly Atlanta production studio facility owner is interested in pursuing “additional strategic and disciplined opportunities.”
To achieve that, it looks forward to capitalize on the expected 2026 midterm election spending and an improving general advertising environment. At the same time, acquisitions will likely come with divestment of non-essential assets, as Howell said Gray “will continue to evaluate deleveraging and refinancing opportunities throughout 2026 to reduce our overall leverage and interest expense.”
Gray in Q4 ’25 benefited from “better-than-expected” MVPD subscriber trends, which drove year-over-year growth in retransmission consent revenue less network affiliation fees, or “reverse compensation.” In Q4 it came in at $134 million, rising from $130 million.
Also helping Gray was a 3% reduction in broadcasting expenses for full-year 2025, to $356 million from $366 million.
Breaking down the dollars, as shown below, total revenue (less agency commissions) moved to $792 million, from $1.05 billion, even as core advertising increased by 3%.
Total it up, and Gray swung to a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $23 million (-$0.24 per diluted share), compared to net income of $156 million ($1.59 per share) in Q4 2024.
Adjusted EBITDA shrunk to $179 million, from $402 million.
Overall, the results for Gray Media were mixed, just as they were with peers Nexstar Media Group and The E.W. Scripps Co. Total revenue bested the consensus estimate of 3 analysts polled by Yahoo! Finance of $767.09 million. In contrast, the earnings per share fell short of analyst expectations, with EPS coming in 4 cents short of one analyst’s -$0.22 forecast.
Investors were happy with the results, as NYSE-traded “GTN” was up by nearly 14% to $5.41 as of 11:06am Eastern. Gray Media stock has been trading at levels 28% higher than where they were one year ago, and a quarterly cash dividend of $0.08 per share of its common stock and Class A shares serves as a bonus for their investment. The dividend is payable on March 31 to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 13, 2026.
A LITTLE PEACOCKING IN Q1
Meanwhile, Gray offered detailed guidance pertaining to the current quarter and for full-year 2026. Total revenue will be down in Q1 compared to last year as core advertising remains flat, even as political dollars are on the rise.
On a positive note, Gray’s NBC affiliates are poised to bring welcomed ad dollars nevertheless, as the company earned $11 million in advertising revenue from the Super Bowl broadcast on its 54 NBC and 47 Telemundo channels in 2026. In Q1 2025, Super Bowl advertising revenue was $9 million across 27 FOX affiliates. Furthermore, Super Bowl advertising revenue was just $5 million on Gray’s NBC channels in 2022.
Additionally, the just-concluded Winter Olympic Games in Cortina, Italy, will likely have generated approximately $15 million of revenue via NBC-affiliated Gray properties. This compares to approximately $8 million of revenue earned in the 2022 Winter Olympics coverage.
Lastly, Gray’s long-term debt, less current portion and less deferred financing costs, increased to $7.635 billion from $7.609 billion as of the end of the 2025 calendar year.
