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Gray Television Reports Q4 Profit Surge

Mar 10, 2005  •  Post A Comment

Gray Television has reported a huge surge in fourth-quarter profit, buoyed by robust political advertising spending, which helped offset a decline in national advertising.

The Atlanta-based owner of 31 television stations in 27 states reported a quarterly profit of $14 million, compared with a year-earlier profit of $443,000. Revenue advanced 25 percent to $100.6 million.

For the year, Gray’s profit jumped 282 percent to $41 million, on a 17 percent jump in revenue to $346.6 million.

Fueling much of that growth was broadcasting revenue, which got a big lift from political advertising revenue. For the quarter, political spending hit $20.8 million from a year-earlier figure of $2.3 million. Excluding political, local advertising revenue was up 2 percent in the quarter to $42.2 million, while national advertising fell 4 percent to $17.9 million.