Gray Television, Inc. Raises Revenue and Earnings Guidance for First Quarter 2004 and Sets Release Date for May 6, 2004
April 14 2004 - 7:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Gray Television, Inc. Raises Revenue and Earnings Guidance for
First Quarter 2004 and Sets Release Date for May 6, 2004 ATLANTA,
April 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:
GTN; GTN.A) announced today that it has increased its estimates of
net revenues and operating income for the three months ending March
31, 2004 based on stronger than anticipated advertising revenues at
Gray's television stations. Updated Guidance for the First Quarter
of 2004 The Company currently anticipates that its results of
operations for the three months ended March 31, 2004 will
approximate the amounts presented in the table below. The table
also contains Gray's actual operating results for the three months
ended March 31, 2003 and the "high range" guidance the Company
previously issued on March 8, 2004. Three Months Ended March 31,
2004 % Change Previous 2004 Revised From Actual "High Range"
Selected operating data: Guidance 2003 2003 Guidance OPERATING
REVENUES Broadcasting (less agency commissions) $61,900 18% $52,601
$60,000 Publishing 10,950 5% 10,397 10,700 Paging 1,850 -6% 1,977
1,800 TOTAL OPERATING REVENUES 74,700 15% 64,975 72,500 TOTAL
OPERATING EXPENSES 55,475 4% 53,323 55,600 OPERATING INCOME $19,225
65% $11,652 $16,900 Other Selected Data Political revenue $3,475
369% $741 $2,500 Depreciation and amortization $6,200 -12% $7,052
$6,100 The Company has increased the first quarter 2004 revenue
guidance for the broadcast operations based in part on stronger
than expected political revenues. Also, the Company has increased
the first quarter 2004 revenue guidance for the broadcast
operations based in part on stronger than expected local and
national non-political time sale revenue. Currently, Gray
anticipates that first quarter 2004 non-political local time sales
will increase approximately 12% to 13% over the 2003 results of
$33.0 million and that national non-political time sales will
increase approximately 8% to 9% over the 2003 results of $14.9
million. The Company attributes the anticipated increases in local
and national advertising revenues to a generally broad based
improvement in the demand for advertising time on the Company's
stations. Earnings Release Date, Conference Call and Web cast
Information Gray Television, Inc. will release first quarter
earnings and host a conference call to discuss its first quarter
operating results on May 6, 2004. The call will begin at 2:00 PM
Eastern Time. The live dial-in number is (888) 280-8771 and the
reservation number is T492906G. The call will be web cast live and
available for replay at http://www.graytvinc.com/ . The taped
replay of the conference call will be available at (877) 888-3855
until May 20, 2004. The Company Gray Television, Inc. is a
communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and
currently owns 29 television stations serving 25 television
markets. The stations include 15 CBS affiliates, seven NBC
affiliates and seven ABC affiliates. Gray Television, Inc. has 22
stations ranked #1 in local news audience and 22 stations ranked #1
in overall audience within their respective markets based on the
average results of the Nielsen February, May, July and November
2003 ratings reports. The TV station group reaches approximately 5%
of total U.S. TV households. The Company also owns four daily
newspapers, three in Georgia and one in Indiana. Cautionary
Statements for Purposes of the "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The preceding comments on
Gray's current expectations of operating results for the first
quarter of 2004 are "forward looking" for purposes of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results of
operations are subject to a number of risks and may differ
materially from the current expectations discussed in this press
release. See the Company's annual report on Form 10K for a
discussion of risk factors that may affect the Company. DATASOURCE:
Gray Television, Inc. CONTACT: Bob Prather, President and Chief
Operating Officer, +1-404-266-8333, or Jim Ryan, Senior V. P. and
Chief Financial Officer, +1-404-504-9828, both of Gray Television,
Inc. Web site: http://www.graytvinc.com/
Copyright