Gray Television reported a first-quarter profit as advertising revenues rebounded to above pre-COVID-19 levels.
Net income jumped to $75 million, or 79 cents a share, compared to a loss of $4 million or 48 cents a share, a year ago.
Revenues increased 3% to $823 million.
Core advertising revenue was $372 million, up 4% from a year ago.
The total includes $18 million in ad revenue from airing the Super Bowl on the company’s 54 CBS affiliates. A year ago, the Super Bowl generated $6 million on the company’s 27 Fox affiliates.
Political advertising was $27 million in the quarter. Gray said it expects political advertising to be between 55% and 72% higher in the second quarter of 2020.
“Our core advertising business has more than fully recovered from the pandemic, with core advertising revenues 3% higher in the first quarter of 2024 than the corresponding quarter of the pre-pandemic year of 2019,” Gray said in a statement.
“Our first-quarter results benefited from continued strong advertiser demand for our local content including numerous professional sporting events on our stations, from the Super Bowl to local packages of NBA games,” the company said. “We believe these solid results are attributable to real-world confidence among advertisers and businesses in local markets who rely on our high-quality television stations to reach local audiences.”
Retransmission consent revenue dipped 4% to $381 million.
