Gray Media, Inc.

Thank you for standing by. My name is Tina, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Gray Media Incorporated first quarter earnings call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question, simply press star 1 on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press star 1 again. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Alan Gould, Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Thank you, Tina, and welcome, everybody. Joining us today on Gray's call are Hilton Howell, our Chairman and CEO, Pat LaPlatney, our President and Co-CEO, Sandy Breland, our Chief Operating Officer, Kevin Latech, our Chief Legal and Development Officer, and Jeff Gignac, our Chief Financial Officer. Today, we filed with the SEC on Form 8K, our first quarter earnings release and updated investor presentation. And later today, we will file with the SEC our quarterly report on Form 10Q. These materials are all available on our website, www.graymedia.com. Included on the call may be a discussion of non-GAAP financial measures, and in particular, adjusted EBITDA, leverage ratio denominator, net retransmission revenue, and certain net leverage ratios. These metrics are not meant to replace GAAP measurements, but are provided as supplements to assist the public in its analysis and evaluation of our company. Further discussions and reconciliation of the company's non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the latest investor presentation on our website. All statements and comments made by management during this conference call, other than statements of historical fact, should be deemed forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results in the future could differ from those described in the forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors that are contained in our most recent filings with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. It is now my pleasure to introduce Gray's Executive Chairman and CEO, Hilton Howell.

Thank you, Alan. Today, we are very pleased to announce solid results for our first quarter of 2026 with core advertising above our previously issued guidance, political revenue at the high end of our guidance range, and total revenue at the high end of our guidance, even factoring in a recently resolved dispute with one of our MVPDs. Total revenue in the first quarter of 2026 was $768 million, at the high end of our guidance for the quarter. Total operating expenses before depreciation, amortization, impairment, and gain or loss on disposal of assets in the first quarter of 2026 were $622 million, which was $7 million below the comparable period last year. Notably, within these results, our broadcasting expenses continued to decline and were down by $22 million in Q1 2026, as compared to Q1, 2025. Net loss attributable to common stockholders was 33 million for the first quarter of 2026. Adjusted EBITDA was 154 million in Q1, 2026. Political advertising revenue was 30 million at the high end of our guidance and compares to 26 million in the first quarter of 2022. the last midterm cycle. As you all hopefully saw by now on Friday, Gray and Vish resolved the first extended distribution blackout amazingly in our company's history. It was a rough negotiation for both sides, and we very much regret how local viewers and advertisers were impacted by the impasse. In the end, we reached a new multi-year agreement that was consistent with our internal expectations. We thank our viewers, our advertisers, and our team for their patience as we navigated that uncharted territory for gray media. Since the beginning of the year, we have successfully negotiated retransmission consent agreement renewals with three of our largest traditional MVPDs, representing approximately 39% of our traditional MVPD footprint. We also expanded important agreements with two of our virtual MVPDs involving a number of our independent stations that carry professional sports. We have no further retransmission negotiations for the remainder of 2026. In addition to these operating results, in the first quarter, we acquired WBBJ in Jackson, Tennessee from Bay Heckle. We recently completed the acquisition of TV stations in 10 markets from Allen Media Group, and just yesterday evening, we closed on our acquisition of stations in three markets from Block Communications. We currently anticipate closing our remaining transactions with EW Scripts and Sagamore Hill in the next few weeks. Finally, turning to assembly, we were delighted to learn that CBS renewed its successful daytime soap beyond the gates for two additional seasons. Seasons one and two will film that assembly. And we anticipate leasing additional studio production space. In February, Tennis League and Intense Tennis announced that it will host all 52 tennis matches for its 2026 season in our 30,000 square foot soundstage within assembly studios. The setup will also have a live audience of up to 500 people and we will broadcast some of the key matches on WANF and Petrie Sports in Atlanta, Georgia. Meanwhile, discussions and design work are continuing to make further progress on future development at Assembly. Looking forward, we're excited to have the upcoming FIFA World Cup games on both our 33 Fox channels and our 47 Telemundo affiliates. We are optimistic that as the largest owner of top-rated local television stations, and a footprint covering most of the competitive races that we will again capitalize on a strong midterm political cycle. At this time, I'll turn the call over to Pat to address our operations.