Gray Media Inc (GTN) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining the 2022 Q4 Earnings Call. I will now turn the call over to President and CEO, Mr. Hilton Howell. You may begin.

女士們，先生們，感謝您參加 2022 年第四季度財報電話會議。我現在將電話轉交給總裁兼首席執行官希爾頓豪厄爾先生。你可以開始了。

Thank you, Misty. Good morning, everyone. As the operator mentioned, I am Hilton Howell, the Chairman and CEO of Gray Television. I want to thank all of you for joining our Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings call. With me today, as usual, are our executive officers, our President and CEO; Pat LaPlatney; our Chief Legal and Development Officer, Kevin Latek; our Chief Financial Officer, Jim Ryan; and our Chief Operating Officer, Bob Smith.

謝謝你，迷霧。大家，早安。正如接線員所說，我是格雷電視台的董事長兼首席執行官希爾頓豪厄爾。我要感謝大家參加我們的 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議。和往常一樣，今天和我在一起的是我們的執行官、我們的總裁兼首席執行官；帕特·拉普拉特尼；我們的首席法律和發展官 Kevin Latek；我們的首席財務官 Jim Ryan；以及我們的首席運營官 Bob Smith。

We're going to shorten and streamline our call today. We will begin, as usual, with a disclaimer that Kevin will provide. After that, you will hear abbreviated comments from myself, then Kevin and then Jim, and all 5 of us will then be available to take any of your questions. So Kevin?

我們將縮短和簡化今天的電話會議。像往常一樣，我們將以凱文將提供的免責聲明開始。之後，您將聽到我自己的簡短評論，然後是凱文和吉姆，然後我們 5 個人都可以回答您的任何問題。那麼凱文？

Thank you, Hilton. Good morning, everyone. Gray uses its website as a key source of company information. The website address is www.gray.tv. We will file our annual report on Form 10-K with the SEC later today.

謝謝你，希爾頓。大家，早安。 Gray 將其網站用作公司信息的主要來源。網站地址是 www.gray.tv。我們將在今天晚些時候向美國證券交易委員會提交 10-K 表格的年度報告。

Included on the call may be a discussion of non-GAAP financial measures, and in particular, broadcast cash flow, operating cash flow, free cash flow, certain leverage ratio. Metrics are not meant to replace GAAP measurements, but are provided as supplements to assist the public in their analysis and valuation of our company. Included in our earnings release as well as on our website are reconciliations of financial measures to the GAAP measures reported in our financial statements.

電話會議可能包括對非 GAAP 財務措施的討論，特別是廣播現金流量、經營現金流量、自由現金流量和一定的槓桿率。指標並非旨在取代 GAAP 衡量標準，而是作為補充提供，以幫助公眾對我們公司進行分析和估值。我們的收益發布以及我們的網站中包含財務指標與我們財務報表中報告的 GAAP 指標的調節。

Certain matters discussed on this call may include forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, future operating results. Those statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results in the future could differ from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors that have been set forth in the company's most recent reports filed with the SEC, including our most recent annual report and the one we'll file today on Form 10-K and our most recent earnings release. The company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. And now I'll turn the call to Hilton.

本次電話會議討論的某些事項可能包括有關未來經營業績等的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述受到許多風險和不確定性的影響。由於公司最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告中列出的各種重要因素，包括我們最近的年度報告和一份我們今天將提交 10-K 表格和我們最近的收益發布。公司不承擔更新這些前瞻性陳述的義務。現在我會把電話轉給希爾頓。

Thank you, Kevin. Today, once again, we reported a strong finish to 2022 soon. On an as-reported basis in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, our total revenue increased 49% to a record $1.1 billion. Core advertising revenue increased by 13% Broadcast cash flow increased by 88%. The fourth quarter capped an exceptionally good year for Gray.

謝謝你，凱文。今天，我們再次報告了 2022 年的強勁表現。根據報告，與 2021 年第四季度相比，2022 年第四季度我們的總收入增長了 49%，達到創紀錄的 11 億美元。核心廣告收入增長 13% 廣播現金流增長 88%。第四季度對格雷來說是異常出色的一年。

For the full year of 2022, total revenue was a record $3.7 billion, an increase of 52% from 2021, marking our highest ever annual revenue. Core advertising revenue was $1.5 billion, an increase of 26% from 2021, and broadcast cash flow was $1.4 billion, an increase of 77% from 2021. These record results flowed from a number of factors, the most significant of which was another record year for political advertising revenue in a midterm cycle.

2022 年全年，總收入達到創紀錄的 37 億美元，比 2021 年增長 52%，創下我們有史以來最高的年收入。核心廣告收入為 15 億美元，比 2021 年增長 26%，廣播現金流為 14 億美元，比 2021 年增長 77%。這些創紀錄的業績源於多種因素，其中最重要的是又創紀錄的一年中期週期的政治廣告收入。

In particular, for the full year 2022, our political advertising revenue was $515 million, which exceeded 2018's political advertising revenue by 232% on an as-reported basis and by 38% on a combined historical basis. We attribute these stellar political advertising revenue results to Gray's unique combination of our market-leading new stations and competitive battleground states, our news professionals' unbiased coverage of divisive political issues and campaigns and our excellent and direct relationship with the political advertising agencies.

特別是，在 2022 年全年，我們的政治廣告收入為 5.15 億美元，比 2018 年的政治廣告收入高出 232%，按歷史總和計算高出 38%。我們將這些出色的政治廣告收入結果歸功於 Gray 將我們市場領先的新電台和競爭激烈的戰場州的獨特組合、我們的新聞專業人員對分裂性政治問題和競選活動的公正報導以及我們與政治廣告機構的良好直接關係。

Our Board and our senior leadership continue to focus on our balance sheet. Since we announced our acquisition of Meredith Corporation's local television stations 2 years ago, we have consistently emphasized that Gray, its Board and its leadership team, are committed to reducing our leverage. Our actions demonstrate this commitment.

我們的董事會和高級領導層繼續關注我們的資產負債表。自從我們 2 年前宣布收購 Meredith Corporation 的地方電視台以來，我們一直強調 Gray、其董事會及其領導團隊致力於降低我們的槓桿作用。我們的行動證明了這一承諾。

During 2022, we paid down $315 million of principal under our outstanding term loans. Yesterday, we received $300 million under a 3-year accounts receivable securitization facility. On March 1, we intend to use those proceeds to pay off entirely the remaining principal balance of $295 million under our Term Loan B. At that point, Gray will have reduced approximately $610 million in debt over the course of less than 12 months.

2022 年期間，我們根據未償還的定期貸款償還了 3.15 億美元的本金。昨天，我們收到了 3 年期應收賬款證券化貸款下的 3 億美元。 3 月 1 日，我們打算使用這些收益完全償還定期貸款 B 下剩餘的 2.95 億美元本金餘額。屆時，葛瑞將在不到 12 個月的時間內減少約 6.1 億美元的債務。

To further strengthen our balance sheet, yesterday, we also entered into an interest rate cap agreement. The rate caps will effectively limit the annual interest charge on all of our variable rate debt to a 1-month LIBOR maximum of 5%, plus an applicable margin through December 31, 2025. These arrangements will limit our exposure to approximately an additional 40 basis points of annual interest expense over current market rates, which will reduce our risk to unforeseen events that could increase market rates above our current expectations.

為了進一步加強我們的資產負債表，昨天，我們還簽訂了利率上限協議。利率上限將有效地將我們所有可變利率債務的年利率限制在 1 個月倫敦銀行同業拆借利率最高 5% 加上適用的保證金，直至 2025 年 12 月 31 日。這些安排將我們的風險敞口限制在大約 40 個基礎上年利息支出高於當前市場利率的點數，這將降低我們因不可預見事件而導致市場利率高於我們當前預期的風險。

Looking ahead, as we continue to produce significant free cash in 2023 and especially in the presidential election year of 2024, we fully intend to allocate a significant portion of free cash to additional debt reduction. We will also use a portion of our strong cash flow to complete the first phase of our Assembly Atlanta project, which will put us in a position to begin earning revenue from the project later this year.

展望未來，由於我們將在 2023 年繼續產生大量自由現金，尤其是在 2024 年總統大選年，我們完全打算將很大一部分自由現金分配給額外的債務削減。我們還將利用部分強勁的現金流來完成 Assembly Atlanta 項目的第一階段，這將使我們能夠在今年晚些時候開始從該項目中賺取收入。

As you know, Assembly Atlanta and Assembly Studios will provide diversification from our broadcasting segment by participating in the fast-growing film and television production industry headquartered in our home state of Georgia. Construction on Assembly Studios and the infrastructure for the remaining area within Assembly Atlanta continues to run ahead of any of our schedules. This was only possible due to our decision in 2021 to preorder steel and to produce concrete on-site and certain other key materials before the supply chain issues created delays, inflation, cost overruns for so many other projects in 2022.

如您所知，Assembly Atlanta 和 Assembly Studios 將通過參與總部位於我們家鄉佐治亞州的快速發展的電影和電視製作行業，提供我們廣播部門的多元化。 Assembly Studios 的建設和 Assembly Atlanta 內剩餘區域的基礎設施繼續領先於我們的任何計劃。這之所以成為可能，是因為我們在 2021 年決定在供應鏈問題導致 2022 年許多其他項目出現延誤、通貨膨脹和成本超支之前，預先訂購鋼材並現場生產混凝土和某些其他關鍵材料。

We currently anticipate that construction on the Assembly Studios portion of the development and much of the infrastructure for the entire project will be completed as soon as this June. At that time, both NBCUniversal and Gray Television will begin producing television shows and movies at Assembly Studios on land that, less than 2 years ago, was an empty industrial side.

目前，我們預計 Assembly Studios 開發項目的建設和整個項目的大部分基礎設施最快將於今年 6 月完工。屆時，NBCUniversal 和 Gray Television 都將開始在 Assembly Studios 的土地上製作電視節目和電影，而這片土地在不到 2 年前還是一片空曠的工業區。

Once this phase of construction is complete, Gray intends to pause its funding of construction projects across the remaining roughly 80 acres that will comprise Atlanta Assembly. We are now, and will continue over the next several months, to actively evaluate opportunities to maximize the long-term value of this quite unique investment to the benefit of all of Gray's shareholders.

一旦這一階段的建設完成，Grey 打算暫停對剩餘約 80 英畝土地上的建設項目的資助，這些建設項目將包括 Atlanta Assembly。我們現在並將在未來幾個月內繼續積極評估機會，以最大限度地提高這項非常獨特的投資的長期價值，從而造福 Gray 的所有股東。

While 2023 will be marked by some macro challenges, Gray will continue producing locally focused (inaudible) and other content that our audiences want and delivering the value that drives solid advertising and retransmission revenues.

雖然 2023 年將面臨一些宏觀挑戰，但 Gray 將繼續製作以本地為中心（聽不清）和我們的觀眾想要的其他內容，並提供推動穩健的廣告和轉播收入的價值。

I will now turn the call back over to Kevin Latek. Kevin?

我現在將把電話轉回給 Kevin Latek。凱文？

Thanks again. Gray Television stations and production companies continued to perform well in the fourth quarter, beginning 2023 in a better position than you might presume based on headlines about certain sectors of the economy. For the full year 2022, our television stations' core advertising revenues were $1.5 billion. This is an impressive outcome because core in 2022 as compared to 2021 declined by a mere 1% on a combined historical basis. That's despite our inventory being displaced by $455 million of additional political revenue in 2022.

再次感謝。 Grey 電視台和製作公司在第四季度繼續表現良好，從 2023 年開始，他們的處境比你根據某些經濟部門的頭條新聞推測的要好。 2022 年全年，我們電視台的核心廣告收入為 15 億美元。這是一個令人印象深刻的結果，因為與 2021 年相比，2022 年的核心業務在綜合歷史基礎上僅下降了 1%。儘管我們的庫存在 2022 年被 4.55 億美元的額外政治收入所取代。

Since we cannot manufacture additional inventory, this very minor 1% dip in core revenue with all that extra political confirms the strong underlying [advertising] demand from traditional advertisers that Gray successfully converted into sales throughout the year. As noted in this morning's release, we attribute our solid advertising results to real-world confidence among advertisers and businesses in local markets combined with a portfolio of high-quality local stations, investments in recently acquired television stations and efficient sales and news operations.

由於我們無法製造額外的庫存，因此核心收入的這一 1% 的微小下降以及所有額外的政治因素證實了傳統廣告商的強大潛在 [廣告] 需求，葛瑞全年成功地轉化為銷售額。正如今天上午的新聞稿所述，我們將穩健的廣告業績歸功於本地市場廣告商和企業對現實世界的信心，以及優質本地電視台的投資組合、對最近收購的電視台的投資以及高效的銷售和新聞運營。

Turning to retransmission revenues. Gray posted 5% growth in full year 2022 over the prior year. Recall that Gray did not renew any retransmission agreements in 2022. Consequently, our gross retrans revenue increase of 5% is a result of our annual rate increases outpacing subscriber declines and outpacing the impact of subscribers rotating into OTT platforms.

轉向轉播收入。葛瑞在 2022 年全年比上一年增長了 5%。回想一下，格雷在 2022 年沒有續簽任何轉播協議。因此，我們的轉播總收入增長了 5%，這是因為我們的年增長率超過了訂閱者下降的速度，也超過了訂閱者轉向 OTT 平台的影響。

In the first quarter of 2023, we will renew and reprice traditional MVPD retrans contracts covering approximately 22% of our (inaudible) subscribers. Virtually all other retrans contracts experienced annual rate step-ups in January. For the first quarter of 2023, we anticipate that our gross retransmission revenue will increase by approximately 10% to 11% over the fourth quarter of 2022. Retrans price increases at both this annual escalator level and a contract renewal remain in the same neighborhood as we have seen previously. Sub declines (inaudible) impacting our ability to keep reaching to be paid fair value for our content.

在 2023 年第一季度，我們將對傳統的 MVPD 轉播合同進行續籤和重新定價，覆蓋我們約 22% 的（聽不清）訂戶。幾乎所有其他再交易合同都在 1 月份經歷了年利率上漲。對於 2023 年第一季度，我們預計我們的轉播總收入將比 2022 年第四季度增長約 10% 至 11%。今年自動扶梯水平和合同續籤的轉播價格上漲與我們保持在同一個街區以前見過。 Sub 拒絕（聽不清）影響我們繼續達到為我們的內容支付公允價值的能力。

In addition, reverse comp payments to the networks did step up on January 1 under the contracts that were negotiated a few years ago. As we have discussed now many times, we expect reverse comp rates will decline starting in 2024 as more recently negotiated network affiliation agreements kick in. We will renew retrans contracts for approximately 18% of MVPD subs in the second quarter of 2023, 38% of MVPD subs in the first quarter of 2024 and 23% of MVPD subs in the second half of 2024.

此外，根據幾年前談判達成的合同，1 月 1 日向網絡的反向補償付款確實有所增加。正如我們現在多次討論的那樣，我們預計隨著最近談判的網絡附屬協議的生效，反向補償率將從 2024 年開始下降。我們將在 2023 年第二季度續簽約 18% 的 MVPD 訂閱者的再傳輸合同，38% 的 MVPD 訂閱者2024 年第一季度的 MVPD 訂閱量和 2024 年下半年 23% 的 MVPD 訂閱量。

In terms of subscriber counts, subscriber reports that we received for the third quarter of 2022 provided a more positive picture than what we received for the second quarter of 2022. Specifically, in the third quarter of 2022, our pay TV subscriber total declined by roughly 1.5% from the third quarter of 2021. We are gratified that our subscriber base remains fairly stable. We continue to be impacted by the rotation of households from traditional MVPDs to virtual MVPDs and the direct-to-consumer platforms where the networks dictate both the terms of our distribution and our revenues. Gray, like virtually all affiliate groups, will continue to push for control of our own signals on all platforms.

在訂戶數量方面，我們收到的 2022 年第三季度訂戶報告比我們收到的 2022 年第二季度報告更樂觀。具體來說，在 2022 年第三季度，我們的付費電視訂戶總數下降了大約從 2021 年第三季度開始增長 1.5%。我們很高興我們的用戶群保持相當穩定。我們繼續受到家庭從傳統 MVPD 到虛擬 MVPD 和直接面向消費者平台的輪換的影響，在這些平台上，網絡決定了我們的分銷條款和收入。與幾乎所有附屬團體一樣，格雷將繼續推動在所有平台上控制我們自己的信號。

Putting this all together, we anticipate that gross retrans will continue to grow annually. Net retrans will continue to grow over a multiyear period, especially true in 2024 and 2025, even with conservative assumptions for continued sub losses. These projections are based on our demonstrated ability to continue to command strong retrans rates of traditional MVPD platforms for our portfolio of top-rated local news stations, coupled with some relief in reverse comp payments starting next year.

綜上所述，我們預計總再傳輸量將繼續每年增長。淨再交易將在多年內繼續增長，尤其是在 2024 年和 2025 年，即使對持續的子損失進行保守假設也是如此。這些預測基於我們展示的能力，即繼續為我們的頂級本地新聞台組合提供傳統 MVPD 平台的強大轉播率，以及從明年開始的反向補償支付的一些緩解。

We anticipate that macroeconomic conditions will continue to be more challenging in 2023 than we experienced in recent years. Still based on our vantage point today and our strong performance in 2022, we expect that our core revenue, production revenue and retransmission revenue in 2023, (inaudible) do not compare to 2022.

我們預計 2023 年的宏觀經濟狀況將繼續比我們近年來經歷的更具挑戰性。仍然基於我們今天的優勢和 2022 年的強勁表現，我們預計 2023 年的核心收入、製作收入和轉播收入（聽不清）無法與 2022 年相比。

This concludes my remarks. I'll now turn the call to Jim Ryan.

我的發言到此結束。我現在將電話轉給 Jim Ryan。

Thank you, Kevin. Good morning, everyone. Hilton and Kevin have covered the key highlights for the quarter and the full year of '22, so I'll make my remarks very short today. First of all (inaudible) with our Q4 and full year '22 results.

謝謝你，凱文。大家，早安。希爾頓和凱文已經介紹了本季度和 22 年全年的主要亮點，因此我今天的發言將非常簡短。首先（聽不清）我們的第四季度和 22 年全年的結果。

Turning to Q1 '23 guidance, we believe our revenue guidance demonstrates the company is off to a good start in '23 especially when you consider that it's an off year of the political cycle, and we are facing -- we anticipate about $6 million of net revenue from the broadcast of the Super Bowl on our 27 Fox channels, but that's compared to an aggregate of $13 million of net revenue relating to the broadcast of the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl on our 56 NBC channels during Q1 '22. That's a $7 million nonrecurring event for core revenue. So when you look at our guidance for Q1 and consider that $7 million headwind, we think we're off to actually a very good start in Q1.

談到 23 年第一季度的指導，我們相信我們的收入指導表明公司在 23 年有了一個良好的開端，特別是當你認為這是政治週期的淡季時，我們正面臨——我們預計約 600 萬美元我們的 27 個 Fox 頻道轉播超級碗帶來的淨收入，但與 22 年第一季度我們 56 個 NBC 頻道轉播冬季奧運會和超級碗相關的淨收入總計 1300 萬美元相比。這是一項 700 萬美元的非經常性核心收入活動。因此，當您查看我們對第一季度的指導並考慮 700 萬美元的逆風時，我們認為我們實際上在第一季度有了一個非常好的開端。

I'll make a few comments on our current expectations for the full year of '23, and I'll preface these comments by saying that given the size (inaudible) of the company, these data points are our current expectations as of today and will undoubtedly change up or down as the year progresses. When I'm talking about amounts in billions of dollars, I will fully admit that I'm not the last $10 million or more millions of dollars smart. So again, this is directionally what we see today.

我將就我們目前對 23 年全年的預期發表一些評論，我將在這些評論的開頭說，鑑於公司的規模（聽不清），這些數據點是我們目前的預期，截至今天和隨著時間的推移，毫無疑問會上升或下降。當我談論數十億美元的金額時，我會完全承認我不是最後一個 1000 萬美元或更多的百萬美元聰明人。再說一次，這就是我們今天看到的方向。

So for total revenue in '23 we're expecting currently about $3.3 billion. Core revenue of approximately $1.55 billion, which would be up low single digits over '22; retransmission revenue of approximately $1.55 billion as well. So our core at our retrans, just like it was in '22 are pretty well matched set.

因此，對於 23 年的總收入，我們目前預計約為 33 億美元。核心收入約為 15.5 億美元，比 22 年增長低個位數；轉播收入也約為 15.5 億美元。所以我們重傳的核心，就像在 22 年一樣，是非常匹配的。

Political revenue of approximately $40 million to $50 million given '23 million is the off year, but importantly, that range does not consider any potential early political advertising revenue for the 2024 cycle that we could possibly see later this year. So the guide on political is conservative and not counting in any '24 presidential.

考慮到 2300 萬美元是非年度，政治收入約為 4000 萬至 5000 萬美元，但重要的是，該範圍不考慮我們可能在今年晚些時候看到的 2024 年周期的任何潛在早期政治廣告收入。因此，政治指南是保守的，不計入任何 24 屆總統。

Total broadcast revenue would be approximately $3.2 billion. Our operating expenses before depreciation, amortization and gain and loss on disposal of assets is currently anticipated to be approximately $2.5 billion. Of that, broadcast expenses will be approximately $2.3 billion. Network reverse comp is going up to $945 million approximately. On the broadcast, $2.3 billion, we have noncash stock comp of $5 million and noncash 401(k) expense of $10 million, production expenses of approximately $80 million and corporate expenses of approximately $120 million. That $120 million includes $17 million of noncash stock comp. Our operating cash flow as defined in our senior credit agreement will be approximately $850 million to $870 million.

總廣播收入將約為 32 億美元。我們在折舊、攤銷和資產處置損益之前的運營費用目前預計約為 25 億美元。其中，廣播費用約為 23 億美元。網絡反向補償大約高達 9.45 億美元。在廣播中，23 億美元，我們有 500 萬美元的非現金股票補償和 1000 萬美元的非現金 401(k) 費用，大約 8000 萬美元的製作費用和大約 1.2 億美元的公司費用。這 1.2 億美元包括 1700 萬美元的非現金股票補償。我們的高級信貸協議中定義的運營現金流量約為 8.5 億美元至 8.7 億美元。

Turning to major cash uses in '23. As Hilton mentioned, we have put in place interest rate caps which insulate us from significant increase in market rates for the next several years. So we expect cash interest of $420 million to $430 million. Our 5% LIBOR interest rate caps are on $2.6 billion of our floating rate debt, we expect cash taxes of $100 million to $105 million, routine capital expenditures of $105 million to $115 million.

轉向 23 年的主要現金用途。正如希爾頓提到的那樣，我們已經設置了利率上限，使我們免受未來幾年市場利率大幅上漲的影響。因此，我們預計現金利息為 4.2 億至 4.3 億美元。我們 5% 的 LIBOR 利率上限是我們 26 億美元的浮動利率債務，我們預計現金稅為 1 億至 1.05 億美元，常規資本支出為 1.05 億美元至 1.15 億美元。

Preferred dividends are $52 million, and our required term loan D amortization is $15 million. That would place our estimated free cash between $150 million and $160 million. We are very well positioned starting 2023, and we look forward to a successful year and continuing into a strong '24 with the return of another presidential cycle.

優先股息為 5200 萬美元，我們要求的定期貸款 D 攤銷為 1500 萬美元。這將使我們估計的自由現金在 1.5 億美元到 1.6 億美元之間。從 2023 年開始，我們處於非常有利的位置，我們期待著成功的一年，並隨著另一個總統週期的回歸繼續進入強大的 24 年。

We'll turn the call back to Hilton.

我們會將電話轉回給希爾頓。

Thank you very much. Operator, at this time, we'd like to open up the line for any questions for Pat, Jim, Kevin, Bob and me.

非常感謝。接線員，此時，我們想為 Pat、Jim、Kevin、Bob 和我打開任何問題熱線。

(Operator Instructions) And it looks like your first question is going to come from Dan Kurnos with Benchmark Company.

（操作員說明）看起來你的第一個問題將來自 Benchmark Company 的 Dan Kurnos。

Sorry, can you guys hear me?

對不起，你們能聽到我說話嗎？

Hello, Dan.

你好，丹。

All right. Sorry about that. I don't know what happened there. Thank you for all the super helpful color, really needed it. The one thing I did miss, Kevin, could you just go back over the sub cadence again for me?

好的。對於那個很抱歉。我不知道那裡發生了什麼。感謝您提供所有超級有用的顏色，真的需要它。我錯過的一件事，凱文，你能幫我再回到亞節奏嗎？

In the first quarter of 2023, we will renew and reprice traditional MVPD retrans contracts covering 22% of our MVPD subs. We will renew approximately 18% of MVPD subs in the second quarter of 2023, 38% of MVPD subs in the first quarter of 2024 and about 23% of MVPD subs in the second half of 2024.

在 2023 年第一季度，我們將對傳統的 MVPD 重新傳輸合同進行續籤和重新定價，覆蓋我們 22% 的 MVPD 訂閱者。我們將在 2023 年第二季度續訂約 18% 的 MVPD 訂閱，在 2024 年第一季度續訂 38% 的 MVPD 訂閱，在 2024 年下半年續訂約 23% 的 MVPD 訂閱。

All right. Perfect. Jim kind of gave us the net retrans answer, so we can kind of do the math. But I think it's probably a little bit better than people were expecting. And for what it's worth, your net guide is -- or your reverse guide probably a little on the lower side, a little bit upside on retrans.

好的。完美的。 Jim 給了我們淨重傳答案，所以我們可以算一下。但我認為這可能比人們預期的要好一點。就其價值而言，您的淨指南是——或者您的反向指南可能偏低一點，在重新傳輸時偏高一點。

So Kevin, I'm sure you have plenty of questions on this. But as we kind of look at the marketplace today, even under sort of conservative sub assumptions, you've obviously got the legacy Meredith stations coming up for renewal. It seems like your ABC was relatively benign. And I'm guessing that Meredith...

凱文，我相信你對此有很多問題。但當我們審視今天的市場時，即使在某種保守的子假設下，你顯然也會看到遺留的梅雷迪思站即將更新。看起來你的 ABC 是相對良性的。我猜梅雷迪思...

Hey, Dan. We lost you at Meredith.

嘿，丹。我們在梅雷迪思失去了你。

Hello. Operator, are we still online?

你好。接線員，我們還在線嗎？

Yes. Dan, your line is on, and I'm not sure what happened there.

是的。丹，你的電話接通了，我不確定那裡發生了什麼。

All right. Well, let's go on to the next question. And when Dan is able to get back on, we will put him back in the queue.

好的。好，我們繼續下一個問題。當 Dan 能夠重新開始時，我們會把他放回隊列中。

Our next question is going to come from James Goss.

我們的下一個問題將來自 James Goss。

All right. I have a couple of things. One, I was curious -- and maybe this is Kevin question about the streamer usage of the national network channels rather than some of the local affiliate fees. And I think you were talking a little about them, but I'm a little unclear about how the contracts address those issues because, traditionally, you own the market and the ad sales in those markets. But this is changing that dynamic a little bit. Could you talk about that?

好的。我有幾件事。第一，我很好奇——也許這是凱文關於國家網絡頻道流媒體使用的問題，而不是一些當地的附屬費用。而且我認為你在談論他們，但我有點不清楚合同如何解決這些問題，因為傳統上，你擁有這些市場的市場和廣告銷售。但這正在稍微改變這種動態。你能談談嗎？

I think, Jim, what you're referring to is the CBS affiliates largely did not opt into the Fubo CBS contract.

我認為，吉姆，你指的是 CBS 附屬公司基本上沒有選擇 Fubo CBS 合同。

That's the one that is the example. And maybe that's a unique situation.

這就是例子。也許這是一種獨特的情況。

So we've said now, I think all the broadcast groups for many years that we let the networks do the first round of virtual negotiations with Hulu, YouTube, then Sony PlayStation to get them off the ground. And at the time, they were negotiating deals for their owned and operated stations. And those deals will largely offer to the affiliates to opt in.

所以我們現在已經說過，我認為多年來所有的廣播集團都讓網絡與 Hulu、YouTube 和索尼 PlayStation 進行第一輪虛擬談判，讓他們起步。當時，他們正在為自己擁有和經營的車站談判交易。這些交易將主要提供給附屬公司選擇加入。

Fast forward now several years, the virtual (inaudible). And I think all the affiliate groups have been pretty loudly saying the last several months or longer that we should be controlling our destiny. These are now established providers just as we negotiate a great (inaudible) we can surely handle negotiations with 3 virtual MVPDs.

現在快進幾年，虛擬（聽不清）。我認為所有附屬團體在過去幾個月或更長時間裡都在大聲說我們應該控制自己的命運。這些現在是成熟的供應商，正如我們談判一個偉大的（聽不清）我們肯定可以處理與 3 個虛擬 MVPD 的談判。

In the CBS Fubo situation was that CBS presented a contract to the affiliate Board into the CBS affiliates and CBS affiliates were offered an opportunity to sign a contract with CBS and which CBS would have, we then take our local signals and our local content and provide it to Fubo. And the CBS affiliates Board did not endorse that deal. Gray did not opt into that deal. As a result, Fubo did not have the access to CBS affiliate signals. So the CBS Network created some alternative feed or feeds to provide national CBS content to Fubo customers rather than the local CBS signals.

在 CBS Fubo 的情況下，CBS 向附屬委員會提交了一份合同，進入 CBS 附屬機構，CBS 附屬機構有機會與 CBS 簽訂合同，而 CBS 將擁有該合同，然後我們獲取本地信號和本地內容並提供它給伏波。 CBS 附屬機構董事會並未認可該交易。格雷沒有選擇參與這筆交易。因此，Fubo 無法訪問 CBS 附屬信號。因此，CBS 網絡創建了一些替代提要或提要，以向 Fubo 客戶提供全國 CBS 內容，而不是本地 CBS 信號。

I'm not sure what you're talking about other streamers carrying national feeds, the only -- to our knowledge, the first time affiliates have said no to an opt-in agreement in the virtual context was last -- late last month with CBS Fubo. I don't think it changes the overall picture. This is something, again, that we've been discussing for a couple of years and so in the last several earnings calls that the affiliate groups feel pretty strongly that we should control our own destiny, and that's happening in this case.

我不確定你在談論其他攜帶國家飼料的流媒體，唯一的 - 據我們所知，附屬公司第一次拒絕在虛擬環境中選擇加入協議是最後一次 - 上個月底哥倫比亞廣播公司伏波。我認為這不會改變整體情況。這也是我們已經討論了幾年的事情，因此在最近幾次財報電話會議上，附屬集團非常強烈地認為我們應該控制自己的命運，這種情況正在發生。

So we are continuing to talk to CBS, to anticipate your next question. The affiliate groups are optimistic and hopeful that we'll be able to reach new long-term agreements with this network and other networks that make sense for the affiliates. But that's all we're going to say on that negotiation and all those (inaudible).

因此，我們將繼續與 CBS 交談，以預測您的下一個問題。附屬團體樂觀並希望我們能夠與該網絡和其他對附屬機構有意義的網絡達成新的長期協議。但這就是我們要就那次談判和所有這些（聽不清）說的全部內容。

No, I appreciate that color and maybe it brought the issue to light a little bit. The one other thing I was going to ask about the Atlanta Assembly Studios. Now that you're getting close to coming -- or opening them to usage of you and NBCUniversal initially, is there any framing of the financials you might provide in terms of the overall investment, the revenue expectations, cost estimates? Or anything else that we might be able to think about in terms of how it impacts your statements?

不，我很欣賞那種顏色，也許它讓問題稍微暴露了一點。我要問的另一件事是關於亞特蘭大裝配工作室的。既然你即將到來——或者最初將它們開放給你和 NBCUniversal 使用，你是否有任何關於整體投資、收入預期、成本估算的財務框架？或者我們可以考慮它如何影響您的陳述的任何其他內容？

James, for just -- for a number of reasons, we're unable to provide great details on that right now, particularly on the revenue side. Suffice it to say that we're very happy with what it's going to be producing not just in terms of rental revenue but production revenue beginning this summer. So while we won't have those numbers to talk about probably at our next call, it will be very near to beginning it because we'll be turning it over to our partner, NBCUniversal, the 1st of June.

詹姆斯，出於多種原因，我們現在無法提供詳細信息，尤其是在收入方面。可以說，我們對它將在今年夏天開始的租金收入和生產收入方面的產出感到非常滿意。因此，雖然我們可能不會在下一次電話會議上討論這些數字，但它很快就會開始，因為我們將在 6 月 1 日將其移交給我們的合作夥伴 NBCUniversal。

Okay. And so it will be on them rather than on you? And -- or will there be some intercompany (inaudible) and that you'll be using it as well?

好的。所以它會在他們身上而不是在你身上？並且 - 或者是否會有一些公司間（聽不清）並且你也會使用它？

Well, I mean they will be using it and making movies and TV shows there on the properties that they are leasing from us, we will be doing them the same on the properties and the studios and stages that we have retained. And so there is some production through our subsidiaries or films that will be happening on our stages. In addition to their stages in Paulding County, but then Gray will be separately leasing out to other film producers, the stages that we have retained.

好吧，我的意思是他們將使用它並在他們從我們那裡租賃的房產上製作電影和電視節目，我們將在我們保留的房產、工作室和舞台上做同樣的事情。因此，我們的子公司或電影將在我們的舞台上進行一些製作。除了他們在 Paulding County 的舞台外，Gray 將單獨出租給其他電影製片人，我們保留的舞台。

(Operator Instructions) And our next question comes from Dan Kurnos from Benchmark.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Benchmark 的 Dan Kurnos。

Welcome back, Dan. Sorry about that.

歡迎回來，丹。對於那個很抱歉。

I'm going to try this again, Hilton, and I'm going to be really quick before I get the hook again, I guess.

我要再試一次，希爾頓，我想在我再次上鉤之前我會非常快。

We can give you the hook, I'm sorry. Technology always kind of messes up from time to time, it seems like.

我們可以給你鉤子，對不起。看起來，技術總是時不時地搞砸。

It definitely wasn't you guys. It was definitely me. But on the Atlanta, just to be clear, is any revenue or any benefit from that included in the guide that you guys gave? And Hilton, if you could expound a little bit upon your thoughts on monetization opportunities, as you laid out in the press release, I'd love to hear it.

絕對不是你們絕對是我。但是關於亞特蘭大，請明確一點，你們提供的指南中是否包含任何收入或收益？希爾頓，如果你能像你在新聞稿中所說的那樣，稍微闡述一下你對貨幣化機會的想法，我很想听聽。

Sure.

當然。

There would be a little bit in the guide. But remember that NBCU is actually -- by the time we turn it over, at least actually commenced payments to us under its terms. There's not a lot of -- there's not many months in this year. So it's a pretty small number for 2023, just by timing.

指南中會有一點。但請記住，NBCU 實際上 - 當我們將其移交時，至少實際上已經開始根據其條款向我們付款。沒有很多 - 今年沒有多少個月。因此，僅就時間而言，這對於 2023 年來說是一個非常小的數字。

We -- the assembly upon maturity is going to be a quite significant contributor to the free cash flow of business on an individual asset basis. And I'm really quite excited about it because one of the things that we have to continue to maintain a focus on is how we continue to grow the company. And while we are currently, in terms of distribution with our TV stations slightly, maybe 2.5% to 3% below the currently articulated cap since the FCC doesn't seem to be recognizing at the moment the UHF discount as they did with both Scripps and Nexstar in the past, Gray seems to be capped at the 39% number.

我們 - 到期時的組裝將成為基於單個資產的業務自由現金流的相當重要的貢獻者。我真的很興奮，因為我們必須繼續關注的事情之一就是我們如何繼續發展公司。雖然我們目前，就我們電視台的分配而言，可能比目前規定的上限低 2.5% 到 3%，因為 FCC 目前似乎沒有像他們對 Scripps 和Nexstar 過去，格雷似乎被限制在 39% 這個數字。

And so our management team is charged with continuing to grow our company. And while those of you who may not follow this business or may not live in the state of Georgia, so you may not understand fully the stunning amount of production that has come to the state, and that's for a number of reasons, Dan. It obviously began 20 years ago with the creation of the Georgia film tax credits. But what Georgia has done that I think is really quite unique and it's a great testament to, I think, wise legislators 20-plus years ago, they created the Georgia Film Academy, if I'm calling this correctly. And we now have at least 2 generations of young Georgians who have learned the craft of making film and television in this state. And so the crews, the talent, everything is here. And so there is a huge amount of production that's coming to this state.

因此，我們的管理團隊負責繼續發展我們的公司。雖然你們這些可能不從事這項業務或可能不住在佐治亞州的人，所以你們可能不完全了解該州的驚人產量，這是出於多種原因，丹。它顯然始於 20 年前佐治亞州電影稅收抵免的創建。但我認為格魯吉亞所做的事情確實非常獨特，而且我認為這是對 20 多年前明智的立法者的一個很好的證明，他們創建了格魯吉亞電影學院，如果我沒說錯的話。我們現在至少有 2 代年輕的格魯吉亞人在這個州學會了製作電影和電視的手藝。所以工作人員，人才，一切都在這裡。因此，有大量的產品正在進入這種狀態。

Last year, the only public numbers that we have for the amount of production in Georgia, and this was probably from the 2021 year, so it's -- I know it's old, but it's all we got right now. The total productions were $4.4 billion, which is a huge generator of revenue here.

去年，我們擁有關於佐治亞州產量的唯一公開數字，這可能是從 2021 年開始的，所以它——我知道它已經過時了，但這就是我們現在所擁有的。總產量為 44 億美元，這是這裡巨大的收入來源。

The Assembly Studios, I believe, will be one of the finest -- let me back it up. I have been told is one of the finest studios built anywhere in the world. And so we have immense demand that we have coming in for use of all of the studios. Obviously, we have a long-term financial agreement with NBCUniversal, and I'm happy to say that they are looking forward to being here in Atlanta and in Georgia. But I would actually say that we have had direct contact with the full gamut of content creators, whether independent or other individuals, to bring feature films and television and, candidly, post production to the Assembly and to Georgia. And we're very excited about that. It's going to be a profitable endeavor from day 1, and it's going to be a huge asset for our company, our shareholders and for the city of Atlanta and the State of Georgia.

我相信 Assembly Studios 將是最好的工作室之一——讓我支持一下。有人告訴我這是世界上最好的工作室之一。因此，我們有巨大的需求，要求我們使用所有的工作室。顯然，我們與 NBCUniversal 簽訂了長期財務協議，我很高興地說他們期待來到亞特蘭大和佐治亞州。但我實際上要說的是，我們已經與所有內容創作者（無論是獨立的還是其他個人）進行了直接接觸，以將故事片和電視以及坦率地後期製作帶到議會和格魯吉亞。我們對此感到非常興奮。從第一天開始，這將是一項有利可圖的努力，對於我們公司、我們的股東以及亞特蘭大市和佐治亞州來說，這將是一筆巨大的財富。

Got it. That's super helpful. And I'll try to real quick, Kevin, I mean we got the numbers from Jim on the reverse now. So we're -- we can kind of do the math on your thoughts here. Legacy Meredith obviously comes up in the back half, I think, of this year, and it doesn't seem too onerous. And obviously, your ABC seemed relatively benign based on the guide you've given. So just trying to get a sense -- you commented that net obviously should be up pretty substantially next year and because you also get some relief on that reverse trend. So just maybe over like a 3-year time horizon, I mean do you expect to outperform? What's kind of your view? And what are your sort of underlying sub assumptions in the model right now?

知道了。這非常有幫助。我會盡快嘗試，凱文，我的意思是我們現在從吉姆那裡得到了相反的數字。所以我們 - 我們可以在這裡對您的想法進行數學計算。遺產梅雷迪思顯然出現在後半年，我認為，今年，它似乎並不太繁重。顯然，根據您提供的指南，您的 ABC 似乎相對溫和。所以只是想了解一下 - 你評論說明年淨值顯然應該大幅上漲，因為你也對這種逆轉趨勢有所緩解。所以也許在 3 年的時間範圍內，我的意思是你期望跑贏大盤嗎？你有什麼看法？你現在在模型中有哪些潛在的子假設？

Yes. Dan, so we've never commented on what we use in our model. We've said we've been conservatively projecting sub losses, and we will continue to do that. We -- again, we had a bit of a shock in the second quarter that we revealed on the last phone call. As I said, our sub numbers improved relative -- relatively in the third quarter. We do not have all the fourth quarter sub count at this point, but they frankly look better than what the third quarter was.

是的。丹，所以我們從未評論過我們在模型中使用的內容。我們已經說過，我們一直在保守地預測子損失，我們將繼續這樣做。我們 - 再一次，我們在上次電話中透露的第二季度有點震驚。正如我所說，我們的子數據在第三季度相對有所改善。目前我們還沒有第四季度的所有子數據，但坦率地說，它們看起來比第三季度要好。

So things seem to be sort of trending at least right now in a good -- definitely a better direction than what we have modeled, but we'll continue to model conservatively on sub losses and the sub rotations to the virtual and direct-to-consumers. We've not modeled out and given guidance over a 2- or 3-year period. I appreciate this is probably the most guidance we've ever given in a February phone call for the full year. So we're going to kind of stick with the current guidance we have now, which is a little specific for this year and a little more general.

所以事情似乎至少現在有某種趨勢 - 絕對比我們建模的方向更好，但我們將繼續保守地模擬子損失和子輪換到虛擬和直接到 -消費者。我們還沒有在 2 年或 3 年的時間內進行建模並提供指導。我很感激這可能是我們在 2 月份的全年電話中給出的最多指導。因此，我們將堅持目前的指導方針，這對今年來說有點具體，也更籠統。

I'm not really prepared to be more specific after than what we gave in the earnings script today. We do think that net will be improved next year over this year for the reasons mentioned in the script; and again, '25, again for the same reasons. But I'm not prepared to put percentages on that right now.

我真的不准備比我們今天在收益腳本中給出的更具體。由於腳本中提到的原因，我們確實認為 net 明年會比今年有所改進；再次，'25，再次出於同樣的原因。但我現在不准備對此進行百分比計算。

Our next question is going to come from Alan Gould with [Gray TV].

我們的下一個問題將來自 Alan Gould 和 [Gray TV]。

A couple of questions. Hilton, first, on the Atlanta Assembly plant. One easy one. How many sound stages are there? And two, it looks like the CapEx part was a little higher than it was -- a bit higher than expected this year. Was that a pull forward? Or is the inflation causing cost to be a little higher than expected?

幾個問題。希爾頓，首先，在亞特蘭大裝配廠。一個簡單的。有多少個聲場？第二，資本支出部分看起來比以前高了一點——比今年的預期高了一點。那是一種推動嗎？還是通脹導致成本略高於預期？

Well, inflation is always there, but let me answer your first question. The total stages are 19. The total square footage is about 1,250,000 square feet in terms of production, mill and office space total. But it's 19 sound stages under construction right now. And in fact, last Thursday, we had our topping out ceremony. So we're almost done.

好吧，通貨膨脹總是存在的，但讓我回答你的第一個問題。總階段數為 19。就生產、工廠和辦公空間而言，總面積約為 1,250,000 平方英尺。但目前正在建設中的有 19 個攝影棚。事實上，上週四，我們舉行了封頂儀式。所以我們快完成了。

Plus you asked about assembly, but I'll add in. There's an additional 3 stages that are currently operational and whose numbers are incorporated with third rail studios. We also have a further 2 studios that are currently named Atlanta films studios that are part of the Swirl Films group that is a 51% owned subsidiary of Gray Television.

另外，您詢問了關於組裝的問題，但我會添加。目前還有另外 3 個階段正在運行，其數量與第三鐵路工作室合併。我們還有另外 2 家工作室，目前名為亞特蘭大電影工作室，隸屬於 Swirl Films 集團，該集團是 Gray Television 擁有 51% 股權的子公司。

Okay. And the costs?

好的。費用呢？

So Alan, the CapEx number -- the regular CapEx number was higher than we had guided. It's multi-phased answer. One is inflation. Two is with some pull forward and supply chain issues earlier in the year, we thought some of what actually got delivered in Q4 would have actually shown up in 2024. So we -- that was a pleasant surprise, on the one hand, but also not something we had expected.

所以艾倫，資本支出數字——常規資本支出數字高於我們的指導。這是多階段的答案。一是通貨膨脹。二是今年早些時候出現了一些提前和供應鏈問題，我們認為第四季度實際交付的一些東西實際上會在 2024 年出現。所以我們 - 一方面，這是一個驚喜，但也出乎我們的意料。

And also, I'll take responsibility that, internally, we should have guided better. And I will assure you that we're watching regular CapEx like a hawk in '23 and going into '24. And the last piece of the equation on the regular CapEx was we thought we could push some studio renovation projects further into '24, but our current landlords were not open to extending leases. So we had to move a little faster than we had originally thought because our leases will be expiring next year, and we've got to move out and move in.

而且，我將承擔責任，在內部，我們應該更好地指導。我會向你保證，我們正在像 23 年的老鷹一樣觀察常規資本支出，然後進入 24 年。常規資本支出的最後一個等式是我們認為我們可以將一些工作室改造項目進一步推進到 24 世紀，但我們目前的房東不同意延長租約。所以我們不得不比我們原先想像的要快一點，因為我們的租約將於明年到期，我們必須搬出去搬進來。

So as I said, a combination of several factors. But obviously, in the guide this year, regular CapEx is $105 million to $115 million. And again, we're going to watch that very carefully and, to the extent possible, put as much into '24 as we can.

正如我所說，是幾個因素的結合。但顯然，在今年的指南中，常規資本支出為 1.05 億至 1.15 億美元。再一次，我們將非常仔細地觀察，並儘可能多地投入 24 年。

And how much more do you expect to spend on the Atlanta Assembly plant until June or until it's completed?

在亞特蘭大裝配廠到 6 月或竣工之前，您預計還要花多少錢？

In '23, on a net basis, we're currently estimating that to be about $72 million to finish the Studio project.

在 23 年，按淨額計算，我們目前估計完成 Studio 項目大約需要 7200 萬美元。

Okay. And one quick question for Kevin. Your rotation to VMVPD, should we just assume you're matching pretty close to what the industry trends is there?

好的。有一個簡短的問題要問凱文。您輪換到 VMVPD，我們是否應該假設您非常接近行業趨勢？

In terms of what would the MVPDs? I'm sorry, Alan.

就 MVPD 而言？對不起，艾倫。

Your rotation from traditional MVPDs to virtual MVPDs. Is that -- is your share more for the industry for Gray Television?

您從傳統 MVPD 到虛擬 MVPD 的輪換。那是——你對 Gray Television 行業的貢獻更大嗎？

To be honest, I don't know what we would say was the industry rotation. I'd say we're seeing a lot of it. I mean we have a pretty significant decline in the MVPDs, and we have a pretty significant growth of the virtuals in the direct-to-consumer. So again, our total sub count on a year-over-year basis was minus 1.5%. So we're converting essentially everybody -- almost everybody who's leaving the traditionals into new subscriber on the digital side. I don't quite know how that tracks with everybody else, but our number is minus 1.5% on a year-over-year basis of total subscribers.

老實說，我不知道我們會說什麼是行業輪換。我會說我們看到了很多。我的意思是我們的 MVPD 有相當顯著的下降，而我們在直接面向消費者的虛擬產品中有相當顯著的增長。因此，我們的子項目總數同比下降 1.5%。因此，我們基本上正在將每個人 - 幾乎每個離開傳統的人轉變為數字方面的新訂戶。我不太清楚其他人的情況如何，但我們的訂閱人數同比下降 1.5%。

Maybe I can ask you differently, can you tell us what percentage of your subs are now coming through VMVPDs or digital?

也許我可以換個方式問你，你能告訴我們你現在有多少訂閱來自 VMVPD 或數字？

No, we have not disclosed that.

不，我們沒有透露。

Our next question is going to come from Craig Huber with Huber Research Partners.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Craig Huber 和 Huber Research Partners。

Great. My first question is this interest rate cap, I'm glad to see you guys are putting this into place. You mentioned in your press release that $32 million that's payable on it. I guess, this is on December 31 of '25. Is that going to be amortized? What's the impact on your P&L in terms of the cost to put this in place?

偉大的。我的第一個問題是這個利率上限，我很高興看到你們正在實施這個上限。您在新聞稿中提到需要為此支付 3200 萬美元。我想，這是 25 年的 12 月 31 日。那要攤銷嗎？就實施成本而言，對您的損益有何影響？

From a GAAP accounting perspective, that will be amortized in more or less ratably over -- between now and December 31, 2025. But again, I think the important part is the cash settlement is December 31, 2025. So we've put that way down the road, and we're pleased with -- as you said, we're very pleased to have gotten in place, and we're fully insulated now on continuing rate hikes. And I'm -- I say this somewhat jokingly, but actually in absolute sincerity, I'm glad we got the rate caps in on earlier this week. I would not have been pleased with trying to price one today given the inflation headlines this morning. So we're very pleased with where we came out.

從 GAAP 會計的角度來看，這將或多或少地按比例攤銷——從現在到 2025 年 12 月 31 日。但我認為重要的部分是現金結算是在 2025 年 12 月 31 日。所以我們把它一路走來，我們很高興——正如你所說，我們很高興已經到位，我們現在完全不受持續加息的影響。而且我 - 我說這有點開玩笑，但實際上是絕對真誠的，我很高興我們在本週早些時候設定了利率上限。鑑於今天早上的通貨膨脹頭條新聞，我不會對今天嘗試定價感到滿意。所以我們對我們的結果感到非常滿意。

And very good on that. And then second question, you're down 1.5% retrans subcount declines year-over-year are quite good, certainly, a lot better than you all talk in publicly about down mid-single digits, and that trend for them has been very similar, down mid-single digits, what is it about your company, your markets, that you're only down 1.5%? I just want to hear your thoughts there, please.

並且非常擅長。然後是第二個問題，你的再傳輸子計數同比下降了 1.5%，這是相當不錯的，當然，比你們公開談論的中個位數下降要好得多，而且他們的趨勢非常相似，下降中個位數，你的公司，你的市場是什麼，你只下降了 1.5%？我只是想听聽你的想法，拜託。

Yes. We have been trailing the industry really forever. When (inaudible) announced sub declines in August of '15, we were still seeing sub gains. A couple of years later, our broadcast peer groups said that they were sort of seeing sub stabilization. We were still seeing growing. I may announce that we're seeing little declines, and we saw a stabilization. Now they're seeing some greater sub declines than we are. So we've definitely been trailing behind.

是的。我們一直在真正地落後於這個行業。當（聽不清）在 15 年 8 月宣布次級下跌時，我們仍然看到次級收益。幾年後，我們的廣播同行小組表示他們看到了某種程度的亞穩定。我們仍然看到增長。我可能會宣布我們看到了小幅下降，我們看到了穩定。現在他們看到了比我們更大的子下降。所以我們肯定一直落後。

The best guess we have is we have more rural exposure than other folks. We are certainly in some large markets, but we're in a whole bunch of smaller markets and some that are geographically very large. And those folks have been a little later to the virtual MVPD because their broadband access is not as great as it is in Philadelphia and San Francisco and other large markets.

我們最好的猜測是我們比其他人有更多的農村接觸。我們當然在一些大市場，但我們在一大堆較小的市場和一些地理上非常大的市場。這些人進入虛擬 MVPD 的時間稍晚，因為他們的寬帶接入不如費城、舊金山和其他大型市場那麼好。

So the YouTube, Hulu, Sony, Fubo, et cetera, sort of launching local signals in our markets later than others, and they were not full substitutes until more recently than they were in large markets because broadband was not as -- was not deployed as much. So we're seeing broadband rolling out more aggressively now in the last couple of years. So we're probably seeing more people pick those subscriptions up, and that's covering the loss on MVPDs. But that's our best guess is the type of footprint we have is a bit different than others.

所以 YouTube、Hulu、Sony、Fubo 等等，在我們的市場上發布本地信號的時間比其他公司晚，而且直到最近它們才完全替代大型市場，因為寬帶沒有像 - 沒有部署盡可能多。因此，在過去幾年中，我們看到寬帶正在更積極地推廣。所以我們可能會看到越來越多的人開始訂閱這些訂閱，這彌補了 MVPD 的損失。但我們最好的猜測是我們擁有的足跡類型與其他足蹟有點不同。

Okay. Great for that. And then my second -- my next question, sorry, is alternative uses of your broadcast spectrum. Can you maybe just update us on your thoughts on that, how aggressive you might be -- place in the coming years?

好的。太棒了。然後是我的第二個問題，抱歉，我的下一個問題是廣播頻譜的替代用途。您能否向我們介紹一下您對此的想法，您在未來幾年可能會變得多麼激進？

Yes. So that -- it's Pat LaPlatney. So I would tell you that like the rest of the industry, we are rolling out ATSC 3.0. We've rolled out, I guess, 3 markets in '22, and we have the majority of our larger markets rolled out at this point. There's been quite a bit of talk about the possibility of using that spectrum for data into automobiles and a number of other uses.

是的。那就是 Pat LaPlatney。所以我想告訴你，與業內其他公司一樣，我們正在推出 ATSC 3.0。我猜，我們在 22 年推出了 3 個市場，此時我們已經推出了大部分較大的市場。關於將該頻譜用於汽車數據和許多其他用途的可能性，已經有很多討論。

I think we're a few years away from that still. But the reality is that the rollout is moving along at a pretty good clip. We expect to be north of 70% by the end of '23. And then it's a matter really of -- in terms of the television side of 3.0 of getting the chips into TV sets. The vast majority of manufacturers are selling chips or selling sets today with the chips at them. So that's on the TV side. And then on the alternative uses, it's a matter of getting the footprint filled out, and that's happening pretty quickly.

我認為我們還需要幾年時間才能實現這一目標。但現實情況是，推出的進展非常順利。我們預計到 23 年底將超過 70%。然後，就 3.0 的電視方面而言，將芯片裝入電視機是一個真正的問題。今天，絕大多數製造商都在銷售芯片或銷售帶有芯片的設備。所以這是在電視方面。然後在替代用途上，這是一個填滿足蹟的問題，而且這很快就會發生。

Okay. My last question, guys. Just curious, what's your thoughts on the broad economic environment right now, given all the markets you guys are in around the U.S.? I mean, how are you guys (inaudible)? Just curious on your thoughts there.

好的。我的最後一個問題，伙計們。只是好奇，考慮到你們在美國各地的所有市場，你們對目前廣泛的經濟環境有何看法？我的意思是，你們好嗎（聽不清）？只是好奇你在那裡的想法。

This is Bob Smith. We're actually pretty optimistic, as Jim mentioned, a little bit about the numbers and our projections. But we're seeing a lot of good things in our local markets, a lot of -- actually a ton of new business development. Those are local direct accounts that are coming on to TV, and we're having a lot of success with that.

這是鮑勃·史密斯。正如吉姆所提到的，我們實際上對數字和我們的預測非常樂觀。但我們在當地市場看到了很多好東西，很多——實際上是大量的新業務發展。這些是即將出現在電視上的本地直接帳戶，我們在這方面取得了很大的成功。

We're also seeing automotive coming back in a lot of markets. General Motors is pretty strong. Nissan is strong. And legal continues to do well. We recently saw sports gambling get approved in Ohio. So our Ohio markets are seeing a lot of pretty big buys here in the first quarter and will continue in the second quarter. We're optimistic that North Carolina will pass gambling here in time for the football season. So all in all, despite the headwinds, despite all the chatter, if you will, there's a lot of good things happening in our local markets right now.

我們還看到汽車在許多市場回歸。通用汽車非常強大。尼桑很強。法律繼續表現良好。我們最近看到體育博彩在俄亥俄州獲得批准。因此，我們的俄亥俄州市場在第一季度在這裡看到了很多相當大的購買，並將在第二季度繼續。我們樂觀地認為，北卡羅來納州將在足球賽季前及時通過賭博。所以總而言之，儘管有逆風，儘管有各種喋喋不休，但如果你願意的話，我們當地市場現在正在發生很多好事。

Our next question is going to come from Nick Zangler with Stephens.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Nick Zangler 和 Stephens。

On some of the direct-to-consumer stuff. So the access of your local broadcast feed through direct-to-consumer assets, I think it's pretty new. I'm curious how the economics work between Gray and the networks when your local feed is made available through an app like Paramount Plus or Peacock. Are you basically just recognizing maybe a net retrans figure on the top line here? And is this a material piece of revenue contribution at the moment?

在一些直接面向消費者的東西上。因此，通過直接面向消費者的資產訪問您的本地廣播提要，我認為這是很新的。我很好奇，當您通過 Paramount Plus 或 Peacock 等應用程序提供本地提要時，Gray 和網絡之間的經濟效益如何。您基本上只是在此處的頂行識別可能是淨重傳數字嗎？這是目前的重要收入貢獻嗎？

It's Kevin. So on the first point, CBS -- our CBS signals were available on the CBS All Access app from day 1. We actually beta tested CBS All Access with the O&Os as a company, and we launched CCL access out of the gate. Every station we acquired that was not on even in a little tiny markets we put on CBS All Access. So just to be clear, the direct-to-consumer piece is not really new for us. The CBS All Access has been a part of our distribution for some time. Obviously, that was rebranded as Paramount Plus (inaudible).

是凱文。所以關於第一點，CBS——我們的 CBS 信號從第一天開始就可以在 CBS All Access 應用程序上使用。我們實際上與 O&O 作為一家公司對 CBS All Access 進行了 Beta 測試，並且我們推出了 CCL 訪問。我們收購的每一個電台，即使在我們放在 CBS All Access 上的小市場上也沒有。所以要明確一點，直接面向消費者的產品對我們來說並不是什麼新鮮事物。一段時間以來，CBS All Access 一直是我們發行的一部分。顯然，它已更名為 Paramount Plus（聽不清）。

Peacock, sort of adding the local affiliates late last year. And the revenue on both this -- the affiliate boards negotiated a price per sub per month. That is a fee that is paid by CBS or NBC, respectively, based on the number of subs in the respective markets for each station. Revenue comes into us as retransmission revenue. There's no offset of additional expense against it. Those dollars would drop to the net retrans line. And they're not -- the Peacock again, it just added signals to late December. So I don't -- I couldn't even tell you what the subs are as we sit here just later.

孔雀，去年年底增加了當地的分支機構。以及這兩者的收入——附屬委員會協商了每個訂閱者每月的價格。這是 CBS 或 NBC 分別根據每個電視台各自市場的訂閱者數量支付的費用。收入作為轉播收入進入我們。沒有抵消額外費用。這些美元將下降到淨重傳線。他們不是——又是孔雀，它只是在 12 月下旬增加了信號。所以我不——我什至不能告訴你潛艇是什麼，因為我們稍後會坐在這裡。

Got it. Okay. No, that's fair. And then on -- I did want to ask about the total guidance for the year. Obviously, I hear you guys $3.3 billion in total for total revenues. Political upside would occur if the presidential election campaign starts to roll in early. So we could potentially see upside in that segment later on in the year.

知道了。好的。不，這很公平。然後 - 我確實想問一下今年的總體指導。顯然，我聽說你們總收入為 33 億美元。如果總統競選活動提前開始，政治上的好處就會出現。因此，我們可能會在今年晚些時候看到該細分市場的上漲空間。

And then when we talk about the core assumption for the year, if you exclude the political displacement that you saw in 2022, does that guide assume basically year-over-year growth in advertising in the core into 2023? And then also, it sounds like, even in the press release, you referred to maybe like a recessionary environment in 2023. Is that your underlying assumption when you make that guide? And so obviously, if things continue to show improvement, naturally, you'd get upside to the core revenue piece for 2023 relative to your expectations currently.

然後，當我們談論今年的核心假設時，如果您排除 2022 年看到的政治流離失所，該指南是否假設核心廣告在 2023 年基本同比增長？然後，聽起來，即使在新聞稿中，你也提到了 2023 年的經濟衰退環境。這是你制定該指南時的基本假設嗎？很明顯，如果情況繼續有所改善，那麼相對於您目前的預期，您自然會在 2023 年獲得核心收入。

So first, you are correct. There is potential upside in the political number from early primary money later this year. We saw that in the 2020 cycle. We saw that in the every -- basically every cycle for the last several years. Several cycles, we've seen early primary money. But we have not baked that into the guide. Hopefully, that's good news and upside we can talk about a couple of phone calls from now.

所以首先，你是對的。今年晚些時候早期主要資金的政治數字有潛在的上升空間。我們在 2020 年的周期中看到了這一點。我們在過去幾年的每個 - 基本上每個週期中都看到了這一點。幾個週期，我們已經看到了早期的原始資金。但我們尚未將其納入指南。希望這是個好消息和好處，我們可以從現在開始談論幾個電話。

In the core, yes, you're -- we would expect some growth over and above the political displacement from last year. So I'd say we are pleased with where we're seeing core go in 2023. And no, we are not planning as a company for a recession. We read a lot of headlines like everybody else does. But as Bob commented a few minutes ago, when we dig down to our local business in all -- in our 113 local markets, we see good news at the start of the year, and we have no reason to think it won't continue.

在核心方面，是的，你是——我們預計除了去年的政治流離失所之外還會有一些增長。所以我想說我們對 2023 年核心業務的發展方向感到滿意。不，作為一家公司，我們沒有計劃應對經濟衰退。我們像其他人一樣閱讀了很多頭條新聞。但正如鮑勃幾分鐘前評論的那樣，當我們深入研究我們的本地業務時——在我們的 113 個本地市場中，我們在年初看到了好消息，我們沒有理由認為它不會繼續下去.

Now if the macro changes, the macro changes. We can't control that. But as Bob said earlier, too, the focus has been creating new local direct business, and it was very successful last year, and the budgets for new local direct are even higher this year. So we're -- local is our bread and butter on core, and we're focused on it and working hard to bring in every dollar we can.

現在，如果宏發生變化，宏就會發生變化。我們無法控制。但正如 Bob 之前所說，重點一直在創造新的本地直銷業務，去年非常成功，今年新本地直銷的預算更高。所以我們 - 本地是我們的核心麵包和黃油，我們專注於它並努力工作，盡我們所能。

Got it. And did core -- just because I keep hearing this everywhere else, that December was very weak in the ad market, soft start to January and then improvement from there on out. Did core experience -- or I'm sorry, did local advertising experience like a similar cadence? Or was it just stronger altogether?

知道了。並且做了核心 - 只是因為我在其他地方一直聽到這個，廣告市場的 12 月非常疲軟，軟開始到 1 月，然後從那裡開始改善。核心體驗——或者我很抱歉，本地廣告體驗是否有類似的節奏？或者它只是更強大？

All in all -- it's Bob Smith again -- it's been pretty decent in December and carried over into the first of the year. As Jim mentioned, there's some political and Olympic dollars not returning in February. But other than that, again, we feel pretty good about the quarter and moving forward after that.

總而言之——又是 Bob Smith——12 月的表現相當不錯，並一直延續到今年的第一年。正如吉姆所提到的，2 月份有一些政治和奧運資金沒有返回。但除此之外，我們對本季度和之後的進展感覺非常好。

Our next question is going to come from Michael Kupinski with Noble Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Noble Capital Markets 的 Michael Kupinski。

Most of the questions on core have been answered, so I have another question here. You indicated that you plan to pause funding for the Atlanta Assembly project to evaluate opportunities. And I'm wondering if you could just talk a little bit about what options you might be considering there.

core上的大部分問題都已經回答了，所以我這裡還有一個問題。您表示您計劃暫停為 Atlanta Assembly 項目提供資金以評估機會。我想知道你是否可以談談你可能會考慮的選項。

Well, I mean, I kind of hate to put on a public record of what options we're considering. We've got -- we have 80 acres over there, and we're pausing this and there's some macroeconomic concern about real estate and what's going on out there. So we're just taking a break. Our focus is on building studios and we just about have all those have all those built.

好吧，我的意思是，我有點討厭公開記錄我們正在考慮的選項。我們有——我們在那裡有 80 英畝土地，我們正在暫停，對房地產和那裡正在發生的事情存在一些宏觀經濟擔憂。所以我們只是休息一下。我們的重點是建造工作室，我們幾乎已經建造了所有這些工作室。

And our next question is going to come from Steven Cahall with Wells Fargo.

我們的下一個問題將來自富國銀行的 Steven Cahall。

Maybe Kevin, a couple for you. So you talked about the trailing industry sub trends that you've seen. Kind of on our numbers, it looks like the industry subs are down about 6% for '22. So do you think that you'll catch up to that over time? Do you plan the business around something like that? Or do you think that there is something a bit more structural about your rural exposure, that means that you're not going to revert to that trend and you'll continue to perform better over the next year or so?

也許凱文，一對適合你的人。所以你談到了你所看到的落後行業子趨勢。從我們的數據來看，22 年的行業訂閱量似乎下降了約 6%。那麼你認為隨著時間的推移你會趕上那個嗎？你會圍繞這樣的事情來規劃業務嗎？還是您認為您在農村的經歷更具結構性，這意味著您不會恢復到那種趨勢，並且在未來一年左右的時間裡您會繼續表現更好？

I would say it's kind of right down the middle, Steven. At some point, we will likely revert to the mean, but it's not going to be over the next year. We have been trailing straight for at least 7 years now, 8 years. I don't see why that would suddenly reverse in 1 year and we'd revert to the mean.

我會說它有點正中間，史蒂文。在某個時候，我們可能會回歸均值，但不會在明年結束。我們一直落後至少 7 年，8 年。我不明白為什麼這會在 1 年內突然逆轉，我們會恢復到均值。

So -- but we're -- I don't have any insight beyond kind of what we've seen. And as I said, third quarter was actually better than the second quarter shock. And the fourth quarter is so far coming in even better. So I'm feeling good about retrans and feeling subs and, certainly, as we're going through these repricings, feeling really good about the environment, for Gray, the value of Gray signals.

所以——但我們——除了我們所看到的，我沒有任何洞察力。正如我所說，第三季度實際上比第二季度的衝擊要好。到目前為止，第四季度的表現甚至更好。所以我對重新傳輸和感覺潛艇感覺很好，當然，當我們經歷這些重新定價時，對環境感覺非常好，對於灰色，灰色信號的價值。

Great. And then another one, Kevin, just on the VMVPD issues and the Fubo deal, we've heard you and a few of your peers kind of talk about the unfairness of the industry and the ability to negotiate directly with VMVPDs. What is the mechanism that moves that into place? It doesn't sound like this is really an FCC issue. It sounds like it's an affiliate to national network issue. So when you think about your relationships with the national networks, what kind of is the function by which you think they might change the nature of those arrangements so that you can negotiate directly?

偉大的。然後是另一個人，凱文，關於 VMVPD 問題和 Fubo 交易，我們聽到您和您的一些同行談論行業的不公平以及直接與 VMVPD 談判的能力。將其移動到位的機制是什麼？這聽起來不像是真正的 FCC 問題。這聽起來像是國家網絡問題的附屬機構。所以當你考慮你與國家網絡的關係時，你認為它們可能改變這些安排的性質以便你可以直接談判的功能是什麼？

I guess I would answer by saying all 4 of the network affiliate boards have been having active discussions with the networks about the (inaudible) of the negotiating with the virtual providers instead of the affiliates. And we are attempting to work out a private negotiation -- privately negotiated improvements or resolution of this issue, but it's an issue that animates all 4 affiliate boards and all the affiliate groups. So we are actively working, all of us, for quite some time now to reach a more equitable arrangement with the network.

我想我會回答說所有 4 個網絡附屬委員會一直在與網絡積極討論與虛擬提供商而不是附屬機構進行談判的（聽不清）。我們正在嘗試進行私下談判——私下協商改進或解決此問題，但這是一個讓所有 4 個附屬委員會和所有附屬團體都充滿活力的問題。因此，我們所有人都在積極努力一段時間，以便與網絡達成更公平的安排。

Yes. And then, Jim, thanks for the free cash flow number. And then should we just think about cash available for debt paydown? Is the free cash less what you talked to is assembly CapEx and then less the dividends that you'll have for the year?

是的。然後，吉姆，感謝您提供自由現金流量。那麼我們是否應該只考慮可用於償還債務的現金？自由現金是否減去您所說的組裝資本支出，然後減去您今年將獲得的股息？

Yes. The way we define free cash flow wouldn't include the dividend or the Assembly investment. But as Hilton mentioned at the beginning of the call, I mean what free cash flow we have this year, the remaining part of the year, most of that will go towards debt reduction. It could be a little -- debt reduction could be a little higher depending on what -- especially fourth quarter political does, which is to be determined, right?

是的。我們定義自由現金流的方式不包括股息或大會投資。但正如希爾頓在電話會議開始時提到的那樣，我的意思是我們今年剩餘時間的自由現金流，其中大部分將用於減少債務。可能會有點——債務減少可能會高一點，具體取決於什麼——尤其是第四季度的政治行動，這有待確定，對嗎？

Obviously, we've got a strong year in '24 for further debt reduction. And I'll remind everybody that on -- next Wednesday, we're paying off $295 million of debt. In less than the last 12 months, we have paid down $610 million of debt. So I would say that $610 million within the last 12 months is a darn good start to what we promised everybody when we closed Meredith that we were going to be focused on bringing down our debt as fast as we could.

顯然，我們在 24 年取得了進一步削減債務的強勁表現。我會提醒大家，下週三，我們將償還 2.95 億美元的債務。在過去不到 12 個月的時間裡，我們已經償還了 6.1 億美元的債務。所以我想說，過去 12 個月內的 6.1 億美元是一個很好的開始，我們在關閉 Meredith 時向所有人承諾，我們將專注於盡快降低債務。

If I can just, Steven, just as we were only a little more than 100 days past the election, and we've only been enjoying this break from political as on TV. You may have seen -- the first presidential primary debate has already been scheduled. It's going to be this August in Milwaukee. So again, we're not making projections on primary -- presidential primary money, but Republican primaries will still be held in Iowa. We have a huge presence; New Hampshire, we have a very strong station; Nevada, where we own stations in both markets; in South Carolina, we have a very strong presence. And that campaign begins really officially with the first debate this August, so I mean a little 6 months from now. So enjoy the quiet now, but the political season is going to be upon us before you know it.

如果我可以的話，史蒂文，就像我們距離選舉只剩 100 多天了，我們只是像在電視上一樣享受政治的休息。你可能已經看到——第一場總統初選辯論已經安排好了。這將是今年八月在密爾沃基舉行。再說一次，我們不會對初選——總統初選的資金做出預測，但共和黨初選仍將在愛荷華州舉行。我們的影響力很大；新罕布什爾州，我們有一個非常強大的站；內華達州，我們在兩個市場都擁有站點；在南卡羅來納州，我們的影響力非常大。這場競選從今年 8 月的第一次辯論正式開始，所以我的意思是從現在開始還有 6 個月。所以享受現在的安靜，但政治季節將在你不知不覺中降臨。

Absolutely. Steven, let me add one other thing to your initial question. Just please understand that as a matter of just basic law and common sense, no other company has a right to negotiate on behalf of my company without our consent. That's just common. Now I have no intention of negotiating in public or criticizing anyone anywhere. The negotiations in the past, everyone agreed to. And so they were handled that way.

絕對地。史蒂文，讓我在你最初的問題中再補充一件事。請理解，根據基本法和常識，未經我們同意，任何其他公司都無權代表我公司進行談判。這很常見。現在我無意在公開場合談判或在任何地方批評任何人。談判過去，大家都同意了。所以他們就是這樣處理的。

The affiliate groups will, at times, change. And I will refer you to our friend, Chris Ripley, who, in his earning call, I think, set out brilliant Sinclair's position, and I personally endorse his comments and the way he articulated it. I picked it up through a Broadcasting & Cable article that covered some of those issues. And that's where Gray stands as well. I'm very hopeful that we can work out something with all of the networks, but we consented to where it has been. We will not be consenting going forward.

附屬團體有時會發生變化。我會向您介紹我們的朋友克里斯·里普利 (Chris Ripley)，我認為他在他的盈利電話會議中闡述了辛克萊的出色立場，我個人讚同他的評論和表達方式。我通過一篇涵蓋其中一些問題的 Broadcasting & Cable 文章了解了它。這也是格雷的立場。我非常希望我們可以與所有網絡一起解決問題，但我們同意它的位置。我們不會同意前進。

And there are no more people in queue.

而且排隊的人也沒有了。

All right. Well, everyone, thank you very, very much for joining us today. We're very excited about what we did in 2022 and we really are actually quite excited about 2023. We are not seeing signs of the much heralded recession. We're actually seeing a lot of robustness in Main Street throughout our 113 markets, and we see no regional dips, it seems to be, across the board. So we entered 2023 with a great deal of optimism and look forward to talking to you with regard to our first quarter of this year. Thank you.

好的。好吧，大家，非常非常感謝你們今天加入我們。我們對我們在 2022 年所做的事情感到非常興奮，我們真的對 2023 年感到非常興奮。我們沒有看到預示著經濟衰退的跡象。實際上，在我們的 113 個市場中，我們在大街上看到了很多穩健性，而且我們似乎沒有看到區域性下跌，似乎是全面下跌。因此，我們以非常樂觀的態度進入 2023 年，並期待與您討論今年第一季度的情況。謝謝。

Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。