Gray Communications Systems, Inc. ("Gray") is a 101-year old communications company headquartered in Albany, Georgia. Gray's class A and class B common stocks are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols "GCS" and "GCS.B", respectively. In 1997, Bull Run increased its ownership in Gray to 17.0% of Gray's total outstanding common stock, representing 27.6% of the voting power.
Gray operates eight television stations - WKYT-TV, the CBS affiliate in Lexington, Kentucky; WYMT-TV, a CBS affiliate in Hazard, Kentucky, acquired by Gray along with WKYT-TV in 1994; WRDW-TV, a CBS affiliate in Augusta, Georgia, acquired in 1996; WCTV-TV, a CBS affiliate, in the Tallahassee, Florida / Thomasville, Georgia market, acquired in 1996; WVLT-TV (formerly, WKXT-TV), a CBS affiliate in Knoxville, Tennessee acquired with WCTV-TV in 1996; WALB-TV, an NBC affiliate established over 40 years ago, in Albany, Georgia; WJHG-TV, an NBC affiliate in the Panama City, Florida market; and, WITN-TV, an NBC affiliate in the Greenville-Washington-New Bern, North Carolina market, acquired in 1997. Six of the eight stations are currently the highest ranked station in their markets.
Gray also operates three daily newspapers - The Albany Herald, established in 1897, a Southwest Georgia daily newspaper having a daily circulation of approximately 32,000 and approximately 37,000 on Sundays; The Rockdale Citizen, acquired by Gray in 1994, a Conyers, Georgia daily newspaper established in 1953, having a circulation of approximately 10,000; and, the Gwinnett Daily Post, acquired by Gray in 1995, a daily newspaper in Lawrenceville, Georgia having a circulation of 64,000 in the fast growing Gwinnett County market. In addition, Gray publishes advertising weekly shoppers in Southwest Georgia and North Florida, having a total circulation of 55,000.
Gray also operates two businesses acquired in 1996, Satellite & Production Services in Tallahassee, and PortaPhone Paging, a communications and paging business in the Southeast, and one acquired in 1997, GulfLink Communications, Inc., a transportable satellite uplink business, headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Satellite & Production Services and GulfLink operate under the name Lynqx Communications.
In February 1998, Gray executed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Busse Broadcasting Corporation, owner and operator of CBS-affiliates KOLN-TV, the Lincoln-Hastings-Kearney, Nebraska market leader; its satellite station, KGIN-TV in Grand Island, Nebraska; and NBC-affiliate WEAU-TV, the Eau Claire-La Crosse, Wisconsin market leader.