Gray Television Announces Retirement of Regional Vice President and Names Five New General Managers

Gray Television Announces Retirement of Regional Vice President and Names Five New General Managers

ATLANTA, July 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Gray Television, Inc. ("Gray," "we," "us" or "our") (NYSE: GTN and GTN.A) today announced several management changes at its television stations.

Gray announced the long-planned retirement of industry leader Don Ray after more than 40 years in the broadcast industry. Don has served as a Regional Vice President since 2005 and as the General Manager of WSAZ-TV in Charleston/Huntington, West Virginia, since 1989. Under several different ownerships, including Lee Enterprises and Emmis Communications, Don worked his way up through the sales ranks at WSAZ-TV, starting as an Account Executive in 1973. He has held both National Sales Manager and General Sales Manager positions there. During his tenure, Don was named Director of Sales for Lee in 1999 and served as interim General Manager of WFTX in Fort Myers in 2005 for Emmis.

Gray Television President and CEO Hilton Howell said, "We will miss Don's first-rate leadership of one of our dominant flagship stations, as well as his stewardship of his entire region. Don is a true broadcaster in the finest sense, committed to serving each community he touched."

On August 1, Matt Jaquint will fill the General Manager position at WSAZ-TV. Don and Matt have been working closely on a smooth transition of leadership at the station since the spring, and Mr. Ray has agreed to remain with Gray Television for an additional period to complete that transition effort.

Matt Jaquint was most recently the General Manager at Newport Television's KTVX and KUCW in Salt Lake City, Utah, but he is familiar with both WSAZ and Gray Television. Matt led sales as General Sales Manager for WSAZ from 2002 to 2005, and he was General Manager of Gray's WNDU in South Bend, Indiana, from 2006 until 2008. He has also worked in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and El Paso, Texas markets.

In addition, Gray announced new leadership at those television stations whose managers were promoted earlier this week to corporate positions. In each case, Gray promoted existing managers with deep experience at those stations and in their communities. Mr. Howell explained, "With the appointment of four General Managers to Corporate positions earlier this week, we are happy to fill those vacancies from within Gray's large talent pool. Each new General Manager brings a unique skill set to match their specific markets."

Effective immediately, Gray has appointed the following new Vice Presidents and General Managers:


-- Don Vesely is now Vice President and General Manager of NBC affiliate
WMTV in Madison, Wisconsin. Don has been WMTV's General Sales Manager
since 2008. He began his career in television sales in Rockford,
Illinois in 1993, working for both the FOX and NBC stations in the
market. He moved to WMTV in Madison as an Account Executive in 2001,
and he became Local Sales Manager the following year.

-- Heather Peeples is now Vice President and General Manager of CBS
affiliate WCTV in Tallahassee, Florida. Heather has been the station's
General Sales Manager since 2007. She started in the broadcast industry
in 1989 at WTLH in Tallahassee. Heather spent six years as Account
Executive with the Quad Cities Radio Group in Davenport, Iowa, followed
in 1997 by various sales and promotional positions at WFLI-TV in
Chattanooga, Tennessee. Heather returned to Tallahassee in 1999 first
as an Account Executive, then Local Sales Manager, and finally General
Sales Manager.

-- Vic Richards is now Vice President and General Manager of NBC affiliate
WOWT in Omaha, Nebraska. Vic has been WOWT's Director of Creative and
Station Operations since 2012. He began his career at KOLN/KGIN in
Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1996 first in Production and then Creative
Services. He moved to WOWT in 1999, where he has held various positions
in promotion and operations and management.

-- Susan Ramsett-Kretz is now Vice President and General Manager of CBS
affiliate KOLN/KGIN and MY affiliate KSNB, all in the Lincoln, Nebraska
television market, and KNPL in North Platte, Nebraska. Sue most
recently served as Station Manager at the Lincoln operation. She began
her broadcast career in radio news and sales in 1986. Sue worked in
various news positions in the La Crosse- Eau Claire market at both WXOW
and WKBT, and as Promotions Manager at WLAX/WEUX beginning in 1995. She
was an Evening Anchor and News Director at Gray's WSAW-TV in Wausau,
Wisconsin, between 2001 and 2011, when she moved to Lincoln to become
News Director for KOLN/KGIN.
Mr. Howell said, "With the changes announced earlier this week and today, Gray Television is poised to lead the broadcast industry, by exploring new opportunities and building on our past success."

The Company

We are a television broadcast company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, that owns and operates television stations broadcasting 45 channels affiliated with one of the "Big 4 Networks" (ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC) and 41 additional channels of programming in 30 television markets. Twenty-one of our channels are affiliated with the CBS Network, eleven channels are affiliated with the NBC Network, eight channels are affiliated with the ABC Network and five channels are affiliated with the FOX Network. Our 21 CBS-affiliated channels make us the largest independent owner of CBS affiliates in the United States.

Within a market, our additional broadcast channels are generally affiliated with networks different from those affiliated with our "Big 4 Network" channels, and are operated by us to make better use of our broadcast spectrum by providing supplemental and/or alternative programming to our "Big 4 Network" channels. Certain of our additional channels are affiliated with more than one network simultaneously. Our additional channels are affiliated with networks such as "MyNetworkTV", the CW Network or the CW Plus Network, the MeTV Network, This TV Network, the Live Well Network, the Country Network and Antenna TV. We also broadcast eight local news/weather channels in certain of our existing markets. Our combined TV station group reaches approximately 6.2% of total United States households.

Website: www.gray.tv

SOURCE Gray Television, Inc.

Gray Television, Inc.

CONTACT: Hilton H. Howell, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, +1-404-266-5512

Web Site: http://www.gray.tv


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