Note 5 - Stockholders' Equity	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Notes to Financial Statements
Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]	5. Stockholders’ Equity We are authorized to issue 245 million shares in total of all classes of stock consisting of 25 million shares of Class A common stock, 200 million shares of common stock, and 20 million shares of “blank check” preferred stock for which our Board of Directors has the authority to determine the rights, powers, limitations and restrictions. The rights of our common stock and Class A common stock are identical, except that our Class A common stock has 10 votes per share and our common stock has one vote per share. Our common stock and Class A common stock are entitled to receive cash dividends if declared, on an equal per-share basis. For the three months ending March 31, 2020 and 2019, we did not declare or pay any common stock or Class A common stock dividends. On January 2, 2019, we issued 11.5 million shares of our common stock at a price of $14.74 per share, the closing price for our common stock on the last trading day preceding the transaction, to certain former shareholders of Raycom as part of the total consideration paid for the Raycom Merger. On November 5, 2019, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $150 million of our outstanding common stock or our Class A common stock prior to December 31, 2022 (the “2019 Repurchase Authorization”). The 2019 Repurchase Authorization superseded all prior repurchase authorizations. The 2019 Repurchase Authorization also prohibits the Company from purchasing shares directly from the Company’s officers, directors, or the Gray Television, Inc. Capital Accumulation Plan (the “401k Plan”). On December 15, 2019, we entered into an Issuer Repurchase Plan (the “2019 IRP”), under Rules 10B-18 and 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The purpose of the 2019 IRP is to facilitate the orderly repurchase of our common stock through the establishment of the parameters for repurchases of our shares. The number of shares and the timing of repurchases will depend on the market price of our common stock and certain other limits established in the 2019 IRP. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we purchased 500,923 shares of our common stock at an average purchase price of $11.39 per share under the 2019 IRP, for a total cost of approximately $6 million. As of March 31, 2020, approximately $123 million was available to repurchase shares of our common stock and/or Class A common stock under the 2019 Repurchase Authorization. Under our various employee benefit plans, we may, at our discretion, issue authorized and unissued shares, or previously issued shares held in treasury, of our Class A common stock or common stock. As of March 31, 2020, we had reserved 5,262,386 shares and 1,336,440 shares of our common stock and Class A common stock, respectively, for future issuance under various employee benefit plans. As of December 31, 2019, we had reserved 6,130,944 shares and 1,503,254 shares of our common stock and Class A common stock, respectively, for future issuance under various employee benefit plans.

Note 5 - Stockholders' Equity

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Stockholders' Equity Note Disclosure [Text Block]

5. Stockholders’ Equity

We are authorized to issue 245 million shares in total of all classes of stock consisting of 25 million shares of Class A common stock, 200 million shares of common stock, and 20 million shares of “blank check” preferred stock for which our Board of Directors has the authority to determine the rights, powers, limitations and restrictions. The rights of our common stock and Class A common stock are identical, except that our Class A common stock has 10 votes per share and our common stock has one vote per share. Our common stock and Class A common stock are entitled to receive cash dividends if declared, on an equal per-share basis. For the three months ending March 31, 2020 and 2019, we did not declare or pay any common stock or Class A common stock dividends.

On January 2, 2019, we issued 11.5 million shares of our common stock at a price of $14.74 per share, the closing price for our common stock on the last trading day preceding the transaction, to certain former shareholders of Raycom as part of the total consideration paid for the Raycom Merger.

On November 5, 2019, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to $150 million of our outstanding common stock or our Class A common stock prior to December 31, 2022 (the “2019 Repurchase Authorization”). The 2019 Repurchase Authorization superseded all prior repurchase authorizations. The 2019 Repurchase Authorization also prohibits the Company from purchasing shares directly from the Company’s officers, directors, or the Gray Television, Inc. Capital Accumulation Plan (the “401k Plan”).

On December 15, 2019, we entered into an Issuer Repurchase Plan (the “2019 IRP”), under Rules 10B-18 and 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The purpose of the 2019 IRP is to facilitate the orderly repurchase of our common stock through the establishment of the parameters for repurchases of our shares. The number of shares and the timing of repurchases will depend on the market price of our common stock and certain other limits established in the 2019 IRP. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we purchased 500,923 shares of our common stock at an average purchase price of $11.39 per share under the 2019 IRP, for a total cost of approximately $6 million. As of March 31, 2020, approximately $123 million was available to repurchase shares of our common stock and/or Class A common stock under the 2019 Repurchase Authorization.

Under our various employee benefit plans, we may, at our discretion, issue authorized and unissued shares, or previously issued shares held in treasury, of our Class A common stock or common stock. As of March 31, 2020, we had reserved 5,262,386 shares and 1,336,440 shares of our common stock and Class A common stock, respectively, for future issuance under various employee benefit plans. As of December 31, 2019, we had reserved 6,130,944 shares and 1,503,254 shares of our common stock and Class A common stock, respectively, for future issuance under various employee benefit plans.