• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, December 15, 2008

Gray Television, the mid-sized station group that has seen its stock crater to the point that it could be delisted, said it has agreements in principle with a slew of cable operators to receive retransmission consent payments in 2009.

Investors have shown an interest in how successful Gray and other station operators are in retrans negotiations. But in a sign that the struggling ad marketplace is an overarching concern, Gray's stock dove 11% in midday trading after the Monday announcement.

The retrans agreements are with 20 large cable operators, affecting 2.4 million in-market cable subscribers--meaning that Gray is expected to have inked new deals this year to receive compensation from cable and satellite operators covering 75% of its footprint. Gray estimates the deals will bring in $8.4 million of retrans revenue in 2009.

Gray--which operates 36 stations in 30 markets, such as Omaha and Knoxville, Tenn.--had made previous 2008 deals with Dish Network and Cox.

Gray's stock has fallen to some 40 cents a share from a 52-week high of more than $9.50.

In November, Gray said the New York Stock Exchange notified it that it could be delisted because its share price had dropped below a $1 threshold. Gray has until almost mid-2009 to raise its price.

Under the retrans deals, it is possible that in addition to receiving cash from operators, Gray may have secured lower channel placements for its burgeoning group of digital multicast channels.

On its conference call to discuss third-quarter results, COO Bob Prather said that it "is important for us to get as good a placement as possible for these digital channels. If you get placed way up high ... it is pretty tough to get people to find (you)."