Who is Gray Television? And how did it land that big debate?

Last night, in a major coup, the Georgia-based Gray Television became the only television station group in Minnesota to broadcast a Minnesota governor's debate this year. The other debate will be on Minnesota Public Radio.

So how did Gray Television end up with such a catch? It's easy, the company owns television stations in every television market that covers Minnesota — except the Twin Cities.

The company owns KEYC in Mankato, KTTC in Rochester, KBJR in Duluth, KVLY in Fargo and KSFY in Sioux Falls, S.D. It even owns more than one major television affiliate in each market and even own television stations in other nearby border markets such as Eau Claire, Wis., and Sioux City, Iowa.

So how did that happen?

Gray is one of three television companies, along with Sinclair broadcasting and Nexstar Media Group, that have been purchasing stations all over the country over the past 25 years.

Essentially, these firms were able to increase their presence by buying what used to be considered undesirable stations in smaller television markets and UHF stations that were aligned with more minor television affiliates in bigger television markets.

Sinclair owns WUCW in the Twin Cities and Nexstar owns stations in Sioux Falls, Eau Claire, La Crosse and Sioux City.

Over time, these networks began to work on obtaining stations in higher tier markets. Sinclair picked up stations in Seattle and Washington, D.C. Nexstar bought up the Tribune broadcasting company after a deal with Sinclair fell through and now owns stations in almost every major market across the country.

And Gray? It recently purchased Raycom and Meredith TV groups which added stations in Cleveland, St. Louis, Charlotte, Atlanta and Phoenix.

As for Minnesota, Gray made two key purchases in the past four years. First, it purchased the stations from the United Communications Corporations, which owned KEYC in Mankato. Then, it purchased stations from Quincy Media which owned stations in Duluth and Rochester. Gray has owned stations in Fargo and Sioux Falls since 2013 and in Eau Claire since 1998.

Is it right for one company to own so many stations in one region (and control so many newscasts as a result)? There are FCC guidelines about concentration, which is why Tribune was never bought by Sinclair. However, loopholes have made it possible for such companies to add more station affiliations in a market, too.

Still, the fact that Gray got a Minnesota gubernatorial debate proves that Gray is trusted enough so the candidates on both sides believe it will provide a fair and unbiased debate. Democrats usually refuse debates conducted by Hubbard Broadcasting, which owns three stations in three markets in Minnesota in Rochester/Austin, Duluth and the Twin Cities, as the Hubbard family has been known to donate large amounts of money to Republican candidates.

It also helps Gray's cause that it owns the only major TV station in Mankato, where incumbent Gov. Tim Walz has been based.

It is unknown whether Gray will eventually purchase a station in the Twin Cities. That market has been more stable as two of the four major stations are "owned and operated" stations which means they are owned by their broadcasting networks outright, with CBS owning WCCO and Fox owning KMSP. KSTP is owned by the aforementioned Hubbard company, while KARE (owned by the Tegna Company) is currently being purchased by Standard Media after Gray backed out of purchasing the station group.

Still, Gray has become a powerful media and news presence in Minnesota. While mostly unnoticed until now, after getting the rights to broadcast the gubernatorial debate, it may not go unnoticed much longer in Minnesota's political circles.

William Cory Labovitch is a political activist who lives in South St. Paul.