E. W. Scripps Company

Last updated

The E. W. Scripps Company
Company type Public
  • Nasdaq:  SSP (Class A) (1988–1991; 2018–present)
  • NYSE: SSP (1991–2018)
Industry Broadcast television
FoundedNovember 2, 1878;146 years ago (November 2, 1878) (as the Penny Press ) in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Founder Edward W. Scripps
Headquarters Scripps Center, ,
U.S.
Key people
RevenueDecrease2.svg US$2.29 billion (2023)
Decrease2.svgUS$−753 million (2023)
Decrease2.svgUS$−948 million (2023)
Total assets Decrease2.svgUS$5.41 billion (2023)
Total equity Decrease2.svgUS$1.16 billion (2023)
Number of employees
c.5,200 (2023)
Divisions
Website scripps.com
Footnotes /references
[1]

The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is headquartered at the Scripps Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. [2] Its corporate motto is "Give light and the people will find their own way", which is symbolized by the media empire's longtime lighthouse logo. [3] In terms of market reach, Scripps is the second largest operator of ABC affiliates, behind the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and ahead of Hearst Television and Tegna. Scripps also owns a number of free-to-air multi-genre digital subchannel multicast networks through its Scripps Networks division, including the Ion Television network and Scripps News.

Contents

The company started out in the newspaper business, expanding into radio in the mid-1930s and television in the mid-1940s. It sold off its newspaper holdings in 2014 and exited radio in 2018.

History

19th century

The E. W. Scripps Company was a newspaper company founded on November 2, 1878, when Edward Willis Scripps published the first issue of the Cleveland Penny Press . [4]

In 1894, Scripps and his half-brother, George H. Scripps, organized their various papers into the first modern newspaper chain. In July 1895, it was named the Scripps-McRae League to reflect the leadership of Cincinnati Post general manager Milton A. McRae, a longtime partner. [5] [6] The company expanded during the decade to publish newspapers in California, Denver, Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, and elsewhere. [4]

20th century

In early November 1922, the Scripps-McRae League was renamed Scripps-Howard Newspapers to recognize company executive Roy W. Howard. [7] On November 23, the E. W. Scripps Company was incorporated and placed in trust for Scripps' children and grandchildren. [8] The company's shares were divided into two types: Class A Common Shares, which were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and common voting shares, which were not publicly traded and elected a majority of the company's directors (a number of media companies, including the New York Times Company and the Washington Post organization, are governed by this system so that the descendants of the company's founders can keep control of the company). [9] E. W. Scripps died in 1926.

On June 2, 1902, Scripps founded the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), based in Cleveland, Ohio, as a news report service for different Scripps-owned newspapers. It started selling content to non-Scripps owned newspapers in 1907, and by 1909, it became a more general syndicate, offering comics, pictures and features as well. It moved from Cleveland to Chicago in 1915, with an office in San Francisco. NEA rapidly grew and delivered content to 400 newspapers in 1920 and about 700 in 1930. [10] Today, it is the oldest syndicate still in operation.

Scripps created the United Press news agency in 1907 by uniting three smaller syndicates and controlled it until a 1958 merger with William Randolph Hearst's smaller competing agency, INS, to form United Press International. With the Hearst Corporation as a minority partner, UPI continued under Scripps management until it was sold off in 1982. [11] [12] [13] [14] A separate wire service, the Scripps Howard News Service, operated for 96 years from 1917 to 2013. [15]

United Feature Syndicate was formed in 1919 as a division of UP to distribute editorial columns, features and comic strips, and became a dominant player in the syndication market in the fall of 1931 thanks to Scripps' acquisition of the New York World , which controlled the Pulitzer company's syndication arms, Press Publishing Co. and World Feature Service. [16] [17] [18] [15] In May 1978, Scripps merged United Feature Syndicate and Newspaper Enterprise Association to form United Media Enterprises. [19] [20]

The company expanded its newspaper holdings throughout the pre-World War II period, acquiring many titles and merging them, including the Rocky Mountain News and Knoxville News-Sentinel . A trickle of closures and sales occurred over the next few decades. In 1966, Scripps' New York World-Telegram was merged into the New York World Journal Tribune , which closed in 1967. Papers in Indianapolis, Washington, Houston and Fort Worth were closed in the 1960s and 1970s, and the former flagship Cleveland Press was sold in 1980. Scripps also closed properties in Memphis, Columbus, Thousand Oaks and El Paso throughout the 1980s and 1990s, while selling the Pittsburgh Press in 1992.

In 1985, the company went into home video foray with its acquisition of Kartes Video Communications in an effort to expand the marketplace. [21] Two years later, Scripps Howard sold off Kartes Video Communications back to its founders, after an aborted deal where Scripps-Howard's acquisition of Hanes failed. [22]

In 1997, Scripps bought daily newspapers in the Texas cities of Abilene, Wichita Falls, San Angelo and Plano, plus the paper in Anderson, South Carolina, from Harte-Hanks Communications, along with 25 non-daily newspapers and San Antonio-based KENS-TV and KENS-AM. [23] The purchase price was to be between $605 and $775 million, depending on a federal ruling. [24] (Scripps eventually spun off all of its newspapers into Journal Media Group in 2015.)

Scripps made its first foray into broadcasting in 1935, forming a company called Continental Radio and buying radio stations WCPO in Cincinnati and WNOX in Knoxville. After the war, In 1947, Scripps opened its first television station, Cleveland-based WEWS-TV, with Memphis-based WMC-TV and Cincinnati-based WCPO-TV in subsequent years. [4] It now owns dozens of TV and radio stations. In the 1980s and 1990s, Scripps became a cable television provider and also developed programming for cable, notably SportSouth (currently Bally Sports South) in 1990 (in a joint venture with Turner Broadcasting and TCI), Food Network in 1993 and HGTV in 1994. (Scripps spun off its cable properties into Scripps Network Interactive in 2008.)

The company went public with an IPO in 1988 and was traded on the NASDAQ. [4] It owned 20 daily newspapers and 9 television stations at the time, and cable systems in 10 states. The company completed a new downtown Cincinnati headquarters, the 35-story high-rise Scripps Center, in 1990. [25] In 1991, Scripps transferred its shares to the New York Stock Exchange.

21st century

In October 2007, Scripps announced that it would separate into two publicly traded companies: The E. W. Scripps Company (newspapers, TV stations, licensing/syndication) and Scripps Networks Interactive (HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Cooking Channel (formerly known as Fine Living), Travel Channel and Great American Country). The transaction was completed on July 1, 2008.

After a test launch at WFTS-TV in 2009, Scripps television stations launched YouTube channels in 2010. These are similar to YouTube channels operated by Hearst Television and LIN Television.

On February 24, 2011, United Media struck a distribution deal with Universal Uclick (now known as Andrews McMeel Syndication) for syndication of the company's 150 comic strip and news features, which became effective on June 1 of that year. [26] [27] At that point, United Media, and by extension the Scripps Company, exited the syndication business. [28]

On September 12, 2011, Scripps partnered with Cox Media Group and Raycom Media to launch Right This Minute , a viral video program. On the same day, Scripps launched The List, a news magazine. Both were part of an approach for "homegrown" programming—programming created by Scripps. Raycom also launched America Now on the same day. The creator of RTM and The List applied this "homegrown" programming approach to Tegna in 2015, with the launch of T.D. Jakes . Scripps launched Let's Ask America in 2013 (now cancelled), partnering with Telepictures to do so, and Pickler and Ben in 2017.

On October 3, 2011, Scripps announced it was purchasing the television arm of McGraw-Hill for $212 million. [29] This purchase nearly doubled the number of Scripps stations to 19 with a combined reach of 13% of U.S. households. Upon the 2012 death of E. W. Scripps' grandson, Robert Scripps, the Edward W. Scripps Trust was dissolved and its stock divided among the surviving trustees. [9]

In December 2013, Scripps purchased Newsy for $35 Million. [30]

On July 30, 2014, Scripps and Journal Communications announced that the two companies would merge and spin-off their newspaper assets. [31] The deal created a broadcast group under the E. W. Scripps Company name and retaining the Cincinnati headquarters, and a newspaper company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, under the Journal Media Group name. [32] The FCC approved the deal on December 12, 2014, and it was approved by shareholders on March 11, 2015. [33] The merger and spinoff were completed on April 1, 2015. [34] [35] In turn, Journal Media Group was acquired by Gannett Company on April 8, 2016. Gannett had also shed their television and broadcast operations into a spin-off, Tegna, months after the Scripps-Journal merger.

In April 2016, Demand Media announced the sale of the humor/listicle website Cracked.com to E. W. Scripps. [36] In June, it acquired podcast service Stitcher from Deezer. [37]

On August 1, 2017, Scripps announced the purchase of Katz Broadcasting and its three networks plus Bounce which Katz operates, for $292 million, acquiring the other 95% of the company. [38] The purchase was completed on October 2, 2017. [39] On May 22, 2018, Scripps announced that it was changing its common stock listing back from the NYSE to Nasdaq, which occurred on June 4, 2018. [40]

Scripps newspapers

NameCityFounded inPurchased inFateDate
Cleveland Press Cleveland, Ohio 1880sold [lower-greek 1] 1980 [lower-alpha 1]
The Seattle Star Seattle, Washington 1899sold1920 [lower-alpha 2]
The Toledo News-Bee Toledo, Ohio 1903closed1938 [lower-greek 2]
The Day Book Chicago, Illinois 1911closed1917
Houston Press Houston, Texas 1911closed1964 [lower-greek 3]
The Washington Daily News Washington, D.C. 1921sold1972 [lower-greek 4]
Fort Worth Press Fort Worth, Texas 1921closed1975
The Cincinnati Post Cincinnati, Ohio 18811881closed [lower-alpha 3] 2007
Evansville Courier & Press Evansville, Indiana 18451906spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
Memphis Press-Scimitar Memphis, Tennessee 18801906closed1983
Indianapolis Times Indianapolis, Indiana 18881922closed1965
San Francisco News San Francisco, California 19031922merged1959 [lower-greek 6]
Youngstown Telegram Youngstown, Ohio 18851922closed1936 [lower-greek 7]
Pittsburgh Press Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 18841923sold1992 [lower-greek 8]
The Albuquerque Tribune Albuquerque, New Mexico 19221923closed2008
Rocky Mountain News Denver, Colorado 18591926closed2009
The Knoxville News-Sentinel Knoxville, Tennessee 18861926spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
New York World-Telegram New York City 18671927merged1966 [lower-greek 9]
El Paso Herald-Post El Paso, Texas 18811931closed1997
The Commercial Appeal Memphis, Tennessee 18411936spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
The Register-Pajaronian Watsonville, California 18681940sold [lower-greek 10] 1995
Birmingham Post-Herald Birmingham, Alabama 1850 [lower-alpha 4] 1950 [lower-alpha 5] closed2005
Columbus Citizen-Journal Columbus, Ohio 1899 [lower-alpha 6] 1959 [lower-alpha 7] closed1985
The Stuart News [lower-alpha 8] Stuart, Florida 19131965spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
Fullerton News Tribune Fullerton, California 18911973sold [lower-greek 11] 1987
The Jupiter Courier [lower-alpha 8] Jupiter, Florida 19571978spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015 [lower-alpha 9]
Naples Daily News Naples, Florida 19231986spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
Kitsap Sun Bremerton, Washington 19351986spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
Redding Record Searchlight Redding, California 19381986spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
Thousand Oaks News Chronicle Thousand Oaks, California 19531986merged1995 [lower-greek 12]
Ventura County Star Camarillo, California 19251992spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
Indian River Press Journal [lower-alpha 8] Vero Beach, Florida 19191996spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
Abilene Reporter-News Abilene, Texas 18811997spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
San Angelo Standard-Times San Angelo, Texas 18841997spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
The Daily Camera Boulder, Colorado 18901997sold [lower-greek 13] 2009
Times Record News Wichita Falls, Texas 19071997spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
The Gleaner Henderson, Kentucky 18832000spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
The St. Lucie News-Tribune [lower-alpha 8] Fort Pierce, Florida 19032000spun off [lower-greek 5] 2015
Colorado Daily Boulder, Colorado 18922005sold [lower-greek 13] 2009

Syndicates

The distribution rights to properties syndicated by United Media were outsourced to Universal Uclick in February 2011. While United Media effectively ceased to exist, Scripps still maintains copyrights and intellectual property rights. [26] [27]

Scripps also operated United Press International (United Press from its 1907 inception until a 1958 merger with Hearst's International News Service) until selling it off in 1982.

Broadcasting

Scripps' broadcast television stations division—also commonly known as Scripps Media or Scripps Howard Broadcasting, formerly Continental Radio, currently owns or operates 62 television stations in forty-three markets, with full-power and low-power stations as well as rebroadcaster, translator, repeater and satellite stations included. Among them, nineteen ABC affiliates, twelve CBS affiliates, eleven NBC affiliates, six Fox affiliates, one CW affiliate, three specialty network affiliated stations, one MyNetworkTV affiliate and five stations independent of any network affiliation.

History

1935–1947: Early history, radio era

The company was formed in 1935 when Scripps Howard made its foray into broadcasting by purchasing radio station WDBZ, renaming it WCPO after newspaper The Cincinnati Post . [42]

Later on, Scripps purchased radio station, WNOX from the Sterchi Brothers furniture chain. [43] [44] In 1936, The Commercial Appeal was purchased by the Scripps Howard newspaper chain, which included the WMC stations. [45] In 1937, the Memphis Press-Scimitar bought out WGBC from First Baptist Church of Memphis in 1937 and changed the letters to WMPS.

1947–1977: The television era

In 1947, Scripps expanded its broadcast holdings by opening its first television station, Cleveland-based WEWS-TV. This was followed in 1948 by Memphis-based WMC-TV and Cincinnati-based WCPO-TV in 1949. [4]

The company expanded its television holdings in 1961 by purchasing West Palm Beach station WPTV-TV from the Phipps family. It was followed nearly nine years later by its purchase of its Tulsa station KVOO-TV from Central Plains Enterprises. The sale received FCC approval on November 25, 1970, and was finalized the following month on December 31. [46] [47] On January 1, 1971, the day after the Scripps purchase was completed, the station changed its call letters to KTEW-TV (standing for "Tulsa E.W. Scripps", and also easily interpreted as sounding like the phoneticism for "two"). This change was made due to an FCC rule in effect at the time that banned TV and radio stations in the same market, but with different owners from sharing the same call letters. [48]

By 1963, the company has taken on its familiar name Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Company, and made it public. [49]

1977–1994: The independent expansion

In 1977, the company expanded its focus onto independent station territory by purchasing KBMA-TV in Kansas City from the Businessmen's Assurance Company of America, but in 1981 the station was renamed to KSHB-TV. Nearly seven years later, in 1984, after Edwin Cooperstein rebuffed a bid from Tribune Company, Scripps immediately purchased independent station, KNXV-TV in Phoenix. To make room for the sale, Scripps was required to divest itself of radio stations KMEO-AM-FM. [50]

Nearly one year later, Scripps purchased ABC station, WXYZ-TV in Detroit, and independent station WFTS-TV in Tampa Bay from Capital Cities Communications as part of a spin-off reorganization, after the FCC felt that the combination of Cap Cities and ABC exceeded the new ownership limit of 12 stations and the 25% national reach limit. [51] [52] On October 9, 1986, two of Scripps' stations in Phoenix and Kansas City became affiliates of the Fox Broadcasting Company television network. [53] A third independent station in Tampa Bay joined Fox in 1988 after WTOG-TV disaffiliated from the network. [54]

In 1988, the broadcasting division of the company started its own production company Scripps Howard Productions in order to produce and market television programs. [49]

From 1990 to 1995, Scripps was a partner in the regional sports network SportSouth, along with Turner Broadcasting and Tele-Communications, Inc.; in 1996 the network was sold to News Corporation and became Fox Sports South.

In the summer of 1990, Scripps bought out the NBC Baltimore affiliate WMAR-TV from Gillett Communications, but in February 1991 the transfer was canceled after Scripps accused Gillett of misreporting WMAR's financial statements. Gillett then took legal action against Scripps, [55] but both sides settled and the sale went forward. Scripps took control of the station in the spring of 1991. [56]

On July 19, 1993, Scripps sold WMC-AM-FM-TV to Atlanta businessman Bert Ellis and his new company, Ellis Communications. [57]

In 1994, Scripps acquired the Knoxville-based Cinetel Productions to serve as a production base for a new home lifestyle-oriented cable network, which would eventually launch in December as HGTV. Scripps later acquired a stake in the Food Network, and launched a spin-off of HGTV known as DIY Network. [58] [59] [60]

1994–2000: Realignments and change

On May 23, 1994, Fox purchased a 20 percent stake in New World Communications, owner of multiple long-tenured major-market CBS affiliates, in what was a $500 million investment. [61] In turn, 12 stations either owned by—or in the process of being purchased by—New World would switch network affiliations to Fox after existing contracts expired per-station. [62] [63] Three of the displaced Fox affiliates were owned by Scripps: KNXV-TV, WFTS-TV and KSHB-TV. [63] This prompted CBS to court Scripps for a deal with KNXV and WFTS, along with long-tenured ABC affiliates WXYZ-TV and WEWS-TV; a proposed deal also included CBS purchasing a minority stake in HGTV. [64] ABC's counteroffer to keep WEWS and WXYZ was met with a demand by Scripps that WMAR, WFTS and KNXV also link with ABC. [65] :16

The demand came at the expense of two equally long-standing ABC affiliates: WJZ-TV had been with the network since 1948 [66] while KTVK emerged in the 1980s as a market leader for local news, albeit family-owned and not part of a larger chain. [67] [68] ABC offered $25 million to Scripps to exclude KNXV, which was rejected in what ABC executive Bryce Rathbone stated as Scripps "[having] a gun to their head". [65] :16 Announced on June 15, 1994, the ABC-Scripps agreement included all three stations Scripps demanded join the network, along with WEWS and WXYZ. [69] [70] For WFTS, the announcement came with an expedited buildout of a news department, [71] with local newscasts debuting the day of their switch. [72] The other displaced Fox affiliate, KSHB, affiliated with NBC as a replacement for WDAF-TV. [73] ABC later signed an unrelated affiliation deal with WCPO-TV in September 1995, taking effect on June 3, 1996. [74]

In October 1995, Comcast announced the purchase of Scripps' cable provider operation. [75]

In 1997, Scripps bought daily newspapers in the Texas cities of Abilene, Wichita Falls, San Angelo and Plano, plus the paper in Anderson, S.C. from Harte-Hanks Communications, along with 25 non-daily newspapers and San Antonio-based KENS-TV and KENS. [23] The purchase price was to be between $605 and $775 million, depending on a federal ruling. [24] (Scripps eventually spun off all of its newspapers into Journal Media Group in 2015.)

In March 1996, KSHB owner Scripps Howard Broadcasting reached a deal to manage KMCI under a local marketing agreement. [76] That August, [77] KMCI then dropped much of its home shopping programming and rebranded as "38 Family Greats", with a family-oriented general entertainment format from 6:00 a.m. to midnight, with HSN programming being relegated to the overnight hours. The new KMCI lineup included an inventory of programs that KSHB owned but had not had time to air after it switched to NBC in 1994. [78]

Exercising an option from the 1996 pact with Miller, [76] Scripps bought KMCI outright for $14.6 million in 2000, forming a legal duopoly with KSHB. [79] In 1998, the company sold Scripps Howard Productions, and Cinetel Productions was renamed to Scripps Productions. [49]

2000–2008: The Shop at Home era

Scripps also previously owned the Shop at Home Network from 2000 until 2006. Shop at Home in turn owned five television stations, all as a division of its cable network division managed separately from the company's traditional commercial network affiliate stations.

Attempts to use Shop at Home as a complementary service to Food Network and HGTV by selling products connected to personalities of those networks were middling compared to competitors QVC and HSN. On May 22, 2006, Scripps announced that it was to cease operations of the network and intended to sell each of Shop at Home's five owned and operated television stations. [80] Jewelry Television eventually acquired Shop at Home, but Scripps still intended to sell its affiliated stations (Jewelry Television discontinued most Shop at Home operations in March 2008). On September 26, 2006, Scripps announced that it was selling its Shop at Home TV stations to New York City-based Multicultural Television for $170 million. [81]

2008–present: Scripps today

In October 2007, Scripps announced that it would separate into two publicly traded companies: The E. W. Scripps Company (newspapers, TV stations, licensing/syndication) and Scripps Networks Interactive (Cooking Channel (formerly known as Fine Living), DIY Network, Food Network, Great American Country, HGTV, and Travel Channel). The transaction was completed on July 1, 2008. [82]

After a test launch at WFTS-TV in 2009, Scripps television stations launched YouTube channels in 2010. These are similar to YouTube channels operated by Hearst Television and LIN Television.

Scripps was the recipient of the 2012 National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award. [83]

On October 3, 2011, Scripps announced it was purchasing all seven television stations owned by The McGraw-Hill Companies for $212 million; the sale is a result of McGraw-Hill's decision to exit the broadcasting industry to focus on its other core properties, including its publishing unit. [84] This deal was approved by the FTC on October 31 [85] and the FCC on November 29. [86] The deal was completed on December 30, 2011. [87]

On February 10, 2014, Scripps announced it has reached a deal to acquire Buffalo ABC affiliate WKBW-TV and Detroit MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYD for $110 million. [88] The sale was approved by the FCC on May 2, 2014, and was completed on June 16, 2014. This deal has created a duopoly between WMYD and ABC affiliate WXYZ-TV.

On July 30, 2014, Scripps and Journal Communications announced that the two companies would merge and spin-off their newspaper assets. [31] The deal created a broadcast group under the E. W. Scripps Company name and retaining the Cincinnati headquarters, and a newspaper company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, under the Journal Media Group name. [32] The FCC approved the deal on December 12, 2014, and it was approved by shareholders on March 11, 2015. [33] The merger and spinoff were completed on April 1, 2015. [34] [35] In turn, Journal Media Group was acquired by Gannett Company on April 8, 2016. Gannett had also shed their television and broadcast operations into a spin-off, Tegna, months after the Scripps-Journal merger.

On January 25, 2018, it was announced that Scripps had placed its radio station unit for sale. The divestiture of these stations – which were acquired through the company's 2015 acquisition of Journal Communications – would result in the separation of Scripps's television stations in Tulsa, Omaha, Milwaukee, Boise and Tucson from their co-owned radio clusters (in the case of Tulsa, KJRH-TV would be separated from KFAQ for the second time; the two stations, then using the shared KVOO callsign, were first split up in 1970, when Central Plains Enterprises sold the then-KVOO-TV to Scripps). [89] In June 2018, Griffin Communications reached a deal to buy the Scripps Tulsa radio cluster. The sale was completed on July 28, 2018. In July 2018, Good Karma Brands reached a deal to buy the Scripps Milwaukee radio cluster. The sale was completed on November 1, 2018.

On August 20, 2018, Scripps agreed to purchase ABC affiliates KXXV in Waco, Texas and satellite station KRHD-CD in Bryan, Texas and WTXL-TV in Tallahassee, Florida, which are being spun off from the Gray Television-Raycom Media merger in order to alleviate ownership conflicts involving Gray's ownership of CBS affiliate KWTX-TV and its semi-satellite KBTX-TV in the Waco market and CBS affiliate WCTV and Retro Television Network affiliate WFXU in the Tallahassee market. [90] [91]

On October 29, 2018, Cordillera Communications announced that it would sell all but one of its television stations to Scripps. KVOA in Tucson, Arizona is not included in the deal as Scripps already owns KGUN-TV and KWBA in that market, and Cordillera will concurrently sell KVOA to Quincy Media. [92] The FCC approved the sale on April 5, 2019, [93] and the sale was completed on May 1. [94]

On March 20, 2019, Scripps announced that it would acquire eight of the 21 (initially 19 [95] ) stations being divested as part of Nexstar Media Group's $580 million (USD) acquisition of Tribune Media. The Tribune stations include CBS affiliates WTKR in Norfolk and WTVR-TV in Richmond—both in Virginia, along with Fox affiliates KSTU in Salt Lake City, Utah and WXMI in Grand Rapids, Michigan and CW affiliates WPIX in New York City, WGNT in Norfolk, Virginia and WSFL-TV in Miami, Florida. The only Nexstar station being acquired is CW affiliate KASW in Phoenix, Arizona—which would create a duopoly with longtime Scripps-owned ABC affiliate KNXV-TV. Also, Nexstar has the option to buy WPIX back between March 31, 2020, and December 31, 2021. [96] [97] [98] The FCC approved the sale on September 16 with all of the transactions being completed on September 19. [99] [100] [101] [102] [103]

In July 2020, the company sold their Stitcher podcast service and assets to Sirius XM for $325 million. [104]

On September 22, 2020, the company announced it was buying KCDO-TV and KSBS-CD from Newsweb Corporation for $9.5 million, pending approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC); this would make them sister stations to ABC affiliate KMGH-TV. [105] For the time being, KCDO has moved Grit to its primary 3.1 subchannel. The sale was completed on November 20. [106]

On September 24, 2020, Scripps announced the acquisition of American media company Ion Media, including its networks, Ion Television, Ion Plus, Qubo, and Ion Shop (three removed a few months later) for $2.65 billion. [107]

Scripps finally completed its sale of WPIX to Mission Broadcasting on December 30, 2020, which will also allow the company to keep three of the Ion stations that were slated to be sold to a new company, Inyo Broadcast Holdings. The sales of WPPX-TV in Philadelphia, KKPX-TV in San Francisco and KPXM-TV in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota were contingent on whether or not the sale of WPIX would close and be finalized before Scripps completed its acquisition of Ion Media. [108] [109]

On October 2, 2024, E.W. Scripps Co. announced that it was laying off more than 200 people as it makes major cutbacks to its national news unit. [110]

Scripps Sports (2022–present)

Logo of Scripps Sports Scripps Sports Logo.webp
Logo of Scripps Sports

In late 2022, Scripps created an in-house sports division with the intent of offering its local stations or Ion to teams and leagues as an alternative to the fledgling regional sports network. [111] The division, eventually called Scripps Sports, announced on April 20, 2023, a deal with Ion and the WNBA for a broadcast package airing on Friday nights during the regular season, with "WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on Ion" featuring both national and regional telecasts. It marked the WNBA's first agreement with an over-the-air broadcast network other than ABC since 2002, the last year of NBC's tenure as the league's primary broadcast partner.

On May 4, 2023, Scripps Sports announced a deal with a professional sports franchise, the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, with ION affiliate KMCC serving as the flagship of a regional network of stations that would broadcast all non-exclusive regular-season games beginning with the 2023–24 season. KMCC also transferred its Ion Television programming to a subchannel and rebrand as an independent station, with KUPX-TV doing the same. Scripps also did not renew the affiliations with the CW on its second subchannels for its statewide Montana Television Network and converted them to independent stations to accommodate the broadcasts. [112]

On October 5, 2023, Scripps Sports announced a deal with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, with ABC affiliate KNXV's sub-channel Antenna TV (15.2) serving as the flagship network for all non-national exclusive games in the Phoenix market beginning with the 2023–24 season. The 2nd digital subchannel of KGUN-TV, in Tucson, as well as KUPX and the 2nd digital subchannel of KSTU, in Salt Lake City, also air Coyotes games. [113]

On July 2, Scripps Sports, the sports division of the E. W. Scripps Company, announced a deal with the Florida Panthers, which would put games over the air on WSFL-TV beginning in the 2024–25 season. [114]

Television stations

Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by city of license.

City of license / Market StationChannelOwned sinceAffiliation
AppletonGreen Bay, WI WACY-TV 322015 Independent
Archer LodgeRaleighDurham, NC WFPX-TV 622021 Scripps News
ArlingtonDallasFort Worth, TX KPXD-TV 682021 Ion
Bakersfield, CA KERO-TV 232011 ABC
Bakersfield, CA KZKC-LD [upper-alpha 1] 282011ABC
Baltimore, MD WMAR-TV 21991ABC
BellevueSeattleTacoma, WA KWPX-TV 332021Ion
Billings, MT KTVQ 22019
  • CBS
  • Independent
Boston, MA WBPX-TV 682021Ion
Bozeman, MT KBZK [upper-alpha 2] 72019
  • CBS
  • Independent
BradentonTampaSt. Petersburg, FL WXPX-TV 662021Ion
Brunswick, GAJacksonville, FL WPXC-TV 212021Ion
BryanCollege Station, TX KRHD-CD [upper-alpha 3] 402019 [lower-greek 14] ABC
Buffalo, NY WKBW-TV 72014ABC
Butte, MT KXLF-TV 42019
  • CBS
  • Independent
Cape CoralFort MyersNaples, FL WFTX-TV 362015Fox
Cedar RapidsWaterlooIowa City, IA KPXR-TV 482021Ion
CharlestonHuntington, WV WLPX-TV 292021Ion
Chicago, IL WCPX-TV 382021Ion
Cincinnati, OH WCPO-TV**91949ABC
ClevelandAkronCanton, OH WEWS-TV**51947ABC
Columbia, SC WZRB 472021Ion
ConcordManchester, NH WPXG-TV [upper-alpha 4] 212021Ion
ConroeHouston, TX KPXB-TV 492021Ion
Corpus Christi, TX KRIS-TV 62019 NBC
Corpus Christi, TX KZTV 102019 [lower-roman 1] CBS
Corpus Christi, TX K22JA-D 472019
Denver, CO KMGH-TV 72011ABC
Denver, CO KZCO-LD 7.22011 Ion Mystery
Denver, CO KSBS-CD [upper-alpha 5] 102020Independent
Detroit, MIWindsor, ON WXYZ-TV 71986 [lower-greek 15] ABC
Detroit, MIWindsor, ON WMYD 202014Independent
East St. Louis, ILSt. Louis, MO WRBU 462021Ion
FranklinNashville, TN WNPX-TV 282021Ion
Grand RapidsBattle CreekKalamazoo, MI WXMI 172019 [lower-greek 16] Fox
Great Falls, MT KRTV 32019
  • CBS
  • Independent
Great Falls, MT KTGF-LD [upper-alpha 6] 502019
  • NBC
  • Independent
Green Bay, WI WGBA-TV 262015NBC
GreenvilleNew Bern, NC WEPX-TV 382021Ion
Helena, MT KXLH-LD [upper-alpha 7] 92019CBS
Helena, MT KTVH-DT 122019
  • NBC
  • Independent
Indianapolis, IN WRTV 62011ABC
InglewoodLos Angeles, CA KILM 642021Scripps News
Jacksonville, NC WPXU-TV [upper-alpha 8] 352021Ion
JellicoKnoxville, TN WPXK-TV 542021Ion
Kalispell, MT KAJJ-CD [upper-alpha 9] 182019
  • CBS
  • Independent
Kansas City, MO KSHB-TV 411977NBC
KenoshaMilwaukee, WI WPXE-TV 552021Ion
Lafayette, LA KATC 32019ABC
Lansing, MI WSYM-TV 472015
Las Vegas, NV KTNV-TV 132015ABC
LaughlinLas Vegas, NV KMCC 342021
  • Independent
  • Ion
Lawrence, KSKansas City, MO KMCI-TV 382002Independent
LewistonPortland, ME WIPL 352021Ion
Lexington, KY WLEX-TV 182019NBC
LondonColumbus, OH WSFJ-TV 512021Scripps News
Manassas, VAWashington, DC WPXW-TV 662021Ion
Martinsburg, WVHagerstown, MD WWPX-TV [upper-alpha 10] 602021Ion
MelbourneOrlandoDaytona Beach, FL WOPX-TV 562021Ion
MiamiFort Lauderdale, FL WSFL-TV 392019 [lower-greek 16] Independent
MiamiFort Lauderdale, FL WPXM-TV 352021Ion
Milwaukee, WI WTMJ-TV 42015NBC
Missoula, MT KPAX-TV 82019
  • CBS
  • Independent
NampaBoise, ID KIVI-TV 62015ABC
Nashville, TN WTVF 52015CBS
New Orleans, LA WPXL-TV 492021Ion
New York City, NY WPXN-TV 312021Ion
NewportProvidence, RINew Bedford, MA WPXQ-TV 692021Ion
NewtonDes Moines, IA KFPX-TV 392021Ion
NorfolkVirginia Beach, VA WTKR 32019 [lower-greek 16] CBS
OkmulgeeTulsa, OK KTPX-TV 442021Ion
Omaha, NE KMTV-TV 32015CBS
Phoenix, AZ KNXV-TV 151985
  • ABC
Phoenix, AZ KASW 612019 [lower-greek 16] Independent
Pittsburgh, PA WINP-TV 162021Ion
PortsmouthNorfolkVirginia Beach, VA WGNT 272019 [lower-greek 16] Independent
ProvoSalt Lake City, UT KUPX-TV 162021
  • Independent
  • Ion
PuebloColorado Springs, CO KOAA-TV 52019NBC
Richmond, INDaytonSpringfield, OH WKOI-TV 432021Ion
Richmond, VA WTVR-TV 62019 [lower-greek 16] CBS
RoanokeLynchburg, VA WPXR-TV 382021Ion
Rocky MountRaleighDurham, NC WRPX-TV 472021Ion
RomeAtlanta, GA WPXA-TV 142021Ion
Sacramento, CA KSPX-TV 292021Ion
SalemPortland, OR KPXG-TV 222021Ion
Salt Lake City, UT KSTU 132019 [lower-greek 16] Fox
San BernardinoLos Angeles, CA KPXN-TV 302021Ion
San Diego, CA KGTV 102011ABC
San Diego, CA KZSD-LD [upper-alpha 11] 102011ABC
San JoseSan FranciscoOakland, CA KKPX-TV 652021Ion
San Luis ObispoSanta Barbara, CA KSBY 62019
  • NBC
  • Independent
ScrantonWilkes-Barre, PA WQPX-TV 642021Ion
Sierra Vista, AZ KWBA-TV 582015Independent
St. CloudMinneapolisSt. Paul, MN KPXM-TV 412021Ion
SterlingDenver, CO KCDO-TV 32020Independent
StuartWest Palm Beach, FL WHDT 92019Independent
Syracuse, NY WSPX-TV 562021Ion
Tallahassee, FL WTXL-TV 272019 [lower-greek 14] ABC
TampaSt. Petersburg, FL WFTS-TV 281986 [lower-greek 15] ABC
Tucson, AZ KGUN-TV 92015
  • ABC
  • Ion
Tulsa, OK KJRH-TV 21971NBC
Twin Falls, ID KSAW-LD [upper-alpha 12] 62015ABC
UvaldeSan Antonio, TX KPXL-TV 262021Ion
WacoTemple, TX KXXV 252019 [lower-greek 14] ABC
West Palm Beach, FL WPTV-TV 51961NBC
West Palm Beach, FL WFLX 292011 [lower-roman 2] Fox
Wilmington, DEPhiladelphia, PA WPPX-TV 612021Ion
Woburn, MA WDPX-TV 582021 Grit

Former stations

Television

Former general commercial stations
City of license / MarketStationChannelYears ownedCurrent status
Lansing, MI WHTV 182014–2017 [lower-roman 3] Defunct, went off-air in 2017
New York City, NY WPIX 112019–2020 [lower-greek 16] The CW affiliate owned by Mission Broadcasting [lower-roman 4]
Memphis, TN WMC-TV**51948–1993 NBC affiliate owned by Gray Television
San Antonio, TX KENS-TV 51997 [lower-roman 5] CBS affiliate owned by Tegna Inc.
Former Shop at Home owned-and-operated stations
City of license / MarketStationChannelYears ownedCurrent status
San Francisco, CA KCNS 382002–2006 ShopHQ station owned by WRNN-TV Associates
Bridgeport, CTNew York City, NY WSAH432002–2007 Story Television affiliate WZME, owned by Weigel Broadcasting
LawrenceBoston, MA WMFP 622002–2007 Shop LC station owned by WRNN-TV Associates
WilsonRaleighDurham, NC WRAY-TV 302002–2006 TCT owned and operated (O&O)
CantonCleveland, OH WOAC-TV672002–2006TCT owned and operated (O&O) WRLM on channel 47

Radio

  • (**) – Indicates station was built and signed on by Scripps.
AM StationFM Station
City of license / MarketStationYears ownedCurrent status
Baltimore, MD WBSB-FM 104.31980–1993 WZFT, owned by iHeartMedia
Boise, ID KJOT 105.12015–2018Owned by Lotus Communications
KQXR 100.32015–2018Owned by Lotus Communications
KRVB 94.92015–2018Owned by Lotus Communications
KTHI 107.12015–2018Owned by Lotus Communications
Cincinnati, OH WCPO 12301935–1966 WDBZ, owned by Urban One
WCPO-FM 105.1**1949–1966 WUBE-FM, owned by Hubbard Broadcasting
Cleveland, OH WEWS-FM 102.1**1947–1950Defunct, frequency currently used by WDOK
Knoxville, TN WNOX 9901935–1982 WNML, owned by Cumulus Media
WCYQ 100.32015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
WKHT 104.52015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
WNOX 93.12015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
WWST 102.12015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
Memphis, TN WMPS 6801937–1944 WMFS, owned by Audacy, Inc.
WMC 7901937–1993Owned by Audacy, Inc.
WMC-FM 99.7**1947–1993 WLFP, owned by Audacy, Inc.
Milwaukee, WI WTMJ 6202015–2018Owned by Good Karma Brands
WKTI 94.52015–2018Owned by Good Karma Brands
Omaha, NE KXSP 5902015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KEZO-FM 92.32015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KKCD 105.92015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KQCH 94.12015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KSRZ 104.52015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
Phoenix, AZ KMEO 7401980–1985 KIDR, owned by En Familia, Inc.
KMEO-FM 96.91980–1985 KMXP, owned by iHeartMedia
Portland, OR KUPL 13301981–1993Defunct, went off-air in 2021 as KKPZ
KUPL-FM 98.71981–1993Owned by Alpha Media
San Antonio, TX KENS 1160 [lower-roman 5] 1997 KRDY, owned by Relevant Radio
Springfield, MO KSGF 12602015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KSGF-FM 104.12015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KRVI 106.72015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KSPW 96.52015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KTTS-FM 94.72015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
Tucson, AZ KFFN 14902015–2018Owned by Lotus Communications
KMXZ-FM 94.92015–2018Owned by Lotus Communications
KQTH 104.12015–2018 KFLT-FM, owned by Family Life Broadcasting
KTGV 106.32015–2018Owned by Bustos Media
Tulsa, OK KFAQ 11702015–2018 KOTV, owned by Griffin Communications
KBEZ 92.92015–2018Owned by Griffin Communications
KHTT 106.92015–2018Owned by Griffin Communications
KVOO-FM 98.52015–2018Owned by Griffin Communications
KXBL 99.52015–2018Owned by Griffin Communications
Wichita, KS KFTI 10702015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KFDI-FM 101.32015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KFXJ 104.52015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KICT-FM 95.12015–2018Owned by SummitMedia
KYQQ 106.52015–2018Owned by SummitMedia

National Spelling Bee

Scripps also operates the national (US) spelling bee. The final competition is in Washington, DC, and it is broadcast on Ion Television and Bounce TV. Lower levels are organized by the school, then county and eventually to the final competition.

Notes

License ownership/operational agreements

  1. Owned by SagamoreHill Broadcasting.
  2. Owned by Gray Television.
  3. Owned by Venture Technologies Group.
  4. Operated by Nexstar Media Group.
  5. 1 2 Operated by the Belo Corporation.

Mergers and acquisitions

  1. Acquired by Joseph E. Cole.
  2. Assets acquired by The Toledo Blade .
  3. Assets acquired by The Houston Chronicle .
  4. Assets acquired by, and merged into, The Washington Star .
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Spun off to Journal Media Group.
  6. Merged into Hearst's San Francisco Call-Bulletin to form The News-Call Bulletin in 1959. Hearst acquired complete control in 1962 and merged it into the San Francisco Examiner in 1965.
  7. Assets acquired by the Youngstown Vindicator Printing Company and merged into The Vindicator.
  8. Assets acquired by Block Communications and merged into the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette .
  9. Merged into the New York Journal American and New York Herald Tribune to form the New York World Journal Tribune , jointly owned by Scripps, Hearst and John Hay Whitney. The World Journal Tribune folded on May 5, 1967.
  10. Acquired by News Media Corp.
  11. Acquired by Community Media Enterprises.
  12. Merged into the co-owned Ventura County Star with publication relocated to Camarillo, California.
  13. 1 2 Acquired by Media News Group.
  14. 1 2 3 Acquired as divestitures from the Gray TelevisionRaycom Media merger.
  15. 1 2 Acquired as divestitures from the Capital CitiesABC merger.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Acquired as divestitures from the Nexstar Media GroupTribune Broadcasting merger.

Satellites, semi-satellites and translators

  1. Translator of KERO.
  2. Satellite of KXLF.
  3. Semi-satellite of KXXV.
  4. Satellite of WBPX-TV.
  5. Satellite of KCDO-TV.
  6. Satellite of KTVH.
  7. Satellite of KRTV.
  8. Satellite of WEPX-TV.
  9. Satellite of KPAX.
  10. Satellite of WPXW-TV.
  11. Translator of KGTV.
  12. Semi-satellite of KIVI-TV.
  1. Closed on June 17, 1982.
  2. Closed on August 13, 1947.
  3. The paper's Covington, Kentucky, edition converted to online-only as KyPost.com.
  4. The paper's roots trace back to the Elyton Herald, founded 21 years before Birmingham's incorporation as a city.
  5. Merged with the Scripps-owned Birmingham Post in 1950.
  6. Also had roots in The Ohio State Journal, which was founded in 1814.
  7. Merged with the Scripps-owned Columbus Citizen in 1959.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Part of Treasure Coast Newspapers.
  9. Closed on April 25, 2019.

See also

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