News executives at Nexstar, E.W. Scripps, Sinclair, Fox Television Stations and ABC Owned Stations told a TVNewsCheck panel last week that collaborating more frequently between stations and their national news products is yielding important lessons about people and tech, not to mention better quality news.
Scripps’ Katz Buy Puts Diginets On The Map
The $302 million purchase of Bounce, Grit, Escape and Laff is “an authentication of the entire multicasting business,” which has needed a feel-good story. The deal also confirms Scripps’ willingness to take some chances in a TV station industry that has been more about consolidation than innovation.
After meeting with Scripps’ top manager yesterday, Marci Ryvicker and her team of Wells Fargo analysts sounded all positive notes in a report to clients. “We get the sense that business is trending better than the market would suggest,” they say.
Mary McCabe Peirce, 68, a great-granddaughter of the company’s founder, will retire from the E.W. Scripps Co.’s board of directors when her term expires in May. Peirce has served as […]
Both Scripps and Journal shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 25 will receive shares in Journal Media Group, the independent newspaper company created by the spin-offs, payable upon the closing of the transactions. On the expected closing date of April 1, Scripps and Journal will simultaneously spin off and merge their newspaper operations to form Journal Media Group and immediately thereafter merge their broadcast operations, making Scripps the fifth-largest independent TV station owner.
Station Sales: Slow, But Big Deals Possible
Despite speed bumps from the FCC (plans to kill JSAs and SSAs) and Aereo, many industry observers think the station trading market will heat up, with speculation that possible players include not only the usual suspects (Sinclair and Nexstar) but also Post-Newsweek, LIN, Meredith, Media General, Raycom and Sunbeam.
Exclusives
First-run strips Let’s Ask America and The List, which debuted this week, are averaging a 1.9/4 and a 2.5/5, respectively, among metered market households, but are still down from lead-ins and year-ago time period averages.
The $212 million that Scripps agreed to pay McGraw-Hill for its station group justifies higher valuations for other stations groups like Belo and Sinclair, says Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker.
Scripps TV Revenue Up 3% In 2nd Quarter
Excluding political advertising, revenue was up 8.1%. The company says it received the last of its network compensation in the quarter and is now paying reverse compensation — “licensing fees” — to NBC and ABC. The company’s larger newspaper division dragged down overall results. Overall, company revenue sank 3%.
McGraw-Hill Sale Could Fetch $200 Million
McGraw-Hill has begun shopping its four-station group and is said to be drawing interest from the likes of Nexstar, Meredith and Belo. Based on its financials for 2010 and 2011, the group is worth between $150 million and $200 million, although bidding and the expection of big revenue gains from political advertising in 2012 could push the number higher.
