E.W. Scripps

News, technology and media futurists from The Washington Post, NBCUniversal Local, E.W. Scripps, CBS News New York and Bitcentral frame out how they’re envisioning, testing and implementing changes to longstanding news conventions in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s NewsTECHForum event at the New York Hilton on Dec. 13. Register here.

Early on, it thought the mid-term elections would attract spending that would beat its record revenue in 2020’s presidential election. That didn’t quite happen, but CEO Adam Symson said, the company was still proud to post record political revenues for a mid-term election.

The increase to $378 million was powered by climbing political advertising and increased retransmission consent revenue. For the company as a whole, total 3Q revenue was $612 million, an increase of 10%, or $56.9 million.

The early consumer experience of NextGen TV has been hampered by government regulations that make it hard for viewers to differentiate the new services from the legacy ATSC 1.0 programming already delivered over-the-air, according to broadcasters. Capacity is tight for both the 3.0 and 1.0 broadcasts, and broadcasters are aggressively using video compression to make it all work. L-r: E.W. Scripps’ Kerry Oslund, Pearl TV’s Anne Schelle, Fincons Group’s Francesco Moretti and ATSC’s Madeleine Noland (Alyssa Wesley photo).

E.W. Scripps, TVNewsCheck’s Station Group of the Year, has made a big gamble with Newsy, its national news network (rebranding as Scripps News on Jan. 1, 2023) that made the leap from a digital pureplay to an OTA-distributed service. Its nonpartisan, boots-on-the-ground reporting approach may offer a path back to consumer trust for TV news. Above, Alex Livingston on set. This is the third installment of a three-part series. Part one appeared Monday here and part two ran on Tuesday here.

The E.W. Scripps Co., TVNewsCheck’s Station Group of the Year, has a seasoned journalist and “person of mission” in Adam Symson, its president and CEO. His long-term vision for a sustainable company and commitment to news percolates into nearly every facet of its operations. Above, Symson at a Newsy editorial meeting. This is the second installment of a three-part series. Part one appeared yesterday here and part three will appear on Wednesday.

The leadership and employees of The E.W. Scripps Co., TVNewsCheck’s 2022 Station Group of the Year, are guided by a devotion to impactful journalism and the long-term sustainability of the group. They’re not averse to bold moves and risks that will deliver it. This is the first installment of a three-part series. You can read part two here and part three here.

The International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP) has signed on its first U.S. client, E.W. Scripps. IBCAP will start providing anti-piracy protection to Scripps’s suite of channels comprising Bounce, Bounce XL, Court TV, Defy, Grit, Grit Xtra, Ion, Ion Mystery, Ion Plus, Laff, Newsy and True Real. IBCAP monitors channels offered over set-tops to shut down unauthorized use of their clients’ content.

The E.W. Scripps Co. said Thursday its Newsy brand would get a new name, Scripps News, under a newly formed national news division. Having just rebooted and widely expanded its distribution with OTA last October, is an overhaul in the offing once more for Newsy?

It will rebrand its Newsy network and combine it with the resources of the Scripps Washington Bureau and Local Media national news desk, to form a national news division.

DirecTV said it has added Bounce and Grit, two of E.W. Scripps’ digital multicast networks, to its satellite system, effective Thursday.

E.W. Scripps and Vizio said they made a deal that adds four Scripps channels to Vizio’s Watch Free Plus streaming platform. The agreement is the latest in the last few weeks that give the over-the-air Scripps networks–led by Ion and Bounce–carriage as free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels.

Jim Iovino has joined The E.W. Scripps Company to lead the new Google-backed Scripps Journalism Journey Initiative. The multiyear initiative is designed to transition experienced journalists with primarily print news backgrounds into video-driven news careers. Google has made a financial commitment to Scripps to underwrite the newly created program. (Photo: Jim Iovino, Scripps)

Executives from NBCUniversal, Fox Television Stations, E.W. Scripps, Gray Television and Estrella Media told a TVNewsCheck webinar last week they’ve needed to embrace a wide range of tools and tactics to grow audience and revenue for their streaming channels. Ubiquity and flexibility, they said, are key.

Leaders from E.W. Scripps, ATSC, the Pearl Group and Fincons Group will look at how station groups will balance content, marketing, tech and revenue needs for both their NextGen TV and OTT platforms in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s TV2025: Monetizing the Future conference at the NAB New York Show on Oct. 19. Register here.

Executives from Fox Corp., Sinclair, and E.W. Scripps will discuss how media companies are revamping their technology and building new workflows as a hedge against cybersecurity threats in a panel at TVNewsCheck’s Cybersecurity for Broadcasters Retreat at the NAB New York Show on Oct. 18. Register here.

E.W. Scripps has launched TheFreeTVProject.org, a website that promotes antenna TV, providing tips and information on what are the best types of TV antennas, available programming and even a chatbot. On a page titled “An antenna is the key to Free TV!” visitors can enter their ZIP code to find available free over the air channels in their area.

Political revenue for the Scripps TV stations was $24 million in the second quarter, dwarfing the $3.2 million booked a year earlier. Scripps President-CEO Adam Symson: “With well over $8 billion in the nationwide spending arena season, it should be clear that political revenue defies economic trends.”

The increase to $356 million was powered by climbing political advertising and increased retransmission consent revenue. For the company as a whole, total 2Q revenue was $594 million, an increase of 5.2%, or $29.4 million.

The new pact runs through 2027.

The E.W. Scripps Co. is laying down foundations for longevity on multiple fronts, cultivating a strong national TV networks strategy; investing deeply in both OTA and OTT platforms; leading groundbreaking work on NextGen TV and its potential applications beyond broadcast; and never wavering in its commitment to journalism as a core company value.

Executives from E.W. Scripps, Fox Television Stations, NBCUniversal Local and Cox Media Group told a TVNewsCheck webinar last week that hiring challenges are frustrating their efforts to swiftly build out robust streaming channels, but forays into automation and hub-and-spoke models are easing some of the pressure.

The veteran digital and news exec will be responsible for the overall digital and social media strategies for the E.W. Scripps news group.

TVNewsCheck’s Streaming News 2022 kicks off as a two-part webinar event on July 21 focusing on news programming for OTT and how its production can smoothly integrate into newsroom workflows. Executives from Cox Media Group, NBCUniversal Local, E.W. Scripps and Fox Television Stations will discuss how they’re tackling the platform. Register here.

While issues such as attribution, addressability and automation remain challenging, multimedia spot television campaigns are still about relationships and results, leaders from E.W. Scripps, Graham Media, Nexstar, dentsu X and Compulse told a TVNewsCheck webinar last week.

The Scripps Journalism Journey is a multi-year initiative to move experienced journalists with primarily print news backgrounds into broadcast news careers. Participants will be hired into full-time career positions in Scripps local and national media newsrooms. The program provides mid-career transitions into video-driven storytelling through extensive training and support, including mentoring, job shadowing, hands-on work and individual coaching.

Scripps CEO Adam Symson said that is one of the factors making this a good time for the company’s ad campaign for free, over-the air TV. “We really expect to take advantage of this moment when consumers are frustrated with the increases they’re seeing by subscription video-on-demand services. They’re frustrated by the content flood. And they’re experiencing a level of ‘plus fatigue.’”

The increase to $327 million is pegged to increases in core advertising and retransmission consent revenue.

Executives from Fox Television Stations, E.W. Scripps, Tegna, Gray and Blackbird said in a TVNewsCheck webinar Thursday that local content is becoming increasingly crucial in a world of shrinking syndication options, but to pull it off more resources need to be invested in local people and the technology to support them.

Scripps is moving him from its Waco, Texas, duo to oversee its CW affiliate in South Florida.

Cox Media Group, Capitol Broadcasting, Graham Media Group and other broadcasters are participating. Magnite, an independent omnichannel sell-side advertising platform, will make CTV inventory available to agencies and programmatic buyers.

E.W. Scripps CEO Adam Symson told a Deutsche Bank media conference Tuesday that the proliferation of streaming subscription channels, coupled with internet access costs, are driving many younger consumers to “discover” free TV once more.

As solo acts in the field, multimedia journalists are very particular about the kit they carry. From cameras to lights and audio, connectivity tools to editing software and apps, experience has taught them that flexibility and portability are among their gear’s most important qualities. Above: Sony’s remote production package, which includes the PXW-Z280 4K handheld camera, allows MMJs to remotely control, capture and transfer high-quality content in real time from any location.

The drop to $351 million is pegged to lower political ad revenue that more than offset an 8% increase in core advertising to $183 million.

Broadcasters need an arsenal of ways to protect and mitigate against smarter ransomware attacks, particularly targeted against vulnerable CEOs as a “when,” not “if” predicament. These are the questions those CEOs should be asking.

TVNewsCheck‘s Michael Depp talks with Marcus Riley, senior director of content strategy and inclusive journalism at E.W. Scripps, about what inclusivity looks like on a newscast and how newsrooms can begin addressing it right from a story pitch.

ATSC 3.0 infrastructure will position TV stations to not just create their own OTT platforms, but also lease a portion of their spectrum for datacasting, location services and many other new revenue possibilities. Leading experts on monetizing NextGen TV offered their predictions and blueprints at a TVNewsCheck webinar last week sponsored by LTN Global. Above, map showing ATSC 3.0 coverage at the end of 2021 from E.W. Scripps.

With no ownership cap relief in sight from the FCC, broadcasters look to pick up ones and twos along with pursuing other avenues to grow their businesses. Meanwhile, the industry waits to see if Tegna will be sold. Note: This story is available to TVNewsCheck Premium members only. If you would like to upgrade your free TVNewsCheck membership to Premium now, you can visit your Member Home Page, available when you log in at the very top right corner of the site or in the Stay Connected Box that appears in the right column of virtually every page on the site. If you don’t see Member Home, you will need to click Log In or Subscribe.