The companies say their new consortium will develop shows for daytime, early fringe and access. It will offer a combined reach of 29% of U.S. households — including 12 of the top 40 DMAs. Scripps' Brian Lawlor: “Partnering with other broadcast groups rather than competing against them is a dynamic new way to succeed in this industry.” Paul McTear of Raycom Media: “The strength of our two companies with a rich history in local broadcasting will bring a financial and creative strength to this development consortium.”
Raycom, Scripps Partner On Programming
Raycom Media and the E.W. Scripps Co. are forming a development partnership to create and grow new and original programming across daytime, early fringe and access dayparts. The partnership also will develop content for the companies’ digital products.
The companies said the new partnership, with the combined reach of 29% of U.S. households — including 12 markets in the top 40 DMAs — “creates an impressive footprint and a strong foundation for programs to have successful launches and development.”
Paul McTear, president-CEO of Raycom Media said: “Raycom is excited to launch this creative partnership with Scripps. The strength of our two companies with a rich history in local broadcasting will bring a financial and creative strength to this development consortium.”
McTear continued: “This will not only allow us to create programming for our broadcast platforms but provide entertaining, informative and above all engaging content for our audiences on any platform they choose to consume our content.”
“As the broadcasting industry continues to evolve, we must continue to explore new opportunities to deliver compelling content to our audiences,” said Brian Lawlor, SVP of the Scripps broadcast division. “We envision a flourishing partnership with Raycom Media that will lead to relevant content with mass appeal across diverging demographics. Partnering with other broadcast groups rather than competing against them is a dynamic new way to succeed in this industry, and Scripps and Raycom Media are leading the way.”
Raycom Media, Scripps and Cox Media Group have a separate development agreement for the syndicated Right This Minute. The viral video program is now seen in more than 90% of the U.S.
BRAND CONNECTIONS
The companies said the Raycom Media/Scripps consortium already is working toward production on several projects with anticipated launches in 2017. The consortium is actively seeking new projects and welcomes other local broadcasters and/or media companies to join in the venture.
Comments (1)
Maria Laing says:
February 22, 2016 at 9:05 am
If the new “development partnership” continues to do what Scripps already has with “The List,” “Let’s Ask America,” and especially the pseudo-hip abomination called “The Now,” this partnership could drag OTA programming to a new low, a level usually reserved for cash-strapped local access cable channels.