The E.W. Scripps Company

What they do

Scripps operates a portfolio of more than 60 local television stations in more than 40 markets, with programming agreements with ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. Its Scripps Networks division reaches national audiences through Scripps News, Court TV, ION, Bounce, Grit, ION Mystery, ION Plus and Laff, distributed over the air and on free streaming platforms. It also runs Scripps Sports local rights deals, owns the Tablo over-the-air DVR device, and stewards the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Revenue drivers

• Local Media (local stations) — Revenue comes from local and national spot advertising, retransmission consent fees from pay TV distributors, and political advertising; Q2 2026 local political advertising was a second-quarter record at $28 million, and full-year 2026 local political revenue is guided to $225-$250 million.
• Scripps Networks (national) — National entertainment and news networks such as ION, Bounce, Grit, Laff, ION Mystery and ION Plus earn advertising revenue; network revenue fell 16% year over year in Q2 2026, hurt by the Court TV sale, weak national advertising, ratings and Nielsen measurement changes.
• Retransmission and distribution — Scripps collects fees from pay TV distributors for carriage of its local stations; the company completed three retransmission consent agreements covering the majority of its 2026 pay TV subscriber household renewals, two of which caused temporary station removals in Q2 2026.
• Scripps Sports — Local and national sports rights generate advertising and distribution revenue; new deals include the Detroit Pistons (first NBA team) and Nashville Predators local rights starting fall 2026, plus ION's U.S. rights to the Women's Volleyball World Cup 2027 and WNBA Friday night games on ION.

Recent performance

Q2 2026 revenue was $490 million, with a loss attributable to shareholders of $1.2 billion, or $12.68 per share, including a $1.1 billion non-cash goodwill and intangible asset impairment at Scripps Networks equal to $11.61 of the per-share loss. Full-year 2025 revenue was $2.15 billion with a net loss of $100.9 million, and operating cash flow fell to $53.1 million from $365.7 million in 2024. Recent quarterly revenue has declined sequentially, from $560.3 million in Q4 2025 to $516.9 million in Q1 2026 and $490.4 million in Q2 2026. Segment, shared services and corporate expenses were down 3% in Q2 2026 on lower programming and employee costs.

Strategy

Management is executing a transformation plan targeting $125-$150 million of enterprise EBITDA growth by 2028 through cost savings and revenue initiatives, with about $100 million of annual run-rate savings expected by year end. The company is using AI and automation to cut operating costs, and announced transformation-related job reductions affecting about 6% of the workforce. It is also pursuing station M&A, including a second Big 4 station in Lexington, Kentucky, a five-market swap with Gray Media, and completed sales of its Fort Myers, Florida and Indianapolis stations; the Gray swap exchanges comparable assets with no cash consideration. On the growth side, Scripps Sports signed its first NBA team (Detroit Pistons) and the Nashville Predators, while it also formed the EdgeBeam Wireless ATSC 3.0 joint venture with Gray, Nexstar and Sinclair, committing $12.8 million for a 25% stake.

Risks

• Advertising concentration and cyclicality — Scripps derives the majority of revenue from advertising, with local stations exposed to automotive, retail and services and networks exposed to consumer-packaged goods, pharmaceuticals and insurance, and demand is sensitive to economic downturns.
• Linear TV decline — Cord-cutting and viewing migration to streaming pressure audience size and advertising rates, and ad-supported streaming tiers from large SVOD services could take advertising dollars from linear TV.
• Leverage and refinancing — At June 30, 2026, long-term debt was $2.49 billion against $100.7 million of shareholder equity and $13.0 million of cash, following 2025 refinancing transactions including a $750 million 9.875% senior secured second lien note due 2030.
• Distribution negotiation and measurement risk — Two Q2 2026 retransmission negotiations resulted in distributors temporarily removing Scripps stations, hurting core advertising and distribution revenue, and changes in Nielsen's measurement methodology are also weighing on network advertising.

Outlook

Management expects transformation benefits to become more visible in coming quarters, targeting $125-$150 million of enterprise EBITDA growth by 2028 and about $100 million in annual run-rate savings by year end, with third-quarter expense improvement including job cuts affecting about 6% of the workforce. Full-year 2026 local political advertising revenue is guided to $225-$250 million. Scripps expects new Detroit Pistons and Nashville Predators agreements to contribute to local core revenue starting in fall 2026. The company says it will continue evaluating M&A through a disciplined lens focused on accretive transactions.