The E. W. Scripps Company is an American
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution (business), distribution of sound, audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio ...
company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by
Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister,
Ellen Browning Scripps
Ellen Browning Scripps (October 18, 1836 – August 3, 1932) was an American journalist and philanthropist who was the founding donor of several major institutions in Southern California. She and her half-brother E. W. Scripps created the E. W. ...
. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is headquartered at the
Scripps Center in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
,
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
. 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.
In terms of market reach, Scripps is the second largest operator of
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
(which is owned by
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
) affiliates, behind the
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...
, and ahead of
Hearst Television
Hearst Television, Inc. (formerly Hearst-Argyle Television) is a broadcasting company in the United States owned by Hearst Communications. From 1998 to mid-2009, the company traded its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ...
and
Tegna
Tegna Inc. (stylized in all caps as TEGNA) is an American publicly traded broadcast, digital media and marketing services company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia. It was created on June 29, 2015, when the Gannett Company split into t ...
. Scripps also owns a number of free-to-air multi-genre digital subchannel multicast networks through its
Scripps Networks
Katz Broadcasting, LLC, doing business as Scripps Networks, is an American specialized digital multicasting network media company and a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. The company owns (as of 2022) nine television networks that each carry ...
subsidiary including the
Ion Television
Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented enter ...
network, and
Newsy, a national cable news network being converted to free-to-air and streaming presence.
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
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
''
Penny Press
Penny press newspapers were cheap, Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid-style newspapers mass-produced in the United States from the 1830s onwards. Mass production of inexpensive newspapers became possible following the shift from hand-crafted t ...
''.
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
''The Cincinnati Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was bundled inside a local edition called ''The Kentucky Post''. The ''Post'' was a founding publication and onetime ...
'' general manager
Milton A. McRae, a longtime partner. The company expanded during the decade to publish newspapers in California, Denver, Chicago, Dallas and Nashville and elsewhere.
20th century
In early November 1922, the Scripps-McRae League was renamed Scripps-Howard Newspapers to recognize company executive
Roy W. Howard
Roy W. Howard (1883–1964) was an American newspaperman with a long association with E. W. Scripps Company. He was president of E. W. Scripps Company and the United Press, and chairman of Scripps Howard Newspapers.
He began his newspaper care ...
. On November 23, the E. W. Scripps Company was incorporated and placed in trust for Scripps' children and grandchildren.
The company's shares were divided into two types: Class A Common Shares, which were traded on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
, 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
The New York Times Company is an American mass media company that publishes ''The New York Times''. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City.
History
The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones in New York City. T ...
and the
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
organization, are governed by this system so that the descendants of the company's founders can keep control of the company.
)
E. W. Scripps
Edward Willis Scripps (June 18, 1854 – March 12, 1926), was an American newspaper publisher and, together with his sister Ellen Browning Scripps, founder of The E. W. Scripps Company, a diversified media conglomerate, and United Press ne ...
died in 1926.
On June 2, 1902, Scripps founded the
Newspaper Enterprise Association
The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...
(NEA), based in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, 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
A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest.
Etymology
The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French language, Frenc ...
, 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. Today, it is the oldest syndicate still in operation.
Scripps created the
United Press
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...
news agency
A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and News broadcasting, television Broadcasting, broadcasters. A news agency may ...
in 1907 by uniting three smaller syndicates and controlled it until a 1958 merger with
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
's smaller competing agency, INS, to form United Press International. With the
Hearst Corporation
Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and business information conglomerate based in Hearst Tower in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.
Hearst owns newspapers, magazines, televis ...
as a minority partner, UPI continued under Scripps management until it was sold off in 1982.
A separate wire service, the Scripps Howard News Service, operated for 96 years from 1917 to 2013.
[Scripps Howard News Service Will Close Down After 96 Years]
Bloomberg News, November 13, 2013. Accessed April 5, 2015.
United Feature Syndicate
United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along wit ...
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
The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under pub ...
'', which controlled the
Pulitzer Pulitzer may refer to:
*Joseph Pulitzer, a 20th century media magnate
* Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award
*Pulitzer (surname)
* Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain
*Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-pr ...
company's syndication arms,
Press Publishing Co. and
World Feature Service
The ''New York World'' was one of the first newspapers to publish comic strips, starting around 1890, and contributed greatly to the development of the American comic strip. Notable strips that originated with the ''World'' included Richard F. Out ...
.
[Booker, M. Keith. "United Feature Syndicate," in ''Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas'' ( ABC-CLIO, 2014), p. 399.]["United Feature Syndicate Buys Metropolitan Service From Elser: Both Firms Will Retain Separate Identities, With Elser Remaining as Vice-President — Monte Bourjaily to Direct Both Organizations," ''Editor & Publisher'' (March 15, 1930). Archived a]
"News of Yore 1930: Another Syndicate Gobbled,"
''Stripper's Guide'' (May 4, 2010). In May 1978, Scripps merged United Feature Syndicate and Newspaper Enterprise Association to form
United Media
United Media was a large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States, owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, that operated from 1978 to 2011. It syndicated 150 comics and editorial columns worldwide. It ...
Enterprises.
The company expanded its newspaper holdings throughout the pre-World War II period, acquiring many titles and merging them, including the ''
Rocky Mountain News
The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, United States, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. As ...
'' and ''
Knoxville News-Sentinel
The ''Knoxville News Sentinel, also known as Knox News,'' is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company.
History
The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: ''The ...
''. A trickle of closures and sales occurred over the next few decades. In 1966, Scripps' ''
New York World-Telegram
The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.
History
Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...
'' was merged into the ''
New York World Journal Tribune
The ''New York World Journal Tribune'' (''WJT'', and hence the nickname ''The Widget'') was an evening daily newspaper published in New York City from September 1966 until May 1967. The ''World Journal Tribune'' represented an attempt to save th ...
'', 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
''The Pittsburgh Press'' (formerly ''The Pittsburg Press'' and originally ''The Evening Penny Press'') was a major afternoon daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1884 to 1992. At one time, the ''Press'' was the second larg ...
'' 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. 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.
In 1997, Scripps bought daily newspapers in the Texas cities of
Abilene,
Wichita Falls
Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. According ...
,
San Angelo
San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...
and
Plano, plus the paper in
Anderson, South Carolina
Anderson is a city in and the county seat of Anderson County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 28,106 at the 2020 census, and the city was the center of an urbanized area of 75,702. It is one of the principal cities in the Green ...
, from
Harte-Hanks Communications, along with 25 non-daily newspapers and
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
-based
KENS-TV
KENS (channel 5) is a television station in San Antonio, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Fredericksburg Road in northwest San Antonio, near the South Texas Medical Center, ...
and
KENS-AM.
The purchase price was to be between $605 and $775 million, depending on a federal ruling.
(Scripps eventually spun off all of its newspapers into
Journal Media Group
Journal Media Group (formerly Journal Communications) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company. The company's roots were first established in 1882 as the owner of its namesake, the ''Milwaukee Journal'', and expanded into br ...
in 2015.)
Scripps made its first foray into broadcasting in 1935, forming a company called Continental Radio and buying radio stations
WCPO
WCPO-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based E. W. Scripps Company, which has owned the station since its inception. WCPO-TV's ...
in Cincinnati and
WNOX
WNOX (93.1 FM, "Awesome 93.1") is a commercial radio station licensed to the suburb of Karns, Tennessee, and serving the Knoxville metropolitan area. The station is owned by SummitMedia and airs a classic hits format.
WNOX's studios and o ...
in
Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
. After the war, In 1947, Scripps opened its first
television station
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
, Cleveland-based
WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception in 1946, making it one of two stations that have been built and signed on by ...
, with Memphis-based
WMC-TV
WMC-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Gray Television. Its studios are located on Union Avenue in midtown Memphis, and its transmitter is located in northeast Memphis, ...
and Cincinnati-based
WCPO-TV
WCPO-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer ...
in subsequent years.
It now owns dozens of TV and radio stations. In the 1980s and 1990s, Scripps became a
cable television
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...
provider and also developed programming for cable, notably SportSouth (currently
Bally Sports South) in 1990 (in a joint venture with
Turner Broadcasting
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
and
TCI),
Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...
in 1993 and
HGTV in 1994. (Scripps spun off its cable properties into
Scripps Network Interactive
Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) was an American mass media company, which was formed on July 1, 2008, and acquired by and merged into Discovery Communications on March 6, 2018. It was formed in 2008, through the spin-off of the E. W. ...
in 2008.)
The company
went public with an IPO in 1988.
It owned 20 daily newspapers and 9 television stations at the time, with and cable systems in 10 states. The company completed a new downtown Cincinnati headquarters, the 35-story high-rise
Scripps Center, in 1990.
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
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...
,
DIY Network
Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics such as home construction, renovation, and cuisine.
The channe ...
,
Cooking Channel
Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcasting ...
(formerly known as
Fine Living),
Travel Channel
Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...
and
Great American Country
Great American Family is an American cable television network. Owned by Great American Media, it broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies.
It was originally established in ...
). The transaction was completed on July 1, 2008.
After a test launch at
WFTS-TV
WFTS-TV (channel 28), branded as ABC Action News, is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company alongside Bradenton-licensed Ion Te ...
in 2009, Scripps television stations launched
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channels in 2010. These are similar to YouTube channels operated by
Hearst Television
Hearst Television, Inc. (formerly Hearst-Argyle Television) is a broadcasting company in the United States owned by Hearst Communications. From 1998 to mid-2009, the company traded its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ...
and
LIN Television.
On February 24, 2011, United Media struck a distribution deal with Universal Uclick (now known as
Andrews McMeel Syndication
Andrews McMeel Syndication (formerly Universal Uclick) is an American content syndicate which provides syndication in print, online and on mobile devices for a number of lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and cartoons and various other ...
) for syndication of the company's 150 comic strip and news features, which became effective on June 1 of that year.
At that point, United Media, and by extension the Scripps Company, exited the syndication business.
On September 12, 2011, Scripps partnered with
Cox Media Group
CMG Media Corporation ( doing business as Cox Media Group) is an American media conglomerate principally owned by Apollo Global Management in conjunction with Cox Enterprises, which maintains a 29% minority stake in the company. The company pri ...
and
Raycom Media
Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom, through its Commun ...
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
Thomas Dexter Jakes (born June 9, 1957), known as T. D. Jakes, is an American bishop, author and filmmaker. He is the bishop of The Potter's House, a non-denominational American megachurch. Jakes's church services and Evangelistic sermons are b ...
''. Scripps launched ''
Let's Ask America
''Let's Ask America'' is an American interactive game show which debuted on September 17, 2012. The show features contestants who play from their homes via webcams, answering trivia questions relating to current events. On November 4, 2013, it was ...
'' in 2013 (now cancelled), partnering with
Telepictures
Telepictures (also known as Telepictures Productions; formerly known as Telepictures Distribution and Telepictures Corporation) is an American television show and filmmaking company, currently operating as a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Television S ...
to do so, and ''Pickler and Ben'' in 2017.
On October 3, 2011, Scripps announced it was purchasing the television arm of
McGraw-Hill
McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...
for $212 million. 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.
In December 2013, Scripps purchased
Newsy for $35 Million.
On July 30, 2014, Scripps and Journal Communications announced that the two companies would merge and spin-off their newspaper assets.
[ 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
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
, under the Journal Media Group
Journal Media Group (formerly Journal Communications) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company. The company's roots were first established in 1882 as the owner of its namesake, the ''Milwaukee Journal'', and expanded into br ...
name. The FCC approved the deal on December 12, 2014, and it was approved by shareholders on March 11, 2015. The merger and spinoff were completed on April 1, 2015. In turn, Journal Media Group was acquired by Gannett Company
Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.[Tegna
Tegna Inc. (stylized in all caps as TEGNA) is an American publicly traded broadcast, digital media and marketing services company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia. It was created on June 29, 2015, when the Gannett Company split into t ...]
, months after the Scripps-Journal merger.
In April 2016, Demand Media
Leaf Group, formerly Demand Media Inc, is an American content company that operates online brands including eHow, livestrong.com, and marketplace brands Saatchi Art and Society6. The company also provides social media platforms to existing l ...
announced the sale of the humor/listicle
In journalism and blogging, a listicle is an article that is structured as a list, which is often fleshed out with additional text relating to each item. A typical listicle will prominently feature a cardinal number in its title, with subsequent su ...
website Cracked.com to E. W. Scripps. In June, it acquired podcast service Stitcher from Deezer
Deezer is a French online music streaming service. It allows users to listen to music content from record labels, as well as podcasts on various devices online or offline.
Created in Paris, Deezer currently has 90 million licensed tracks in ...
.
On August 1, 2017, Scripps announced the purchase of Katz Broadcasting
Katz Broadcasting, LLC, doing business as Scripps Networks, is an American specialized digital multicasting network media company and a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. The company owns (as of 2022) nine television networks that each carry ...
and its three networks plus Bounce
Bounce or The Bounce may refer to:
* Deflection (physics), the event where an object Collision, collides with and bounces against a plane surface
Books
* Mr. Bounce, a character from the Mr. Men series of children's books
Broadcasting, film and ...
which Katz operates, for $292 million, acquiring the other 95% of the company. The purchase was completed on October 2, 2017. On May 22, 2018, Scripps announced that it was changing its common stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
to Nasdaq
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
, which occurred on June 4, 2018.
Scripps newspapers
Syndicates
* United Media
United Media was a large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States, owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, that operated from 1978 to 2011. It syndicated 150 comics and editorial columns worldwide. It ...
(1978–2011), consisted of:
** United Feature Syndicate
United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along wit ...
(est. 1919) – syndicated many notable comic strips
A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...
, including ''Peanuts
''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...
'', ''Garfield
''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his human ...
'', ''Li'l Abner
''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbilly, hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written a ...
'', ''Dilbert
''Dilbert'' is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office with engineer Dilbert as the title charact ...
'', '' Nancy'' and ''Marmaduke
''Marmaduke'' is a newspaper comic strip revolving around the Winslow family and their Great Dane, Marmaduke, drawn by Brad Anderson from June 1954 to 2015.
Publication history
The strip was created by Anderson, and sold to the John F. Dille ...
''
** Newspaper Enterprise Association
The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...
(est. 1902) – originally a secondary news service to the Scripps Howard News Service, later evolved into a general syndicate; best known for syndicating ''Alley Oop
''Alley Oop'' is a syndicated comic strip created December 5, 1932, by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hamlin introduced a cast of colorful characters an ...
'', '' Freckles and His Friends'', ''The Born Loser
''The Born Loser'' is a newspaper comic strip created by Art Sansom in 1965. His son, Chip Sansom, who started assisting on the strip in 1989, is the current artist. The strip is distributed by Newspaper Enterprise Association. The Sansoms won ...
'' and '' Frank and Ernest'', in addition to an annual Christmas comic strip
The distribution rights to properties syndicated by United Media were outsourced to Universal Uclick
Andrews McMeel Syndication (formerly Universal Uclick) is an American content syndicate which provides syndication in print, online and on mobile devices for a number of lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and cartoons and various other ...
in February 2011. While United Media effectively ceased to exist, Scripps still maintains copyrights and intellectual property rights.
Scripps also operated United Press International
United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...
(United Press from its 1907 inception until a 1958 merger with Hearst's International News Service
The International News Service (INS) was a U.S.-based news agency (newswire) founded by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst in 1909. ) 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
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliates, twelve CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
affiliates, eleven NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
affiliates, six Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
affiliates, four CW affiliates, two MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
affiliates, three specialty network affiliated stations and one station 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 bought out radio station WDBZ, renaming it WCPO after newspaper ''The Cincinnati Post
''The Cincinnati Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was bundled inside a local edition called ''The Kentucky Post''. The ''Post'' was a founding publication and onetime ...
''.
Later on, Scripps purchased radio station, WNOX from the Sterchi Brothers furniture chain.[East Tennessee Historical Society, Lucile Deaderick (editor), ''Heart of the Valley: A History of Knoxville, Tennessee'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1976), p. 298.] In 1936, The Commercial Appeal was purchased by the Scripps Howard
The E. W. Scripps Company 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 he ...
newspaper chain, which included the WMC stations. 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
A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...
, Cleveland-based WEWS-TV
WEWS-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception in 1946, making it one of two stations that have been built and signed on by ...
. This was followed in 1948 by Memphis-based WMC-TV
WMC-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Gray Television. Its studios are located on Union Avenue in midtown Memphis, and its transmitter is located in northeast Memphis, ...
and Cincinnati-based WCPO-TV
WCPO-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer ...
in 1949.
The company expanded its television holdings in 1961 by purchasing West Palm Beach station WPTV-TV
WPTV-TV (channel 5) is a television station in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Stuart-licensed news-formatted independent station WHDT (channel 9); Scripps al ...
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. 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.
By 1963, the company has taken on its familiar name Scripps-Howard Broadcasting Company, and made it public.
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
KSHB-TV (channel 41) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Lawrence, Kansas-licensed independent station KMCI-TV (channel 38). Both stations share ...
. Nearly seven years later, in 1984, after Edwin Copperstein rebuffed a bid from Tribune Company
Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
, Scripps immediately purchased independent station, KNXV-TV
KNXV-TV (channel 15) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside CW affiliate KASW (channel 61). Both stations share studios on 44th Street on the city' ...
in Phoenix. To make room for the sale, Scripps was required to divest itself of radio stations KMEO- AM- FM.
Nearly one year later, Scripps purchased ABC station, WXYZ-TV
WXYZ-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Independent station (North America), independent st ...
in Detroit, and independent station WFTS-TV
WFTS-TV (channel 28), branded as ABC Action News, is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company alongside Bradenton-licensed Ion Te ...
in Tampa Bay from Capital Cities Communications
Capital Cities/ABC Inc. was an American media company. It was founded in 1985 when Capital Cities Communications purchased the much larger American Broadcasting Company. It eventually proposed a merger of equals with The Walt Disney Company and ...
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. On October 9, 1986, two of Scripps' stations in Phoenix and Kansas City became affiliates of the Fox Broadcasting Company
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
television network. A third independent station in Tampa Bay joined Fox in 1988 after WTOG-TV disaffiliated from the network.
In 1988, the broadcasting division of the company started its own production company Scripps Howard Productions in order to produce and market television programs.
From 1990 to 1995, Scripps was a partner in the regional sports network
In the United States and Canada, a regional sports network (RSN) is a cable television channel (many of which are also distributed on direct broadcast satellite services) that presents sports programming to a local market or geographical region.
...
SportSouth, along with Turner Broadcasting
Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...
and Tele-Communications, Inc.
Tele-Communications, Inc. (TCI) was a cable television provider in the United States, and for most of its history was controlled by Bob Magness and John Malone.
The company was started in 1958 in Bozeman, Montana as Western Microwave, Inc. and C ...
; in 1996 the network was sold to News Corporation and became Fox Sports South
Bally Sports South (BSSO) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports Networks. The network carries regional coverage of professional and collegiate sports events from across ...
.
In the summer of 1990, Scripps bought out the NBC Baltimore affiliate WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road ( ...
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, but both sides settled and the sale went forward. Scripps took control of the station in the spring of 1991.
On July 19, 1993, Scripps sold WMC-AM-FM-TV to Atlanta businessman Bert Ellis and his new company, Ellis Communications.
In 1994, Scripps acquired the Knoxville
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...
-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
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...
, and launched a spin-off of HGTV known as DIY Network
Magnolia Network is an American basic cable network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and Chip and Joanna Gaines. It broadcasts personality-based lifestyle programs related to topics such as home construction, renovation, and cuisine.
The channe ...
.
1994–2000: The repercussions of the realignment and deals with ABC and NBC
Within a year-long span during 1994–95, a series of surprising events occurred which not only changed the look of the television industry, but also Scripps' various television stations.
In 1994, the Fox Broadcasting Company
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations an ...
agreed to a multi-year, multi-station affiliation deal with New World Communications
New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 197 ...
, resulting in most of New World's stations switching to Fox. One of these stations were longtime CBS affiliates KSAZ-TV
KSAZ-TV (channel 10) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, broadcasting the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV station KUTP (channel 45). Both ...
in Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
and WTVT-TV in Tampa/St. Petersburg, and NBC station WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Summit Street in the Signal H ...
in Kansas City, which would displace all three of Scripps' stations affiliated with Fox, KNXV-TV
KNXV-TV (channel 15) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside CW affiliate KASW (channel 61). Both stations share studios on 44th Street on the city' ...
in Phoenix, WFTS-TV
WFTS-TV (channel 28), branded as ABC Action News, is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company alongside Bradenton-licensed Ion Te ...
in Tampa and KSHB-TV
KSHB-TV (channel 41) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Lawrence, Kansas-licensed independent station KMCI-TV (channel 38). Both stations share ...
in Kansas City. Around that time, it was switched, two Scripps markets in Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
and Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
were courted to affiliate to CBS, but turned down the offer.
The loss of Fox affiliates in these three markets did not sit well with Scripps-Howard, looking for a group agreement. Scripps-Howard Broadcasting was involved in three of the broadcast television switches that was resulted from the 1994–1996 United States broadcast television realignment. At first, on June 16, 1994, Scripps-Howard renewed its affiliation agreement with ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
for its stations WEWS
WEWS-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It has been owned by the E. W. Scripps Company since its inception in 1946, making it one of two stations that have been built and signed on by ...
(channel 5), in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
and WXYZ-TV
WXYZ-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Independent station (North America), independent st ...
(channel 7) in Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
(both of these outlets were wooed by CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, which is about to lose its longtime affiliates in Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
and Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
to Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
via a deal with New World Communications
New World Pictures (also known as New World Entertainment and New World Communications Group, Inc.) was an American independent production, distribution, and (in its final years as an autonomous entity) multimedia company. It was founded in 197 ...
), and signed an agreement to affiliate NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
affiliate WMAR-TV
WMAR-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road ( ...
(channel 2) in Baltimore, and two displaced Fox stations from the New World deal, KNXV-TV
KNXV-TV (channel 15) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside CW affiliate KASW (channel 61). Both stations share studios on 44th Street on the city' ...
(channel 15) in Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
and WFTS-TV
WFTS-TV (channel 28), branded as ABC Action News, is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company alongside Bradenton-licensed Ion Te ...
(channel 28) in Tampa, Florida, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg with ABC, which would displace 3 VHF stations WJZ-TV (channel 13) in Baltimore (which ended up being a CBS affiliate through a deal with Westinghouse Broadcasting, Group W), KTVK (channel 3) in Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
(which ended up being an independent station) and WTSP-TV (channel 10) in Tampa, Florida, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg (which also ended up being a CBS affiliate). The second deal occurred on July 25, 1994, when Scripps agreed to renew its existing affiliation agreements with NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
for its stations KJRH-TV (channel 2) in Tulsa, Oklahoma and WPTV-TV
WPTV-TV (channel 5) is a television station in West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Stuart-licensed news-formatted independent station WHDT (channel 9); Scripps al ...
(channel 5) in West Palm Beach, Florida, while signing an agreement to affiliate a Fox affiliate displaced in the New World deal, KSHB-TV
KSHB-TV (channel 41) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Lawrence, Kansas-licensed independent station KMCI-TV (channel 38). Both stations share ...
(channel 41) in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City with NBC, picking it up from WDAF-TV
WDAF-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. The station is owned by Nexstar Media Group, and maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Summit Street in the Signal H ...
(channel 4) in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, which was slated to switch from NBC to Fox. The third and final agreement that resulted from the realignment occurred in September 1995, when Scripps agreed to affiliate CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
affiliate WCPO-TV
WCPO-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer ...
(channel 9) in Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
with ABC, displacing WKRC-TV (channel 12) in Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, which effectively reversed the 1961 affiliation swap that WKRC became a CBS affiliate again.[ ]
In October 1995, Comcast announced the purchase of Scripps' cable provider operation.
In 1997, Scripps bought daily newspapers in the Texas cities of Abilene, Wichita Falls
Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. According ...
, San Angelo
San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...
and Plano, plus the paper in Anderson, S.C. from Harte-Hanks Communications, along with 25 non-daily newspapers and San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
-based KENS-TV
KENS (channel 5) is a television station in San Antonio, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Fredericksburg Road in northwest San Antonio, near the South Texas Medical Center, ...
and KENS-AM. The purchase price was to be between $605 and $775 million, depending on a federal ruling. (Scripps eventually spun off all of its newspapers into Journal Media Group
Journal Media Group (formerly Journal Communications) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company. The company's roots were first established in 1882 as the owner of its namesake, the ''Milwaukee Journal'', and expanded into br ...
in 2015.)
In March 1996, KSHB owner Scripps Howard Broadcasting reached a deal to manage KMCI under a local marketing agreement. That August, 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.
Exercising an option from the 1996 pact with Miller, Scripps bought KMCI outright for $14.6 million in 2000, forming a legal Duopoly (broadcasting), duopoly with KSHB. In 1998, the company sold Scripps Howard Productions, and Cinetel Productions was renamed to Scripps Productions.
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 Home Shopping Network, 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. 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 Broadcasting, Multicultural Television for $170 million.
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
Cooking Channel is an American basic cable channel owned by Food Network, a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (69%) and Nexstar Media Group (31%). The channel is a spin-off of Food Network, broadcasting ...
(formerly known as Fine Living), HGTV, DIY Network, Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...
, Great American Country
Great American Family is an American cable television network. Owned by Great American Media, it broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies.
It was originally established in ...
, HGTV, and Travel Channel
Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United S ...
). The transaction was completed on July 1, 2008.
After a test launch at WFTS-TV
WFTS-TV (channel 28), branded as ABC Action News, is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company alongside Bradenton-licensed Ion Te ...
in 2009, Scripps television stations launched YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channels in 2010. These are similar to YouTube channels operated by Hearst Television
Hearst Television, Inc. (formerly Hearst-Argyle Television) is a broadcasting company in the United States owned by Hearst Communications. From 1998 to mid-2009, the company traded its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ...
and LIN Television.
Scripps was the recipient of the 2012 National Association of Broadcasters Distinguished Service Award.
On October 3, 2011, Scripps announced it was purchasing all seven television stations owned by S&P Global, 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. This deal was approved by the Federal Trade Commission, FTC on October 31 and the Federal Communications Commission, FCC on November 29. The deal was completed on December 30, 2011.
On February 10, 2014, Scripps announced it has reached a deal to acquire Buffalo, New York, Buffalo ABC affiliate WKBW-TV and Detroit MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
affiliate WMYD for $110 million. The sale was approved by the Federal Communications Commission, 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
WXYZ-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Independent station (North America), independent st ...
.
On July 30, 2014, Scripps and Journal Communications announced that the two companies would merge and spin-off their newspaper assets.[ 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
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...
, under the Journal Media Group
Journal Media Group (formerly Journal Communications) was a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based newspaper publishing company. The company's roots were first established in 1882 as the owner of its namesake, the ''Milwaukee Journal'', and expanded into br ...
name.[ The FCC approved the deal on December 12, 2014, and it was approved by shareholders on March 11, 2015.][ The merger and spinoff were completed on April 1, 2015.] In turn, Journal Media Group was acquired by Gannett Company
Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.[Tegna
Tegna Inc. (stylized in all caps as TEGNA) is an American publicly traded broadcast, digital media and marketing services company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia. It was created on June 29, 2015, when the Gannett Company split into t ...]
, 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 KTSB (AM), 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). 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
Raycom Media, Inc. was an American television broadcasting company based in Montgomery, Alabama. Raycom owned and/or provided services for 65 television stations and two radio stations across 44 markets in 20 states. Raycom, through its Commun ...
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.
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. The FCC approved the sale on April 5, 2019, and the sale was completed on May 1.
On March 20, 2019, Scripps announced that it would acquire eight of the 21 (initially 19) stations being divested as part of Nexstar Media Group's $580 million (USD) acquisition of Tribune Media. The Tribune stations include CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
affiliates WTKR in Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk and WTVR-TV in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond—both in Virginia, along with Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
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
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliate KNXV-TV
KNXV-TV (channel 15) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside CW affiliate KASW (channel 61). Both stations share studios on 44th Street on the city' ...
. Also, Nexstar has the option to buy WPIX back between March 31, 2020, and December 31, 2021. The FCC approved the sale on September 16 with all of the transactions being completed on September 19.
In July 2020, the company sold their Stitcher podcast service and assets to Sirius XM for $325 million.
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
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
affiliate KMGH-TV (channel 7). For the time being, KCDO has moved Grit to its primary 3.1 subchannel. The sale was completed on November 20.
On September 24, 2020, Scripps announced the acquisition of American media company Ion Media, including its networks, Ion Television
Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented enter ...
, Ion Plus, and Qubo for $2.65 billion.
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.
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.
Television stations
Stations are arranged alphabetically by state and by city of license.
* (**) indicates a station that was built and signed-on by Scripps.
Former stations
Television
Radio
* (**) indicates a station that was built and signed-on by Scripps.
Notes
License ownership/operational agreements
Mergers and acquisitions
Satellites and semi-satellites
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
Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented enter ...
and Bounce TV. Lower levels are organized by the school, then county and eventually to the final competition.
See also
* Edward W. Scripps
* Ellen Browning Scripps
Ellen Browning Scripps (October 18, 1836 – August 3, 1932) was an American journalist and philanthropist who was the founding donor of several major institutions in Southern California. She and her half-brother E. W. Scripps created the E. W. ...
* James E. Scripps
* Charles Scripps
* Scripps Howard Foundation
* Scripps Ranch
* Edward W. Estlow
* Scripps Networks Interactive
References
Sources
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External links
*
{{Authority control, state=expanded
E. W. Scripps Company,
Companies listed on the Nasdaq
Mass media companies of the United States
Mass media companies established in 1878
Publishing companies established in 1878
American companies established in 1878
Newspaper companies of the United States
Television broadcasting companies of the United States
Companies based in Cincinnati, Scripps
1878 establishments in Ohio
1980s initial public offerings
Radio broadcasting companies of the United States