File:Scripps logo.png | |
Scripps headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio | |
Type | Public |
---|---|
NYSE: SSP (Class A) S&P 600 Component | |
Industry | Broadcast television, broadcast radio |
Successor | Scripps Networks (Cable television) |
Founded | November 2, 1878 (as the Penny Press) |
Founder | Edward W. Scripps |
Headquarters | Cincinnati, Ohio , |
Key people | Roy W. Howard (1883–1964) Adam Symson (President & CEO) |
Revenue | US$943 million (2016) |
US$127 million (2016) | |
Subsidiaries | Katz Broadcasting |
Website | www |
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. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is headquartered inside the Scripps Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.[1] Its corporate motto is "Give light and the people will find their own way."[2]
The E. W. Scripps Company was incorporated on December 1, 1987,[3] but it traces its history to November 2, 1878, when Edward Willis Scripps published the first issue of the Cleveland Penny Press.
In 1894, E. W. 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 with the addition of Cincinnati Post general manager Milton A. McRae as a partner.[4] On November 3, 1922, it was renamed Scripps-Howard Newspapers, to recognize Roy W. Howard.[5]
On November 23, 1922, the company was placed in trust for E. W. Scripps' children and grandchildren.[6] The company's shares were divided into two types: Class A Common Shares, which were traded on the New York Stock Exchange, 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 and the Washington Post Company, are governed by this system so that the descendants of the company's founders can keep control of the company.[7]
In 1990, the company completed a new downtown Cincinnati headquarters, the Scripps Center.[8]
On October 16, 2007, the company announced that it would separate into two publicly traded companies: The E. W. Scripps Company (newspapers, TV stations, licensing/syndication) and Scripps Networks Interactive (NYSE: SNI), (HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Cooking Channel (formerly known as Fine Living), Travel Channel and Great American Country). The transaction was completed on July 1, 2008.
After a test launch at WFTS-TV in 2009, during 2010 Scripps stations launched YouTube channels. These are similar to YouTube channels operated by Hearst Television and LIN Television.
On September 12, 2011, Scripps partnered with Cox Media Group and Raycom Media 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. Scripps launched Let's Ask America in 2013 (now cancelled), partnering with Telepictures to do so, and Pickler and Ben in 2017.
On October 3, 2011, The E. W. Scripps Company announced it was purchasing the television arm of McGraw-Hill for $212 million.[9] 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.[7]
The E. W. Scripps Company and Journal Communications announced on July 30, 2014, that the two companies would merge and spin-off their newspaper assets.[10] 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, under the Journal Media Group name.[11] The FCC approved the deal on December 12, 2014, and it was approved by shareholders on March 11, 2015.[12] The merger and spinoff were completed on April 1, 2015.[13][14] Journal Media Group merged with the all-newspaper Gannett Company on April 8, 2016. Gannett had also shed their television and broadcast operations into a spin-off, Tegna, months after the Scripps-Journal merger.
In April 2016, Demand Media announced the sale of the humor/listicle website Cracked.com to E.W. Scripps.[15] In June, it acquired podcast service Stitcher from Deezer[16]
On August 1, 2017, E.W. Scripps announced the purchase of Katz Broadcasting and its three networks plus Bounce which Katz operates, for $292 million, acquiring the other 95% of the company.[17] The purchase was completed on October 2, 2017.[18]
On August 20, 2018, E.W. 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 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.[19][20]
In 1997, Scripps bought daily Texas newspapers in Corpus Christi, Abilene, Wichita Falls, San Angelo and Plano, plus the paper in Anderson, S.C. from Harte-Hanks Communications, along with 25 non-daily newspapers and San Antonio-based KENS-TV and KENS-AM.[21] The purchase price was to be between $605 and $775 million, depending on a federal ruling.[22]
The company, before the merger with Journal and subsequent spinoff, owned and operated newspapers in 13 American markets:
Name | City | Fate | Date | Note |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Day Book | Chicago | closed | 1917-07-06 | Experimental, advertising-free penny press that fell short of profit expectations. |
Toledo News-Bee | Toledo, Ohio | 1938-08-02 | Remnants of the paper were acquired by The Toledo Blade. | |
Houston Press | Houston, Texas | 1964-03-20 | Assets were sold to The Houston Chronicle. | |
Indianapolis Times | Indianapolis, Indiana | 1965-10-11 | ||
New York World-Telegram | New York City | merged, then closed | 1966-04-23 World-Telegram and Sun 1967-05-05 World Journal Tribune |
Known as the New York World-Telegram and Sun after 1951, when it purchased the remnants of the New York Sun. After a proposed joint operating agreement between two other newspapers with distinct histories – Hearst's New York Journal American and John Hay Whitney's New York Herald Tribune – collapsed due to union pressure, all three merged to form the New York World Journal Tribune (all three owners had a stake in the publication as "World Journal Tribune, Inc."). The combined paper did not launch for 140 days due to a newspaper strike triggered by the merger, and ultimately folded the following May. Scripps would maintain ownership of the World-Telegram's annual publication, The World Almanac and Book of Facts until 1993, when that was sold to Primedia. |
The Washington Daily News | Washington, DC | sold | 1972-08 | Sold to, and ultimately merged into, The Washington Star. |
Fort Worth Press | Fort Worth, Texas | closed | 1975 | |
Cleveland Press | Cleveland, Ohio | sold | 1980-10-31 | The company's first newspaper and original flagship. Merged with the Cleveland News in 1960. Sold to entrepreneur Joseph E. Cole in 1980 after the Cleveland Plain Dealer surpassed it in both circulation and revenue throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Subsequently, closed on June 17, 1982. |
Memphis Press-Scimitar | Memphis, Tennessee | closed | 1983-10-31 | Afternoon-only daily paper. The paper's roots trace back to 1880; it was acquired by Scripps' antecedent, the Scripps-McRae League, in 1906. Scripps also purchased the city's morning paper, The Commercial Appeal (which it still owns) in 1936. |
Columbus Citizen-Journal | Columbus, Ohio | 1985-12-31 | Founded in 1899. Also had its roots in what was one of the first newspapers in Ohio, The Ohio State Journal, which was founded in 1814. Operated as part of a joint operating agreement with The Columbus Dispatch for several decades; Scripps folded the paper after the Dispatch terminated the JOA, and a sale of the paper to Akron-area businessman Nyles V. Reinfeld collapsed. | |
Pittsburgh Press | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | sold | 1992-05-17 | Sold to Block Communications, subsequently merged into the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Revived as an online-only paper from 2011 to 2015. |
Thousand Oaks News Chronicle | Thousand Oaks, California | closed | 1995-07-22 | Publication relocated to Camarillo, California and merged with the co-owned Ventura County Star. |
Birmingham Post-Herald | Birmingham, Alabama | 2005-09-23 | The paper's roots trace back to the Elyton Herald, founded 21 years before Birmingham's incorporation as a city. Merged with the Scripps-owned Birmingham Post in 1950. Long a morning newspaper, it switched to an afternoon-only publication by request of joint operating agreement partner The Birmingham News (which itself became a tri-weekly in 2012). | |
Colorado Daily | Boulder, Colorado | sold | 2009 | Acquired by Media News Group Inc. |
Cincinnati Post | Cincinnati, Ohio | closed | 2007-12-31 | Distributed in the Covington, Kentucky region as The Kentucky Post; that version was converted to an online-only publication as KYPost.com, which operates to this day. |
The Albuquerque Tribune | Albuquerque, New Mexico | 2008-02-23 | Founding owner Carl Magee's slogan for the paper, "Give light and the people will find their own way," and accompanying lighthouse logo, would both be adopted by Scripps after their 1923 acquisition of the paper. | |
Rocky Mountain News | Denver, Colorado | 2009-02-27 | Purchased by Scripps in 1926. Folded 55 days prior to its 150th anniversary of publication. | |
Youngstown Telegram | Youngstown, Ohio | sold | 1936-07-02 | Acquired by the Youngstown Vindicator Printing Company and merged into The Vindicator. |
The Daily Camera | Boulder, Colorado | 2009 | Acquired by Media News Group Inc. | |
El Paso Herald-Post | El Paso, Texas | closed | 1997-10-11 | |
San Francisco News | San Francisco | merged | 1965 | Founded 1903. Merged with the Hearst's San Francisco Call-Bulletin to form The News-Call Bulletin in 1959. Hearst acquired complete control in 1962 and merged it into the San Francisco Examiner in 1965. |
Scripps operated United Media (composed of the United Feature Syndicate and the Newspaper Enterprise Association). United Feature Syndicate syndicated many notable comic strips including Peanuts, Garfield, Li'l Abner, Dilbert, Nancy and Marmaduke. NEA, originally established as a secondary news service to the Scripps Howard News Service, later evolved into a general syndicate, and were best known for syndicating Alley Oop, Freckles and His Friends, The Born Loser and Frank and Ernest, in addition to an annual Christmas comic strip.[23] The distribution rights to properties syndicated by United Media was outsourced to Universal Uclick in February 2011. While United Media effectively ceased to exist, Scripps still maintains copyrights and intellectual property rights.[24][25]
Scripps also operated United Press International (United Press from its 1907 inception until a 1958 merger with Hearst's International News Service) until selling it off in 1982. It also previously owned the Scripps Howard News Service, which shut down in 2013.[26]
E. W. Scripps' television division currently owns thirty-three television stations in twenty-four markets; fifteen ABC affiliates, five NBC affiliates, five Azteca América affiliates, two MyNetworkTV affiliates, two CBS affiliates, two Fox affiliates, one CW affiliate, and one station independent of any network affiliation.
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.
In October 1995, Comcast announced the purchase of E. W. Scripps' cable provider operation.[27]
From 1990 to 1995, Scripps was a partner in the regional sports network SportSouth, along with Turner Broadcasting and Tele-Communications, Inc.; in 1996 the network was sold to News Corporation and became Fox Sports South.
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 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.[28] 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 Television for $170 million.[29]
On October 3, 2011, Scripps announced it was purchasing all seven television stations owned by 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.[30] This deal was approved by the FTC on October 31[31] and the FCC on November 29.[32] The deal was completed on December 30, 2011.[33]
On February 10, 2014, Scripps announced it has reached a deal to acquire Buffalo ABC affiliate WKBW-TV and Detroit MyNetworkTV affiliate WMYD for $110 million.[34] The sale was approved by the 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.
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 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).[35] 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.
Notes:
City of license / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Owned Since | Affiliation |
---|---|---|---|---|
Phoenix, AZ | KNXV-TV | 15 (15) | 1985 | ABC |
Tucson - Sierra Vista, AZ | KGUN-TV §§ | 9 (35) | 2015 | ABC |
KWBA-TV §§ | 58 (44) | The CW | ||
Bakersfield, CA | KERO-TV ¤¤ | 23 (10) | 2011 | ABC |
KZKC-LP ¤¤ | 42 | Azteca | ||
San Diego, CA | KGTV ¤¤ | 10 (10) | ABC | |
KZSD-LP ¤¤ | 41 | MeTV | ||
Colorado Springs, CO | KZCS-LP ¤¤ | 23 | Azteca | |
Denver, CO | KMGH-TV ¤¤ | 7 (7) | ABC | |
KZCO-LD ¤¤ | 27 | Azteca | ||
Windsor – Fort Collins, CO | KZFC-LP ¤¤ | 36 | Azteca | |
Cape Coral - Fort Myers - Naples, FL | WFTX-TV §§ | 36 (35) | 2015 | FOX |
Tampa – St. Petersburg, FL | WFTS-TV | 28 (29) | 1986 | ABC |
West Palm Beach, FL | WPTV-TV | 5 (12) | 1961 | NBC |
WFLX | 29 (28) | 1 | FOX | |
Nampa - Caldwell - Boise, ID | KIVI-TV §§ | 6 (24) | 2015 | ABC |
KNIN-TV | 9 (10) | 1 | FOX | |
Twin Falls, Idaho | KSAW-LD §§ (semi-satellite of KIVI) |
51 (51) | 2015 | ABC |
Indianapolis, IN | WRTV ¤¤ | 6 (25) | 2011 | ABC |
Baltimore, MD | WMAR-TV | 2 (38) | 1991 | ABC |
Detroit, MI – Windsor, ON | WXYZ-TV | 7 (41) | 1986 | ABC |
WMYD ## | 20 (21) | 2014 | MyNetworkTV | |
Lansing, MI | WSYM-TV §§ | 47 (35) | 2015 | FOX |
WHTV | 18 (34) | 2 | MyNetworkTV | |
Kansas City, MO – Lawrence, KS | KSHB-TV | 41 (42) | 1977 | NBC |
KMCI-TV | 38 (41) | 2002 | Independent | |
Omaha, Nebraska | KMTV-TV §§ | 3 (45) | 2015 | CBS |
Las Vegas, NV | KTNV-TV §§ | 13 (12) | ABC | |
Buffalo, NY | WKBW-TV ## | 7 (38) | 2014 | ABC |
Cincinnati, OH | WCPO-TV ** | 9 (22) | 1949 | ABC |
Cleveland – Akron – Canton, OH | WEWS-TV ** | 5 (15) | 1947 | ABC |
Tulsa, OK | KJRH-TV | 2 (8) | 1971 | NBC |
Nashville, TN | WTVF §§ | 5 (25) | 2015 | CBS |
Green Bay - Appleton, WI | WGBA-TV §§ | 26 (41) | NBC | |
WACY-TV §§ | 32 (27) | MyNetworkTV | ||
Milwaukee, WI | WTMJ-TV §§ | 4 (28) | NBC |
Other Notes:
AM Stations | FM Stations |
City of license / Market | Station | Owned Since | Station Format |
---|---|---|---|
Tucson, Arizona | KFFN 1490 | 2015 | Sports Radio |
KMXZ-FM 94.9 | 2015 | Adult Contemporary/AC[36] | |
KQTH 104.1 | 2015 | News/Talk[37] | |
KTGV 106.3 | 2015 | Rhythmic Oldies[38] | |
Boise, Idaho | KJOT 105.1 | 2015 | Classic Rock[39] |
KQXR 100.3 | 2015 | Active Rock[40] | |
KRVB 94.9 | 2015 | AAA[41] | |
KTHI 107.1 | 2015 | Classic Hits[42] | |
Wichita, Kansas | KFTI 1070 | 2015 | Classic Country[43] |
KFDI-FM 101.3 | 2015 | Country[44] | |
KFXJ 104.5 | 2015 | Classic Rock[45] | |
KICT-FM 95.1 | 2015 | Mainstream Rock[46] | |
KYQQ 106.5 | 2015 | Regional Mexican | |
Springfield, Missouri | KSGF 1260 | 2015 | News/Talk[47] |
KSGF-FM 104.1 | 2015 | Simulcast of KSGF (AM) | |
KRVI 106.7 | 2015 | Adult Hits[48] | |
KSPW 96.5 | 2015 | Top 40/CHR[49] | |
KTTS-FM 94.7 | 2015 | Country[50] | |
Omaha, Nebraska | KXSP 590 | 2015 | Sports Radio[51] |
KEZO-FM 92.3 | 2015 | Mainstream Rock[52] | |
KKCD 105.9 | 2015 | Classic Rock[53] | |
KQCH 94.1 | 2015 | Mainstream Top 40[54] | |
KSRZ 104.5 | 2015 | Adult Contemporary/AC[55] | |
Knoxville, Tennessee | WCYQ 100.3 | 2015 | Country[56] |
WKHT 104.5 | 2015 | CHR/Rhythmic[57] | |
WNOX 93.1 | 2015 | Classic Hits[58] | |
WWST 102.1 | 2015 | Mainstream Top 40[59] | |
Milwaukee, Wisconsin | WTMJ 620 | 2015 | News/Talk[60] |
WKTI 94.5 | 2015 | Country[61] |
City of license/Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Years owned | Current ownership status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Memphis | WMC-TV ** | 5 (5) | 1948–1993 | NBC affiliate owned by Raycom Media |
San Antonio | KENS-TV ++ | 5 (39) | 1997 | CBS affiliate owned by Tegna |
City of license/Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Years owned | Current ownership status |
---|---|---|---|---|
San Francisco | KCNS | 38 (39) | 2002–2006 | Sonlife affiliate owned by NRJ TV, LLC (operated by Titan TV Broadcast Group) |
Bridgeport, CT – New York City | WSAH | 43 (42) | 2002–2007 | Sonlife affiliate, WZME, owned by NRJ TV, LLC (operated by Titan TV Broadcast Group) |
Lawrence – Boston, MA | WMFP | 62 (18) | Sonlife affiliate owned by NRJ TV, LLC (operated by Titan TV Broadcast Group) | |
Wilson – Raleigh – Durham, N.C. | WRAY-TV | 30 (42) | 2002–2006 | Tri-State Christian Television owned-and-operated (O&O) |
Canton – Cleveland, OH | WOAC | 67 (47) | Tri-State Christian Television owned-and-operated (O&O), WRLM |
Market | Station | Current ownership status |
---|---|---|
Baltimore | WBSB-FM 104.3 | WZFT, owned by iHeartMedia |
Cincinnati | WCPO 1230 | WDBZ, owned by Radio One |
WUBE-FM 105.1 ** | owned by Hubbard Broadcasting | |
Cleveland | WEWS-FM 102.1 ** | WDOK, owned by Entercom |
Portland, Oregon | KUPL-970 | KUFO, owned by Alpha Broadcasting |
KUPL-FM 98.7 | owned by Alpha Broadcasting | |
Knoxville | WNOX 990 | WNML, owned by Cumulus Media |
Memphis | WMPS 680 | WMFS, owned by Entercom |
WMC 790 | owned by Entercom | |
WMC-FM 99.7 ** | ||
San Antonio | KENS 1160 ++ | KRDY, owned by Salem Communications |
Tulsa | KFAQ 1170 | owned by Griffin Communications |
KBEZ 92.9 | ||
KHTT 106.9 | ||
KVOO-FM 98.5 | ||
KXBL 99.5 |
Notes:
** indicates a station that was built and signed-on by Scripps
++ indicates a station that was owned by Scripps but operated by Belo Corporation (via a time brokerage agreement) during Scripps' ownership
Scripps also operates the national (US) spelling bee. The final competition is in Washington, DC, and it is broadcast on ESPN and ABC. Lower levels are organized by the school, then county and eventually to the final competition. E.W. Scripps will retain ownership of the property in the split of its newspaper and broadcasting businesses.
|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help)
|deadurl=
ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help)