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Scripps News
Scripps News
Scripps News
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Scripps News is a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) streaming news channel, and a former American digital subchannel network headquartered in Atlanta, GA, and owned by the Scripps Networks division of the E. W. Scripps Company. It was previously known as Newsy, from its launch in 2008[1] until December 31, 2022.

Key Information

Its content is available free on OTT platforms including FuboTV, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, YouTube TV, Xumo, Haystack News, and Samsung TV Plus.[2]

History

[edit]
Newsy's former logo was used from 2015 until its relaunch as an over-the-air broadcast network on October 1, 2021.

Newsy was founded in 2008.[3] In its early years, Newsy operated primarily as a syndication business, selling news and original content to major digital journalism brands that included AOL/Huffington Post, Microsoft[4] and Mashable.[5]

In January 2014, Newsy was acquired for $35 million by the E. W. Scripps Company.[1]

Three years later, in September 2017, Scripps then announced it would take over RLTV's (Retirement Living TV) cable and satellite carriage agreements for approximately 26 million subscribers and reprogram the network with Newsy's lineup of shows.[6]

Newsy had six U.S. offices or news bureaus located at: Columbia, Missouri (which is part of a collaboration with Scripps), together with Mizzou's Missouri School of Journalism (associated with the University of Missouri at Columbia); with five others at: Chicago; Cincinnati; New York City; Denver; and Washington, D.C.[7]

Logo from October 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022.

On April 6, 2021, Scripps announced that it would expand Newsy into a free over-the-air TV network, and being available on streaming platforms starting October 1. The network would be available over-the-air on Scripps-owned Ion Television stations, along with some traditional Scripps local stations without an Ion sister station and the former Ion-owned stations transferred to Inyo Broadcast Holdings, along with offering the network to other station groups. It also announced plans to relocate Newsy's national headquarters to Atlanta. The Newsy over-the-air network launched on October 1, 2021, debuting a new logo and graphical identity (created by Elevation) that day with the identity and goal to provide "balanced", impartial reporting without political punditry or debates like those of their United States cable news competitors.[2][8][9]

In advance of the move exclusively to over-the-air distribution, Scripps began to notify traditional cable and satellite providers, along with some Internet television providers, at the end of March that it would end distribution of the network via those means on June 30, 2021, ending the nearly 15-year life of the channel space, including its time as RLTV.[10][11]

On September 29, 2022, Scripps announced that Newsy would be renamed Scripps News on January 1, 2023. The rebranding comes as part of the establishment of a new national news department of the same name at Scripps, combining its Washington bureau with the national bureau of its local station group.[12][13]

On September 27, 2024, Scripps announced it would shut down Scripps News's over-the-air channel by November 16 and eliminate more than 200 jobs, maintaining a 50-person crew in its national bureau to serve its owned-and-operated stations and produce live weekday coverage for streaming platforms. Scripps stated that its sales team had been stymied by an advertising market that refused to buy time on channels carrying news and political programming, with the advertisers saying it was too "risky" in light of the "polarized nature" of the American population, which prevented Scripps News from earning the revenue needed to be a viable service.[14]

On November 15, the entire team of Scripps News programs began to bid farewell to Scripps News's over-the-air channel, with each show anchor thanking the viewers for their viewership back to the Newsy days and credit rolls of the entire channel's staff closing out each program.[15] The channel officially shut off operations as a terrestrial subchannel network at 6:00 a.m. EST on November 16, with "In Real Life" (episode titled "Post-Trauma") being the last show to air on the channel's space.[16] In 2025, Scripps News sold the catalog of In Real Life to the new nonprofit Evident Media.[17]

Distribution

[edit]

As of June 26, 2023, most of Scripps's major network affiliate stations carried an hour of Scripps News during weekday afternoons, replacing The List and The Upside, which were produced by Scripps's lifestyle division. As of November 2024, Scripps News has current and pending affiliation agreements with 330 television stations in over 100 television markets encompassing 46 states, covering 81.05% of the United States.[18][19]

On November 15, 2024, Scripps News announced that it had started rolling out a new focus on streaming and connected TV while winding down its over-the-air broadcast.[20]

Awards

[edit]

Scripps News's editorial content, and its TV apps, have won the following awards:

  • Apple TV's Best of 2015 list[21]
  • National Edward R. Murrow award for its news documentary, "The War and Money Project" (2015)[22]
  • Society of Environmental Journalists Awards for Reporting on the Environment (2018)
  • Online Journalism Award for its investigation, "Case Cleared" (2019)
  • Investigative journalism award from the Society of Professional Journalists for "Case Cleared" (2019)
  • National Edward R. Murrow award for its news documentary, "Walkout" (2019)
  • Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award[23] for "A Broken Trust" (2020)
  • Scripps Howard Award for innovation[24] for its newsroom collaboration, "Newsy+Bellingcat" (2020)
  • News Emmy Award for "In Real Life: Plastic Time Bomb" (2023)
  • Deadline Club Award and New York Press Club Award for "Scripps News Investigates: Ukraine's Stolen Orphans" (2024)

Scripps News's editorial content has numerous award nominations, including:

  • The News & Documentary Emmy Awards[25]
  • The Digiday Publishing Awards
  • The Webby Awards[26]

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Scripps News

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from Grokipedia

Scripps News is an American national streaming news channel owned by The E.W. Scripps Company, delivering free ad-supported coverage of live breaking news and in-depth stories across politics, economy, foreign affairs, technology, health, and science with a focus on objective, fact-based reporting.
Launched as a rebranding of the earlier Newsy service, Scripps News operates as a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) network accessible on major devices and smart TVs, emphasizing investigative journalism that holds powerful entities accountable and influences policy decisions.
Independent media evaluators consistently rate Scripps News as centrist in bias and highly reliable for factual reporting, distinguishing it in a landscape often criticized for partisan leanings, with assessments placing it in the middle for political slant and high for analysis and fact-checking adherence.
The channel's award-winning team prioritizes context-driven narratives and community-focused stories, building on the E.W. Scripps Company's 145-year legacy of journalistic integrity originating from its newspaper roots in 1878.

History

Founding as Newsy

Newsy was founded in 2008 by media entrepreneur Jim Spencer in , as a digital video news service designed to aggregate and analyze footage from multiple international sources into concise, multi-perspective reports. Spencer's prior experience as vice president of content at informed the platform's emphasis on algorithmic curation of short-form videos, prioritizing explanatory context over single-viewpoint narratives or on-air anchors. The service targeted mobile and web users, delivering news clips optimized for emerging digital devices with a focus on transparency through sourced aggregation rather than original field reporting. In its initial years, Newsy operated primarily as a content syndication provider, licensing its edited video packages to online platforms and apps for distribution, which allowed scalable growth without heavy infrastructure costs. The model leveraged proprietary technology for rapid video remixing, enabling users to access balanced viewpoints by juxtaposing clips from diverse outlets, a departure from anchor-led broadcasts common in traditional television. Early strategic goals centered on mobile-first , with videos formatted for quick consumption on smartphones and tablets, anticipating the shift toward on-demand digital news consumption. Pre-acquisition growth included partnerships with the University of Missouri's program to recruit talent and develop content, expanding the team to over 40 employees by 2013 while securing backing for operational scaling. This foundation positioned Newsy for its acquisition by The on December 9, 2013, for $35 million in cash, which integrated the service into Scripps' portfolio to bolster its capabilities alongside local station assets. The deal, closing January 1, 2014, provided resources for enhanced aggregation from Scripps' network of stations, maintaining Newsy's core digital syndication model in its early phase under new ownership.

Rebranding to Scripps News

On September 29, 2022, The E.W. Scripps Company announced the rebranding of its Newsy news service to Scripps News, effective January 1, 2023. The change aimed to unify the national news operation under the Scripps brand, enhancing integration with the company's local television stations and improving efficiency in serving both national and local audiences. This rebranding followed Newsy's expansion into over-the-air broadcast in October 2021, positioning Scripps News as a free, 24/7 national news channel available via streaming platforms and OTA antennas in over 90 markets. The rebranding emphasized a commitment to fact-based, non-partisan journalism at a time of widespread public distrust in media institutions. Scripps stated that the move would provide greater access to quality journalism produced by a company dedicated to objective reporting, distinguishing it from opinion-driven cable news outlets. Initial efforts under the new branding focused on tying national stories to local impacts, leveraging Scripps' network of over 60 local stations to contextualize broader events for regional viewers. This strategic alignment sought to capitalize on Scripps' established reputation in local news while expanding its national footprint without introducing subscription barriers.

Expansion and Programming Growth

Following the from Newsy on , 2023, Scripps News established a national news division by integrating its over-the-air and streaming operations with the company's local television news resources, including a Washington, D.C., bureau and contributions from more than 50 local stations. This structure facilitated the scaling of original reporting, moving beyond Newsy's prior emphasis on video aggregation to incorporate field-based coverage from distributed teams focused on human impacts and on-the-ground reactions. Operational growth included the rapid buildup of in-house production capacity, with the division producing live daily programming that drew on local station feeds for expanded geographic reach without establishing new standalone bureaus. By April 2023, Scripps News accelerated its timeline for continuous live news, launching additional live shows to fill 24/7 slots previously planned over two years. Distribution expanded through integrations with streaming platforms, notably the January 2023 addition to YouTube TV's base package, which broadened access via smart TVs and connected devices alongside existing apps on Roku and Amazon Fire TV. These moves supported audience scaling, with the YouTube channel—rebranded under Scripps News—leveraging the national division's output for on-demand clips and live streams. Programming emphasized differentiation via explanatory segments that unpacked causal factors in stories and multi-perspective formats presenting from varied sources, prioritizing depth over commentary to counter polarized coverage elsewhere. This approach aligned with the division's fact-driven mandate, using integrated local-national reporting to provide verifiable context on events.

2024 Restructuring and Layoffs

In September 2024, E.W. Scripps Co. announced a major restructuring of its Scripps News division, eliminating more than 200 positions, including full-time, part-time, and contract roles, as part of scaling back national news ambitions. The company cited an adverse linear television advertising market, particularly challenging for news and political content, where advertisers have shown reluctance amid election-year volatility and broader economic pressures. This decision reflected industry-wide revenue strains from cord-cutting, which has eroded traditional TV viewership, and a shift in advertiser preferences away from high-risk news programming toward more predictable formats. The restructuring involved winding down Scripps News' 24/7 national linear feed, with the over-the-air channel ceasing operations on November 15, 2024, shortly after the U.S. presidential election. Scripps planned to redirect resources toward digital and streaming platforms, where the division's content—such as shorter-form videos and on-demand segments—would continue to be produced at lower cost, aiming for greater efficiency in a fragmented media landscape. CEO Adam Symson emphasized in an internal memo that the prospects for profitability in standalone national news programming were not viable given persistent advertising headwinds. These cuts, totaling around 250 roles across the unit, were implemented progressively, with significant impacts in , where Scripps News was headquartered, including 118 layoffs reported in November 2024. The move aligned with causal factors in the sector, such as declining linear TV ad revenues—down amid rates exceeding 5 million U.S. households annually—and brands' aversion to adjacency risks near polarizing coverage, which depressed CPMs for news inventory.

Ownership and Operations

Parent Company and Corporate Structure

Scripps News operates as the national news division within , a segment of , a publicly traded media listed on under the SSP. The E.W. Scripps Company maintains a diversified corporate structure that separates its Local Media operations—encompassing 61 television stations across 41 markets—from national and digital news initiatives like Scripps News, enabling focused resource allocation for non-local coverage. This divisional framework allows to produce objective, context-driven national reporting independent of local station affiliations, while leveraging synergies such as content syndication to the parent company's broader broadcast footprint for enhanced distribution efficiency. The overall ownership hierarchy places ultimate control with public shareholders, though the Edward W. Scripps Trust retains significant influence as a major stakeholder, reflecting the company's origins in regional media expansion since 1878.

Leadership and Key Personnel

Adam Symson has served as president and chief executive officer of The since May 2017, guiding the strategic priorities of its news operations, including Scripps News, with a focus on and content reliability. Under his , the company has emphasized integrated news production across national and local platforms to enhance journalistic consistency and audience trust. Kate O'Brian was appointed president of News in February 2024, consolidating oversight of Scripps News, local media stations, and until her departure in September 2024 amid the shutdown of the linear TV channel. Previously executive vice president of the Scripps News division since its January 2023 rebranding, O'Brian, a former ABC News senior vice president, directed editorial strategies aimed at nonpartisan, fact-driven national coverage distributed via streaming and over-the-air channels. Following the October 2024 restructuring to prioritize streaming, assumed the role of of Scripps News on October 24, 2024, managing the vision, editorial identity, and programming for its centralized national news output. Simon, with prior experience as at Scripps News, leads content decisions to support the division's shift toward digital-first delivery while upholding standards for verifiable reporting.

Programming and Content

Format and Production Style

Scripps News adopts a production style that centers on correspondent-led reports from field locations across the , leveraging the E.W. Scripps Company's network of over 60 local stations for grounded, context-rich coverage. This approach prioritizes empirical facts and direct sourcing over punditry or opinion, with stories developed through a structured process beginning in daily editorial meetings where ideas from tips, , and viewer input are vetted for newsworthiness. Visual and narrative techniques include animated video explainers to break down intricate topics into concise, viewer-friendly formats, supplemented by data visualizations that illustrate key metrics without embellishment. Journalistic methods emphasize multi-source verification at every stage, from initial —drawing on national bureaus and local expertise—to final editing, ensuring claims are corroborated before integration into scripts via digital production systems like for video, graphics, and text assembly. is explicitly avoided in favor of objective, accountability-driven reporting, as outlined in Scripps' ethics guidelines, which mandate accuracy, transparency, and the clear explanation of sourcing to audiences. Correspondents conduct on-the-ground investigations, often embedding in communities to provide causal insights rooted in verifiable events rather than speculative analysis. Content evolution reflects a shift from the short-form clips typical of its Newsy origins—optimized for quick digital consumption—to expanded longer segments and longform documentaries produced by a dedicated unit, while preserving a digital-native focus on on-demand accessibility and modular storytelling. This progression maintains brevity in explainers for broad appeal but incorporates extended narratives for depth, always anchored in protocols that reject unverified or hyped elements.

Notable Programs and Segments

Scripps News Reports, hosted by Chance Seales, provides in-depth investigative segments on underreported topics, incorporating perspectives from diverse stakeholders to identify areas of consensus, such as examinations of economic policies, media trust, and technological disruptions like deepfakes. The program draws on original fieldwork in major cities and rural communities to ground narratives in firsthand accounts and verifiable data, avoiding partisan framing. On the Scene, launched April 1, 2024, offers live weekday segments from 12-3 p.m. ET, capturing real-time developments with on-location reporting that emphasizes factual sequences of events over interpretive commentary. In The Shadows with Jason Bellini features extended investigative pieces that trace causal chains in complex issues, such as policy implementations and institutional accountability, relying on primary documents and direct interviews. Programming adaptations following the November 2024 shift to streaming introduced streamlined daily live blocks from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays starting November 18, blending enterprise reporting on , , and policy topics—such as AI advancements and regulatory impacts—with empirical and outcome projections derived from available sets. These segments prioritize causal linkages, like technological adoption rates influencing economic metrics, over opinion-driven debates.

Distribution and Accessibility

Broadcast and Streaming Platforms

Scripps News ended its over-the-air broadcast distribution on November 15, 2024, prioritizing streaming channels amid a broader restructuring. This shift reflects a strategic emphasis on digital platforms, with continued availability through free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) services and OTT integrations. The network streams live on platforms such as Roku Channel, Amazon Fire TV Channels, Samsung TV Plus, Pluto TV, YouTube TV, FuboTV, Xumo, Haystack News, Vizio WatchFree+, Sling Freestream, and LG Channels. Dedicated apps enable access on iOS, Android mobile devices, Roku players, Fire TV devices, and compatible smart TVs. Scripps News also operates a 24/7 YouTube channel for on-demand and live content delivery. Content syndication integrates Scripps News segments into programming on affiliated local stations, with 43 Scripps-owned outlets incorporating national news blocks as of September 2023. Prior to the transition, linear distribution included over-the-air carriage on full-power independent stations in select markets, though national cable and availability remained limited compared to streaming reach.

Audience Reach and Metrics

Scripps News primarily reaches audiences through streaming platforms, including Roku, Pluto TV, YouTube TV, Samsung TV Plus, and its own app, with content also distributed via over-the-air broadcasts until late 2024. As of 2025, its YouTube channel maintains approximately 625,000 subscribers, facilitating video-on-demand access to news segments and live streams. The network's mobile app has surpassed 100,000 downloads on Google Play, reflecting adoption among users seeking on-the-go access. Streaming viewership grew by more than 44% year-over-year as of October 2024, building on a 40% increase from 2023 to 2024, with notable spikes during major events such as coverage. These metrics underscore a focus on (FAST) channels, where audience engagement aligns with broader trends in households. Linear primetime viewership averaged around 33,000 viewers in earlier measurements, though the shift to streaming has emphasized digital metrics over traditional cable ratings. Demographically, Scripps News targets active news consumers in the millennial cohort and cord-cutters, demographics increasingly opting for over-the-air and streaming alternatives to paid cable services. This positions it within a niche of explanatory, platform-agnostic content, contrasting with larger cable news outlets like NewsNation, which reported primetime audiences exceeding 170,000 in key slots during 2025. While not competing directly in scale with established networks, Scripps News's growth reflects appeal among younger viewers disillusioned with traditional TV bundles.

Editorial Approach

Commitment to Neutrality

Scripps News upholds internal standards that prohibit the inclusion of personal opinions or editorializing in its reporting, mandating instead a focus on verified facts and contextual analysis derived from evidence. Journalists are required to prioritize accuracy over speed, reporting only confirmed information and correcting errors promptly and transparently, while avoiding , , or false equivalencies that could introduce . This approach is reinforced through content review processes at every stage, from pitch to final script, to ensure fairness and balance in presentation. To promote , the network's guidelines emphasize rigorous and diverse sourcing, directing reporters to seek insightful perspectives from multiple sides of contentious issues and to disclose any known biases or agendas of sources, such as affiliations with think tanks. This practice aims to provide comprehensive coverage without presuming equal weight for all views but rather weighting them based on evidentiary merit, fostering trust through truthful and authentic . Scripps News publicly affirms this commitment via viewer , stating its mission to deliver news "straight down the middle" without political spin, responsive to feedback on perceived imbalances from across the . In furtherance of these standards, Scripps News entered an agreement with on April 15, 2024, for regular audits of its television and using a involving trained human raters and AI to score for reliability and . This partnership supports ongoing transparency and accountability, aligning with the network's self-described nonpartisan ethos by enabling external verification of its middle-of-the-road positioning and high factual standards, particularly amid advertiser demands for .

Bias Ratings and Analyses

Independent media bias rating organizations have assessed Scripps News as generally centrist or slightly left-leaning, with consistent high marks for factual reliability. places Scripps News in the middle of its scale (neutral/balanced) and rates it as highly reliable for fact reporting and , based on evaluations of content for , , and sourcing quality. similarly rates it as , following a 2020 review that found minimal use of common techniques such as or selective framing in coverage. These assessments contrast with Media Bias/Fact Check's slightly left-center classification, which attributes the lean primarily to story selection patterns favoring liberal perspectives on issues like , while still deeming factual reporting high due to proper sourcing and low failed fact checks. Analyses of Scripps News' story selection reveal efforts toward balance but occasional tilts in emphasis on economic and social topics. For instance, coverage of U.S. economic policies under different administrations has included both optimistic projections, such as tariff revenues supporting social programs, and cautionary notes on potential recessions or wealth gaps, though critics argue selection amplifies progressive angles on inequality over market-driven growth narratives. On social issues, reporting on topics like immigration has highlighted public support for enforcement measures alongside humanitarian concerns, aligning with empirical polling data rather than ideological priors. Media Bias/Fact Check's left-center tilt rating stems from such selections, where stories critiquing conservative policies receive marginally more airtime than equivalents from the left, though empirical verification shows no systemic distortion of data. Causal factors influencing these ratings include structural incentives like advertiser preferences for non-controversial content, which may encourage avoidance of extreme partisanship but subtly favor mainstream narratives less adversarial to corporate interests. Independent raters note Scripps News' transparency initiatives, such as third-party audits, mitigate risks, yet story choices remain human-driven and susceptible to institutional norms in , where left-leaning defaults in topic prioritization persist despite factual rigor. Overall, the convergence on center-to-slight-left ratings underscores Scripps News' positioning as a relatively balanced outlet amid polarized media landscapes, with high reliability scores reflecting adherence to verifiable over narrative spin.

Reception and Criticisms

Awards and Accolades

Scripps News received a News & Documentary Emmy Award on September 26, 2024, for its investigative report "Poisoned Water," which examined the ongoing , water crisis and its health impacts. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) recognized the piece in the category of outstanding investigative reporting, highlighting its use of data-driven analysis and on-the-ground reporting to reveal persistent lead contamination issues despite prior governmental interventions. In 2025, Scripps News earned eight nominations for the 46th , announced on May 1, including for "Darwin's War" in outstanding science and technology coverage, which explored applications in modern conflicts. The network subsequently won in the outstanding category on June 26, 2025, with seven additional nominations across categories such as health reporting and short-form content. These Emmy recognitions, determined by panels of television professionals, underscore peer-evaluated strengths in and factual depth, though such industry-voted honors may underrepresent viewpoints from outlets critiquing mainstream journalistic norms. Scripps News also secured first-place National Headliner Awards on April 30, 2025, for "Darwin's " in international reporting and "Fentanyl: The Silent Toll" in health/science coverage, with two additional wins in the program. The Headliner Awards, administered by a judging panel of veteran journalists, praised the reports for their explanatory clarity on complex global and domestic issues, including the opioid epidemic's causal factors and implications. These accolades serve as markers of technical and narrative excellence within digital news production, yet their selection process, reliant on established media evaluators, can reflect institutional preferences that diverge from broader public or alternative-media assessments of neutrality.

Viewership and Impact

Scripps News experienced significant growth in digital metrics leading up to 2024, with streaming viewership rising more than 40 percent from 2023 levels, reflecting heightened engagement amid shifting media consumption toward online platforms. This expansion contributed to informing underserved audiences, particularly those in regions with limited access to traditional cable news, by leveraging free streaming availability across devices and apps. Post-layoffs in September 2024, which involved winding down 24/7 linear broadcast operations and reducing staff by over 200, the network stabilized its digital footprint, maintaining year-over-year streaming growth exceeding 44 percent through focused content production for online distribution. The network's emphasis on multi-perspective reporting has positioned it to mitigate echo chambers in public , as evidenced by independent assessments rating it as centrist with high factual reliability, distinguishing it from more polarized outlets. This approach fosters retention among viewers seeking balanced coverage, with internal metrics showing sustained audience interaction despite industry-wide fragmentation, thereby supporting causal links to broader trust in non-partisan amid declining overall media confidence. Comparative analyses highlight Scripps News' empirical advantages in reliability scores over ideologically slanted competitors, enabling it to influence by aggregating diverse viewpoints without overt editorial slant.

Controversies and Bias Allegations

In September 2024, E.W. Scripps Company announced the layoff of more than 200 employees at Scripps News, effectively winding down its 24-hour national linear TV newscast operations by November 15, 2024, while retaining a smaller digital-focused team for political, investigative, and international reporting. The company attributed the cuts to a deteriorating advertising market for national news, particularly in free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels, where revenue failed to offset production costs amid cord-cutting and audience fragmentation. Executives framed the move as a strategic pivot to bolster local station profitability, arguing that national expansion had proven unsustainable without diversified income streams like subscriptions or syndication deals. Critics, including affected staff and industry observers, have questioned whether the layoffs stemmed from overambitious scaling into national digital without adequate revenue models, pointing to earlier investments in Scripps as a misallocation amid broader media contraction. However, empirical data on declining TV ad spend—down 10-15% year-over-year in for news segments—supports the company's causal explanation of market-driven necessity rather than isolated mismanagement, as similar cuts hit competitors like ABC News and Live. Allegations of subtle left-leaning bias have persisted despite center ratings from and , with classifying Scripps News as slightly left-center due to story selection that occasionally prioritizes narratives aligning with progressive viewpoints, such as cultural issues or scrutiny of conservative figures. For example, in April 2024, the network planned a dedicated half-hour weeknight program on Donald Trump's legal trials, which drew skepticism from conservative commentators as emblematic of disproportionate focus on adversarial coverage absent equivalent depth for opposing political scandals. During the 2024 cycle, a test graphic aired by a Scripps-owned Pennsylvania station erroneously showing leading prompted conservative claims of rigged projections, though the incident was confirmed as a technical error with no evidence of intentional manipulation. Broader critiques highlight Scripps News' restraint in challenging institutionalized left-leaning assumptions prevalent in mainstream journalism, such as implicit initiatives promoted across Scripps stations in 2021, which emphasized unconscious prejudices without equivalent scrutiny of countervailing ideological influences in academia and media. This approach, while factually accurate in sourcing, has been faulted by media watchdogs for under-emphasizing causal factors like in source reliance, potentially perpetuating polite media norms over rigorous debunking.

Financial Performance

The E.W. Scripps Company's division, encompassing national digital media operations including Scripps News, reported of $206 million in the second quarter of 2025, reflecting a 1.4% year-over-year decline. This segment's performance contributed to overall of $540 million for the quarter, down 5.8% from the prior year, with core advertising pressures evident across national platforms. Earlier in the first quarter of 2025, Networks stood at $198 million, a 5% decrease, despite a 42% surge in connected TV signaling targeted diversification into streaming ad formats. Prior to 2024, the division experienced growth phases driven by expanding digital , particularly in connected and FAST channels, which boosted revenue contributions from national content delivery. However, contractions emerged in and persisted into 2025, with Q4 Networks revenue at $216 million, down 6% year-over-year, amid softening demand for -specific ad inventory. These trends align with broader challenges in the national market, where advertiser pullbacks—attributed in industry analyses to heightened scrutiny over content alignment and boycotts targeting perceived biases—have reduced inflows for digital operations. Per-segment earnings data highlight uneven sustainability, with Networks segment profit rising 48.2% in Q2 2025 to $56 million due to 12.4% expense reductions, offsetting modest revenue dips through cost discipline rather than inflow growth. Diversification efforts, such as prioritizing connected TV over traditional ads, yielded 16% growth in that sub-stream for Q4 2024, yet failed to fully counteract declines in core national advertising, underscoring reliance on operational efficiencies for short-term viability.

Challenges in Advertising Market

Advertisers have increasingly shied away from national news programming, citing risks associated with political and brand safety concerns, which has directly impacted revenue for outlets like Scripps News. In September 2024, CEO Adam Symson attributed the decision to wind down Scripps News' 24/7 national broadcast channel to this adverse climate, noting that advertisers resist associating with politically divisive content amid heightened national polarization. This reluctance stems from broader incentives where brands prioritize avoiding backlash over potential reach in news environments, leading to persistent revenue shortfalls for news providers dependent on ad dollars. Programmatic advertising shifts have compounded these pressures by automating ad placements toward lower-risk, non-controversial , often deprioritizing sites due to algorithmic assessments of content volatility. The rise of programmatic channels, projected to capture 96.8% of new display ad dollars in 2025, favors predictable environments over , where adjacent political coverage can trigger advertiser flight and reduced CPMs. For Scripps, this manifested in core declines, such as a 1.9% drop to $137 million in its local media division during Q2 2025, with national networks facing similar headwinds amid off-cycle political ad lulls. Conservative-led boycotts against perceived biased media have further eroded ad support industry-wide, incentivizing brands to redirect budgets away from outlets entangled in cultural debates, though specific campaigns targeting Scripps News remain limited. In response, Scripps pursued (FAST) models to diversify revenue, partnering with platforms for targeted user acquisition and ROI tracking in ad campaigns launched around 2023. However, these efforts have yielded limited profitability restoration, as evidenced by ongoing segment revenue dips— down 1.4% to $206 million in Q2 2025—and the ultimate scaling back of national news operations, underscoring the structural challenges in monetizing news amid advertiser aversion.

References

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  22. https://ir.scripps.com/static-files/05d15acb-fa6c-4bef-92c0-70e859953c4a
  23. https://www.nexttv.com/news/scripps-news-expands-lineup-of-live-shows-and-launches-promo-campaign
  24. https://ir.scripps.com/news-releases/news-release-details/ion-bounce-scripps-news-launch-youtube-tv-new-agreement-scripps
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  26. https://scrippsnews.com/business/company-news/scripps-news-to-debut-on-jan-1
  27. https://apnews.com/article/technology-lifestyle-business-television-arts-and-entertainment-f3c1c9318d6ec00b9c5cbd8baeecf9c9
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  35. https://www.ajc.com/news/business/scripps-news-to-slash-jobs-in-atlanta-as-parent-company-cuts-costs/JCUACUNFXBHUZHY5IGIL7EI7DA/
  36. https://www.imdb.com/news/ni64853247/
  37. https://ir.scripps.com/
  38. https://scripps.com/our-brands/local-media/
  39. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/832428/000095015204006060/l09071asv3.htm
  40. https://scripps.com/company/leadership/
  41. https://scripps.com/press-releases/scripps-launches-plan-to-evolve-company-structure-and-position-it-to-capture-new-growth-opportunities/
  42. https://scripps.com/press-releases/scripps-consolidates-news-leadership-under-award-winning-news-executive-kate-obrian/
  43. https://thedesk.net/2024/09/kate-o-brian-leaving-scripps-news/
  44. https://ir.scripps.com/news-releases/news-release-details/scripps-names-matt-simon-vp-scripps-news
  45. https://www.scrippsnews.com/business/company-news/scripps-news-announces-new-streaming-strategy-and-new-editorial-leader
  46. https://www.scrippsnews.com/us-news/news-literacy/how-a-news-story-is-made
  47. https://www.biasly.com/sources/newsy-media-bias/
  48. https://scripps.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/SCRIPPS-JOURNALISM-ETHICS-GUIDELINES-2024.pdf
  49. https://scripps.com/press-releases/scripps-news-to-expand-documentary-programming-by-creating-new-longform-unit/
  50. https://www.scrippsnews.com/shows/scripps-news-reports
  51. https://tv.youtube.com/browse/scripps-news-reports-with-chance-seales-UCE4U1M3RYuYIdpumwLMCuIw
  52. https://www.scrippsnews.com/shows
  53. https://scripps.com/press-releases/scripps-news-debuts-lineup-of-new-programs/
  54. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/scripps-news-new-streaming-programming-includes-a-blend-of-live-events-and-enterprise-reporting-302307170.html
  55. https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/scripps-news-unveils-new-streaming-programming-plans
  56. https://www.scrippsnews.com/science-and-tech
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  61. https://scripps.com/press-releases/scripps-completes-cable-satellite-carriage-agreements-covering-75-of-its-pay-tv-households/
  62. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.newsy&hl=en_US
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  64. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/scripps-news-election-broadcast-media-layoffs/
  65. https://ustvdb.com/networks/scripps-news/
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  68. https://www.nexttv.com/news/74-of-young-adults-say-theyve-cut-cord-or-plan-to
  69. https://www.scrippsnews.com/viewer-spotlight/viewer-spotlight-our-effort-to-present-fact-based-unbiased-news
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  94. https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/ew-scripps-ssp-q2-revenue-falls-6
  95. https://www.emarketer.com/content/programmatic-driving-growth-worldwide-display-ad-spending
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  97. https://tvnewscheck.com/business/article/scripps-q2-station-revenue-drops-8-3/
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