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The E.W. Scripps Company’s largest business is local television. Its stations air local news, sports and entertainment, including programming supplied by ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. Cable, satellite and online television distributors pay to carry these station signals, generally under contracts that charge a fee per subscriber. These payments provide most local-station revenue; businesses also buy advertising during broadcasts and on the stations’ digital platforms.
Scripps also operates national networks, including ION, Bounce, Scripps News and Court TV, distributed through broadcast television, pay-TV providers and connected-TV platforms. These networks earn mainly from advertising. Across the company, advertising supplies most revenue, and the price advertisers pay depends on audience size, viewer demographics and demand for available advertising time.
The business depends on attracting viewers and maintaining distribution and network-affiliation agreements. Falling pay-TV subscriber counts reduce the base on which local carriage fees are charged, while Scripps pays the major broadcast networks for their programming. Political advertising brings substantially more business in election years, especially presidential election years. Its stations must also retain Federal Communications Commission licenses, and FCC ownership limits restrict which stations Scripps may own.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Nexstar and E.W. Scripps compete for local advertisers and national-network viewers, while both collect fees from distributors carrying their television channels. Nexstar’s advertising and distribution revenue offers a comparison for Scripps’ two main television revenue streams.
Sinclair competes with E.W. Scripps for local television advertising, and both charge distributors to carry their stations and operate national networks. Sinclair’s local-media advertising and channel-carriage revenue are the closest comparisons for Scripps’ local station business.
Gray Media and E.W. Scripps compete for advertisers through large local television station groups, but have also agreed to swap stations in several markets without a cash payment. Watch whether the swap receives regulatory approval and closes: Scripps would gain stations in Colorado Springs, Grand Junction and Twin Falls while transferring its Lansing and Lafayette stations to Gray.
E.W. Scripps relies on Fox for FOX network programming at four affiliated stations, while the two companies compete for television advertisers. Scripps pays affiliation fees for those programs, and FOX sells most of the advertising time within the network broadcasts.
Versant Media Group competes with E.W. Scripps’ national networks for viewers and advertisers through its news and genre-entertainment channels. Advertising revenue at networks such as MS NOW, USA Network and Oxygen True Crime offers a comparison for the audience-dependent advertising business at Scripps News, ION and Court TV.
Entravision Communication and E.W. Scripps compete for businesses’ local television and digital advertising spending, though Entravision focuses on Latino audiences. Entravision’s U.S. digital revenue, mostly from local businesses buying campaign management and advice, offers a narrower comparison for Scripps’ local digital advertising demand.
Fed Interest Rate Decision
The Fed’s policy-rate decision signals the direction of borrowing costs, which can change interest expense on Scripps’ variable-rate Credit Agreement term loans and leave less or more cash for its television businesses.
Expected4.0%Last release4.0%
If it comes in above expectations
A higher-than-expected rate can raise interest costs on Scripps’ variable-rate loans, leaving less operating cash for station and network needs.
If it comes in below expectations
A lower-than-expected rate can reduce interest costs on Scripps’ variable-rate loans, leaving more operating cash for station and network needs.
Entravision Communication earningsEVC
Entravision's U.S. digital revenue will show whether local businesses are still buying digital advertising services, a narrower demand check for E.W. Scripps' local digital ads.
Watch Entravision's U.S. digital revenue, particularly the business tied to local companies. Growth says local advertisers are still paying for digital services, supporting demand for E.W. Scripps' local digital ads; a decline is a warning that this demand may be weakening. The companies offer different services, so Entravision's result cannot show whether Scripps won or lost particular ad spending.
Skydance Corporation earningsSKYD
Skydance's report will show whether fees from CBS-affiliated stations remain a revenue stream for the supplier whose programming E.W. Scripps pays to carry.
Read Skydance's fee revenue from CBS-affiliated stations as the supplier-side counterpart to E.W. Scripps' cost of carrying CBS programming. Stable or higher fees show that this supplier revenue stream remains in place while Scripps continues to bear the programming cost; lower fees mean the supplier-side stream has shrunk, but do not prove that Scripps' contracted rate or cost fell. The takeaway is whether this programming cost remains a significant part of Scripps' station economics.
Versant Media Group, Inc. earningsVSNT
Versant's network advertising revenue will show how advertisers are spending on national news and entertainment channels that compete with E.W. Scripps' networks.
Compare Versant's network advertising revenue with the revenue trend at E.W. Scripps' national networks. If Versant grows and Scripps does not, advertisers are still spending on comparable channels, but Scripps may not be sharing in that demand. If both weaken, the pressure may be broader across national-network advertising or TV audiences. The comparison shows the competitive backdrop, not whether Scripps itself gained or lost viewers.
Sinclair, Inc. earningsSBGI
Sinclair's local advertising and channel-carriage revenue will show how local advertisers and distributors are paying station groups that compete with E.W. Scripps.
Separate Sinclair's local advertising revenue from its channel-carriage revenue, then compare each direction with E.W. Scripps' Local Media core advertising and distribution revenue. If both hold up, local advertisers and distributors are still paying station groups, supporting Scripps' market backdrop. Falling advertising points to pressure from advertisers; falling carriage revenue points to pressure from distributors. The split shows which shared revenue stream is the greater concern for Scripps' local business.
The E.W. Scripps Company earningsThis company
E.W. Scripps' report will show whether local advertising and distributor fees, alongside national-network advertising, support the costs of its stations and programming.
Read Local Media's core advertising revenue alongside its distribution revenue, then see whether Scripps Networks' revenue supports segment profit, the company's measure of business performance before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and certain other items. If those revenues hold up and segment profit does too, advertisers and distributors are supporting the costs of programming and stations. If revenue falls, or holds while segment profit weakens, costs are squeezing the businesses' ability to earn a profit.
