Scripps - General Discussion

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

It's too bad that "issues of character" aren't enforced by the FCC.  That should rule out people like Dujuan McCoy from owning TV stations.

(screengrab from FTVLive)

https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2025/11/2/how-about-this-guy-as-your-owner

[Georgie56 3661]

According to the Wall Street Journal, Sinclair has brought a stake in Scripps and wants to buy the company.

Edited November 17, 2025 by Georgie56

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

33 minutes ago, Georgie56 said:

According to the Wall Street Journal, Sinclair has brought a stake in Scripps and wants to buy the company.

 

[LTSC1980 130]

 

[Georgie56 3661]

Scripps responds:

 

Quote

The company’s board has and will continue to evaluate any transactions and other alternatives that would enhance the value of the company and would be in the best interest of all company shareholders. Likewise, the board will take all steps appropriate to protect the company and the company’s shareholders from the opportunistic actions of Sinclair or anyone else.

 

 

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

Let's just hope it's Sinclair acting like they're a powerful company (again) and all talk and not enough action to pull this deal off.

 

Yes, both companies have seen better days, but Sinclair getting Scripps could easily kill both companies.  Scripps can barely manage all of what they have including all of the glut from the Ion deal.  And proven in their disastrous management of the former Fox/Bally RSNs, they should not even be entrusted to run a lemonade stand.

But in this FAFO world that's once again open for business, pretty sure our lord and savior will greenstamp this deal before the "files" can be released.  TegStar too...

[GoldenShine_10 263]

That would make Nexstar and Tegna look sane by comparison...

[GoldenShine_10 263]

 

It sounds like this is a hostile takeover attempt that Scripps does not want. It's pure pressure by Sinclair.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

I wonder if the 10 percent rule still applies.  Once a stake reaches that,  IIRC, it's considered ownership under current FCC rules.

 

Sinclair is just buying enough to stay under the radar ..for now...

Edited November 17, 2025 by tyrannical bastard

[Megatron81 343]

I didn't have this on my BINGO card Sinclair taking a stake in Scripps at just 8%. Seems like Scripps is having none of it really what the Scripps board needs to do is fire the CEO why does Adam still have a job? Running Scripps into the ground shouldn't have bought ION a few years ago that was their undoing in my opinion. Sorry for beating that dead horse once again.

[GoldenShine_10 263]

One possible scenario is that Scripps seeks Chapter 11 protection if it wants to fend off Sinclair.

 

https://rbr.com/confirmed-sinclair-targeting-scripps-with-big-share-snare/

[GoldenShine_10 263]

Meanwhile, Reuters is chiming in. Saying that this is a bully tactic.

 

https://www.reuters.com/commentary/breakingviews/sinclairs-brash-tv-ma-script-could-use-rewrite-2025-11-17/

 

I see 4 scenarios:

 

1) Scripps gets dragged in and accepts a Sinclair deal, despite being a horrific thought.

 

2) Scripps goes for Chapter 11 to try to stave them off.

 

3) Scripps talks to another company and attempts a merger that avoids Sinclair, although the choices are limited.

 

4) Scripps tries to wait it out, although the pressure may be too much.

[JRyan 694]

Very hard to tell at this early stage if this deal can even be done.  There was a time until very recently that I would've considered a deal like this to not only be impossible but also a downgrade for Scripps' stations.

 

Honestly, I'm at a point that this may be marginally a good thing for the majority of the remaining Scripps' stations.   While "Scrippscasting" may have been an attempt at cutting costs, it has done far more harm with watering down newscast quality and making it nearly unwatchable.  Whatever Scripps had as being a premium brand has all but been thrown down the toilet by corporate consultants.  It's been very sad to watch but also undeniable.

 

I am concerned for certain markets, especially in Nashville where Sinclair already has a significant presence.  I'm sure Sinclair has its own intentions with cutting costs (i.e. merging adjacent market newscasts).  But Gray and Allen are also guilty of the same thing to varying degrees.  I'd rather watch a newscast produced live to air with decent attempts made at covering stories of local interest. 

 

If this deal were to materialize, I hope the first order of business by Sinclair is to rescind the Scrippscasting model and put live news back where it belongs.

 

One thing I'll add is I do see this as a downgrade for WFTS in Tampa Bay.  That has been the one station that hasn't been significantly harmed by Scripps overtime.  I'm not so sure that Sinclair will continue to steward WFTS as Scripps has done there.

Edited November 17, 2025 by JRyan
correcting a typo

[Breaking News 888]

This isn't my wishful storytelling-  I was hoping for Gray to make a deal with Sinclair.  Scripps, it's just a matter of time.  Oh Cincinnati WCPO & WKRC- hmm.  

At this point, this whole TV thing on life support just pulled the damn cord already. 

[mre29 1967]

Deadline's article about this news has one particularly interesting tidbit:

 

Quote

Scripps is the third largest operator of ABC affiliates behind Sinclair and Nexstar.

 

Kinda makes me wonder if this is an attempt to get back at Disney for forcing them and Nexstar to carry Kimmel's show. 

[AmericanErrorist 267]

Pure Gordon Gekko stuff right here.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

At one time Scripps was the largest. 

30 years ago, their deal with ABC in the throes of the New World-Fox deal set off other sub-deals like Westinghouse and CBS (after WJZ getting spurned by ABC in favor of WMAR) and even the market swaps caused by that deal alone.

 

It's tragic to see what has become of the company that Edward Willis Scripps founded almost 150 years ago.  What was once a beacon of journalism has morphed into a bungled series of assets on life support after over-extending themselves over and over, while doubling down in the worst ways possible.

Edited November 18, 2025 by tyrannical bastard

[Encore 323 79]

On top of all of this, Scripps is still launching its new graphics for its stations and has other plans in the works for 2026 so there is no way that they will give up the company to Sinclair without a fight, even with their financial problems.

Edited November 18, 2025 by Encore 323

[AmericanErrorist 267]

The obvious next move from Scripps is a poison pill, as the game is afoot.

[JRyan 694]

1 hour ago, Encore 323 said:

On top of all of this, Scripps is still launching its new graphics for its stations and has other plans in the works for 2026 so there is no way that they will give up the company to Sinclair without a fight, even with their financial problems.

 

Although not directly related (as of now), Sinclair's current music/graphics are getting up there in age. Perhaps Sinclair decides to move forward with Scripps' new music/graphics and expand it to other legacy Sinclair stations if they actually manage to pull off a Scripps takeover.

 

On a different note, last time I checked Sinclair is not in the best financial shape either - which makes this situation even more bizarre.

Edited November 18, 2025 by JRyan

[mre29 1967]

2 hours ago, JRyan said:

Although not directly related (as of now), Sinclair's current music/graphics are getting up there in age. Perhaps Sinclair decides to move forward with Scripps' new music/graphics and expand it to other legacy Sinclair stations if they actually manage to pull off a Scripps takeover.

 

Don't give them any ideas!

 

2 hours ago, JRyan said:

On a different note, last time I checked Sinclair is not in the best financial shape either - which makes this situation even more bizarre.

 

Hence my wondering.

 

[TVLurker 389]

it's not like Scripps has any chance of surviving. I initially thought that Scripps acquiring ION would lead to more success cause of Scripps' proven track record with Katz Broadcasting, now the cracks are showing and I'm literally surprised that Scripps survived for this long without a takeover attempt.

 

I thought Scripps and Tegna would last or at least merge together in order to be able to better survive the changing environment but apparently people don't want to even touch broadcast TV because of all the shit the likes of Nexstar and Sinclair have done to their stations that eroded trust and habits. They've dug TV's grave unfortunately.

[AmericanErrorist 267]

1 hour ago, TVLurker said:

it's not like Scripps has any chance of surviving. I initially thought that Scripps acquiring ION would lead to more success cause of Scripps' proven track record with Katz Broadcasting, now the cracks are showing and I'm literally surprised that Scripps survived for this long without a takeover attempt.

 

I thought Scripps and Tegna would last or at least merge together in order to be able to better survive the changing environment but apparently people don't want to even touch broadcast TV because of all the shit the likes of Nexstar and Sinclair have done to their stations that eroded trust and habits. They've dug TV's grave unfortunately.

Arguably Nexstar and Tegna made the worst of an already bad hand because of streaming. The entire TV news infrastructure (including national and major international outlets) has been rocked by streaming, and none them have really recovered.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

There's going to be a reckoning when affiliation deals are up. The question is, who pulls out of broadcast TV first?

 

My money's on ABC since they water down their network content considerably and have a really bad taste in their mouth from Nexstar and Sinclair .dictating what should air on their stations (boycotting JKL)

 

As bad as the CW seems to be under Nexstar, it may be best thing going for them when the big networks start pulling away....

And if Scripps holds on long enough and starts losing networks as well, this programming from Ion and Katz may be a blessing in disguise.

Edited November 18, 2025 by tyrannical bastard

[ABC 7 Denver 1889]

On 11/18/2025 at 4:01 AM, AmericanErrorist said:

Arguably Nexstar and Tegna made the worst of an already bad hand because of streaming. The entire TV news infrastructure (including national and major international outlets) has been rocked by streaming, and none them have really recovered.

 

The thing that is most frustrating to me is that management has doubled down on aggregating linear distribution and content. They aren't innovating... at all.