Scripps - General Discussion

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

49 minutes ago, Dave Lampstein said:

I think WITI beats them at 9 if they’re still even doing that show on their True Crime sub. I feel like in a recent book TMJ actually finished 4th, behind WDJT, maybe it was in the demo or HH.

 

Not anymore. WISN discontinued its 9pm news months ago (probably a year ago at this point). Its only WITI and WDJT on WMLW now at that time.

[doublejman69 128]

7 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

 

So in every timeslot, its WISN #1, WITI #2, WTMJ #3, and WDJT #4. Okay.

In the recent past WITI has beat WISN at times in the morning and at 10.

 

To me anyways WDJT has a better product than WTMJ, I think WTMJ has some of that rusted dial going on.
 

I think what’s more remarkable is that the network 5:30 pm newscasts are the highest newscast on WISN, WTMJ and WDJT.
 

20-25 years ago WTMJ was one of the top 5 nbc affiliates for 10/11pm newscasts in the country, getting mid-teens rating, WISN was around a 10 rating for 10pm. Historically, Milwaukee was one of those markets with a higher percentage of people watching local newscasts, I can’t imagine what of kind of ratings most of these other markets gets now. 

[channel2 1042]

16 hours ago, MidwestTV said:

 

KMGH is a total dog in the market and virtually noncompetitive. KDVR and KUSA can pull in more viewers in the 25-54 demo than KMGH has total viewers.

 

KMGH has been the sick man of this market for the last 50 years or so. KBTV blew past them in the 1970s and has been on top for almost the whole time since then.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

Not withstanding the destructive moves in their news departments, I think much of the decline of the Scripps stations was when they sent prime syndication offerings packing to their competitors, in favor of cheaper "inbred" options that have all since been canceled.  And I don't think in any case, any of the shows they sent packing came back. 

 

I would think the only exception would be any stations they bought In recent times that already had pre-existing deals.

 

But running pre-recorded newscast jukeboxes is not a winning formula, especially at the expense of the staff it used to require to put on an actual newscast.

[channel2 1042]

Dumping J! and Wheel was definitely a harbinger. They were rightly lambasted for letting them go at the time and that decision just gets worse all the time.

[Encore 323 79]

20 hours ago, TVLurker said:

Accurate for all Scripps stations present day. Even stations pre-WMAR have become distant last in their respective markets.

Well we can’t say all because KNXV, KSTU, WFTS, WPTV, WXYZ, WTVF, WTVR and the MTN group continue to be bright or semi-bright spots in their markets but Scripps in general does a bad job of running a lot of their stations these days, so there is no surprise why many of them finish dead last.

Edited February 10 by Encore 323

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

45 minutes ago, Encore 323 said:

Well we can’t say all because KNXV, WFTS, WXYZ, and WTVF continue to be semi-bright spots in their markets but Scripps in general does a bad job of running a lot of their stations these days, so there is no surprise why many of them finish dead last.

I'm curious to see how WEWS and WCPO, their "flagships" are holding up these days.  I don't buy for a second from the Nexstar/Tegna paperwork that WOIO is #1 and WJW is #3.

WEWS is probably 2nd or 3rd in Cleveland and WCPO is probably the same in Cincinnati?

Edited February 10 by tyrannical bastard

[MediaZone4K 2661]

On 2/7/2026 at 2:17 PM, ns8401 said:

A glaring downside to the Scrippscasts/avoid live shots thing…. Since nothing is live the reporting packages are always pretty good because they had time to get them right. When there is breaking news or a big event and they have to be live… the young reporters they hire these days seem to struggle mightily because they don’t do it often. That’s what I’ve started noticing in Detroit anyways. Some times they sound great live but other times the same person is tripping over their words and that’s been multiple people having the same issues. 

Agreed. I'm glad they've moved away from  live for live sake. Live shots are useful when there's an active scene, breaking news, or the reporter doesn't have enough time to assemble a package.

 

Reporters can get more creative with their pre-recorded standups versus trying to remember their lines with an active live shot. 

 

Live shots also slow things down. There's nothing worse than being live at 6 o'clock  90 mins from the station when your shift ends at 6:30. Editing packages is also significantly easier in a studio edit bay than a crammed the news van while waiting to go live.

 

But as you say, without the reps, reporters struggles when they finally have to go live.

Edited February 10 by MediaZone4K

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

On 2/9/2026 at 1:31 PM, Action Newsroom said:

Court TV was sold by Scripps to Dan Abrams' Law & Crime.

https://deadline.com/2026/02/court-tv-acquired-by-dan-abrams-law-and-crime-1236713288/

 

And come March 11th, Court TV as a television network, will cease to exist... AGAIN.

 

https://www.linkedin.com/redir/redirect/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthedesk.net%2F2026%2F02%2Fcourt-tv-layoffs-shutting-down%2F&urlhash=GZ61&mt=6r4gTlb8kfXlrrFSpPXc2yveFcsC543LpP_1gNZ_xTOa_WFF078js4tlSz3060dVRACIrGixui2GCYK5lzh4NP_omI-1jTgMXfR-xGMiz8Xm4Wmj0hdukg&isSdui=true

Edited February 11 by TheRolyPoly
Edited due to double posting.

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

8 hours ago, TheRolyPoly said:

 

And come March 11th, Court TV as a television network, will cease to exist... AGAIN.

 

https://www.linkedin.com/redir/redirect/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthedesk.net%2F2026%2F02%2Fcourt-tv-layoffs-shutting-down%2F&urlhash=GZ61&mt=6r4gTlb8kfXlrrFSpPXc2yveFcsC543LpP_1gNZ_xTOa_WFF078js4tlSz3060dVRACIrGixui2GCYK5lzh4NP_omI-1jTgMXfR-xGMiz8Xm4Wmj0hdukg&isSdui=true

I'd be curious to see how this plays out over the affiliate base and if Scripps has a channel to fill in for any contractual duration.

Other groups may just shutter the subchannels or fill in with their own non-carried diginets.  Nexstar could build out their "Rewind TV" footprint in some markets and even take back the network if the contract to air it has lapsed or expired elsewhere.

[nathannah 2792]

Why would you sell the network without subchannel rights remaining steady, especially for a channel whose core audience is 50+?

[TheRolyPoly 3510]

Now, its being told that the network will move to New York but NOT shut down the channel, despite earlier reports.

 

https://www.linkedin.com/redir/redirect/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthedesk.net%2F2026%2F02%2Flaw-crime-court-tv-future%2F&urlhash=LL13&mt=LXmm03EwTfAPPZyn1u1BI3q-KkQ5J8HznmF2vsmd34GQa9e9xSveMXqoz75XyconbdKDCUGk7KQG45gQy5bRDO-O3h1r-wVZfn9zRvTdstaep6hF55vOAQ&isSdui=true

[DENDude 259]

It's interesting to me that the deal between Scrips & Gray involving (KKCO/KOAA/& KJCT) has yet to close and seems to be in waiting... 

And now they are trying to sell WFTX, WRTV & Court TV.  Is scrips in that bad of financial shape?   Should scrips even continue with this little trade, or should they just Sell KOAA to Gray and walk away from the Grand Junction deal all together?

[GraphicsMan 345]

On 2/9/2026 at 2:20 PM, MidwestTV said:

 

KMGH is a total dog in the market and virtually noncompetitive. KDVR and KUSA can pull in more viewers in the 25-54 demo than KMGH has total viewers.

Are they ABC’s weakest station.

[channel2 1042]

On 2/11/2026 at 7:30 PM, DENDude said:

It's interesting to me that the deal between Scrips & Gray involving (KKCO/KOAA/& KJCT) has yet to close and seems to be in waiting... 

And now they are trying to sell WFTX, WRTV & Court TV.  Is scrips in that bad of financial shape?   Should scrips even continue with this little trade, or should they just Sell KOAA to Gray and walk away from the Grand Junction deal all together?

 

Isn't the combination of KOAA and KKTV holding the deal up? I feel like any iteration of that deal that calls for KOAA to be combined with KKTV, or WILX to be combined with WSYM, isn't going to pass muster, at least, not without years of delays (like Gray's effort to buy KDLT and merge it with KSFY)...

 

Gray's deals to acquire stations from Block and Allen have also progressed slowly, almost assuredly for the same reason (for one thing, Gray would own three licenses in Louisville, adding Block's WDRB and WBKI to its own WAVE)

Edited February 13 by channel2
clarifying about other Gray deals

[Megatron81 343]

Was Adam the CEO when Scripps dumped Wheel & J in 2011 or 2012? I think they also did that with ET which ET in Detroit went to many TV station when WXYZ dropped it they did bring it back in the fall of 2025. And FOX2 got Access Hollywood back which I think before losing it was on since day 1 but I could be wrong on that before Scripps took Access Hollywood. I remember them doing Let's Ask America Game show which GSN put on late at night for a couple of years in 2013 to 2015 that aired on Scripps TV stations

 

I only saw The List a couple of times FOX17 in West Michigan aired it on the weekend in Jan 2021 felt it was very low budget and cheap just didn't like the topics they were talking about either. FOX17 did put it on in the afternoons in the fall of 2021 to the end in June of 2023. Also tried a newscast during the COVID for a year called The Now then moved it to the overnights before the morning news in the last few months in 2021.

 

Then a pay for play show that only lasted a year for Scripps News took over the timeslot finally gave in and put a sitcom at 7PM when Scripps News shutdown OTA.   

[channel2 1042]

Rich Boehne was CEO then. I believe he was also the one who lamented the "business model" when Scripps decided to shut down the Rocky Mountain News.

[The Frog 442]

Scripps To Repurchase 23 Ion Stations For $54M.

[mre29 1967]

8 hours ago, The Frog said:

Scripps To Repurchase 23 Ion Stations For $54M.

 

Hmmm. Making themselves too big for Sinclair to afford?

 

Ah, this is buried at the very end:

 

Quote

Symson said that Sinclair Broadcasting Group’s overtures to acquire the company have drawn to a close. “The Scripps board of directors made it clear that Sinclair’s proposal wasn’t in the interest of all Scripps stakeholders, nor shareholders, and they rejected the Sinclair acquisition proposal. Nothing new has happened since, and I really don’t expect it to.”

 

[tyrannical bastard 4676]

54 million seems like a large amount of money for a company of Scripps' condition.  It virtually makes themselves a poison pill to any company that tries to buy them.

 

Even a market like Cleveland would be a triopoly unless they rid themselves of the WDLI license tied to WVPX's frequency since WDLI's spectrum was sold in the spectrum auction by TBN, their prior owners.

Edited February 27 by tyrannical bastard

[mre29 1967]

So, it looks like the 23 stations in question are the only stations Inyo owns. Then again, Inyo's website might not be all that up-to-date -- the most recent item on the news page is about the acquisition of those same stations.

 

[TVLurker 389]

I wonder when the creditors will sell the company piecemeal?

 

Scripps should also make a choice whether to keep going with their network stations or their ION stations.

[ns8401 995]

2 hours ago, TVLurker said:

I wonder when the creditors will sell the company piecemeal?

 

Scripps should also make a choice whether to keep going with their network stations or their ION stations.

That’s the mostly likely scenario I think… break it up into pieces and sell it.

[mre29 1967]

On 2/27/2026 at 7:16 PM, TVLurker said:

Scripps should also make a choice whether to keep going with their network stations or their ION stations.

 

Of course, keeping Ion going would mean programming the network with more than just police procedurals and true-crime shows...

 

[l_miro 245]

19 hours ago, mre29 said:

 

Of course, keeping Ion going would mean programming the network with more than just police procedurals and true-crime shows...

 

 

they seem to be copying CW formula of just add sports and wait

 

On 2/27/2026 at 7:16 PM, TVLurker said:

I wonder when the creditors will sell the company piecemeal?

 

Scripps should also make a choice whether to keep going with their network stations or their ION stations.

 

not necessarily, though 3 or more creditors can band together and force a bankruptsy. Scripps could do an LME and offer repayment priority to lenders who stretch the due out, spin off their better assets into a new company and borrow against that to repay lenders. Or just offer 10-11% interest from the current 9%+ to have their due date bumped up.

 

there's an odd expectation or a rumor of a 2028-2030 broadcast UHF auction that sounds like what everyone's planning as an exit. Obama wanted UHF Ch 20+ to go mobile, that's 40x40MHz FDD or 96MHz TDD mode. All of UHF in TDD mode would be 126MHz, which isn't half bad. Leaving high VHF in ATSC 3 for repack. Another is a spin off ala Versant of smaller non-core stations to become someone else's problem. Either way If political advertising comes below the $11B projection for 2026 Scripps and Sinclair, would more likely be restructuring, 2027 being an off year they might end up cash strapped. 3Q2026 will give us a hint.