The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

How does a media company founded in 1878, The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP), navigate a landscape where connected TV revenue is up 41% but political advertising is down sharply in a non-election year, driving a year-to-date loss of $120 million through Q3 2025? It's a complex picture: the company is a diversified media player with over 60 local TV stations and national networks like ION, but it's also a family-controlled entity where the Scripps family holds roughly 93% of the voting shares, a structure that complicates any potential M&A activity, like the recent 8.2% stake acquisition by Sinclair Inc. You need to understand how the firm is leveraging its broadcast spectrum and strategic asset sales-like the recent $123 million in station divestitures-to manage its $2.7 billion in debt and pivot to digital growth. Let's dig into the history, ownership, and revenue mechanics that truly define this unique player in the broadcast space.

The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) History

The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) didn't start as a broadcasting giant; it began as a single newspaper in 1878, driven by a mission to serve the working class. The company's history is a masterclass in strategic pivot, moving from a print-centric newspaper empire to a diversified broadcast and digital media powerhouse, especially after its major 2021 acquisition of ION Media.

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

The company was formally established on November 2, 1878, with the publication of the first issue of the Cleveland Penny Press.

Original location

The origins trace back to Cleveland, Ohio, where the first newspaper was launched. The corporate headquarters later moved to Cincinnati, Ohio.

Founding team members

The core founder was the entrepreneurial journalist Edward Willis Scripps. He was supported by family, including his sister Ellen Browning Scripps and half-brothers George Henry and James Edmund Scripps, who were instrumental in the early organization and funding.

Initial capital/funding

Edward W. Scripps borrowed $10,000 to start the Penny Press, which was a significant sum then. He initially held a 20% stake in the paper, with the remainder owned by his half-brothers.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The E.W. Scripps Company's longevity comes down to a few bold, transformative decisions that redefined its business model, moving from ink to airwaves.

The shift to broadcasting in the 1930s and 40s was defintely the first big one. They didn't just add radio and TV; they started building a new core competency that would eventually replace print entirely. This foresight allowed them to capitalize on the massive growth of television in the latter half of the 20th century.

The most significant strategic moves in the modern era center on divestiture and massive acquisition:

• The 2008 Spin-off: Separating the high-growth cable networks (Scripps Networks Interactive) from the traditional broadcast business was a classic financial move. It created two focused, publicly traded entities, maximizing shareholder value for both.
• The 2015 Print Exit: Walking away from the newspaper business-the company's 137-year-old foundation-was a clear signal to the market. It confirmed Scripps' commitment to being a broadcast and digital-first company.
• The 2021 ION Media Acquisition: This was a game-changer. It instantly made Scripps a major national player, giving them the infrastructure to launch and distribute national networks like Scripps News and the sports programming on ION Television.

Looking at the near-term, 2025 actions show a focus on efficiency and debt management. For example, the company completed a refinancing of its 2027 bonds and announced a station swap with Gray Media to create new duopolies, which should strengthen local market financials. To understand the implications of these moves on the balance sheet, you should read Breaking Down The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

The latest quarterly results, with 2025 Q2 revenue at $540 million, reflect a company that has successfully navigated its transition, but still faces the ongoing challenge of high debt and a volatile advertising market. The constant strategic realignment-like the recent station swaps-is an active way to protect and strengthen their local media footprint. It's a trend-aware approach: cut costs, pay down debt, and strengthen the core broadcast assets. Finance: track the leverage ratio post-refinancing by year-end.

The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) Ownership Structure

The E.W. Scripps Company is a publicly traded media enterprise, but its ownership structure is unique due to a dual-class share system that concentrates control in the founding family. This means that while you can buy shares on the open market, the Scripps family dictates the company's direction through their control of the super-voting stock.

Given Company's Current Status

The E.W. Scripps Company is a publicly traded company listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol SSP (Class A). Its market capitalization as of November 2025 stands at approximately $0.36 Billion USD, reflecting its size in the diversified media sector. The company operates with a dual-class share structure, a critical detail for any investor to understand.

The Class A shares, which are the ones traded publicly, are non-voting, while the Scripps family holds the vast majority of the Class B shares, which carry the super-voting rights. This structure makes Scripps a functionally controlled company, as the family controls approximately 93% of the total voting interest, effectively limiting the influence of public shareholders on major corporate decisions like a sale or merger. This dynamic was highlighted recently when Sinclair, Inc. acquired an 8.2% stake in the outstanding Class A (non-voting) shares as of November 17, 2025, signaling potential merger and acquisition (M&A) interest.

For a deeper dive into the company's financial standing, you should review Breaking Down The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Given Company's Ownership Breakdown

The ownership of the non-voting Class A stock is primarily split between institutional investors and the general public, but the voting power remains firmly with the founding family's Class B shares.

The recent purchase by Sinclair, Inc. of 8.2% of the Class A shares is a significant institutional position, but it does not grant them any substantial voting power to force a transaction.

Given Company's Leadership

The company is steered by a seasoned management team, which, despite the family's voting control, is responsible for the day-to-day execution of the strategic plan, especially in the face of a challenging media landscape. The average tenure of the management team is approximately 4.8 years, suggesting a stable, experienced core.

• Adam Symson: President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He was appointed in August 2017, giving him a tenure of approximately 8.25 years as of late 2025.
• Jason Combs: Chief Financial Officer (CFO). He is a key figure in communicating the company's financial strategies to the investment community.
• Kim Williams: Chairman of the Board.
• Carolyn Micheli: Executive Vice President (EVP), Investor Relations. She is the main point of contact for shareholders and analysts.
• Becky Riegelsberger: Treasurer and Senior Vice President (SVP), Tax.

This team is focused on driving value by aggressively pursuing new revenue streams, like the Connected TV distribution, which is projected to generate more than $120 million in 2025. That's defintely a measurable growth area.

The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) Mission and Values

The E.W. Scripps Company's core identity is anchored in its long-standing commitment to public service journalism, a purpose that guides its strategic business decisions beyond simple profit motives. This cultural DNA is encapsulated in a mission to inform and connect communities, a principle that still shapes its investment in local media and national networks in 2025.

You're looking at a company that has been around since 1878, so their values aren't just corporate jargon; they are the foundation of their business model. For a deeper dive into their balance sheet, check out Breaking Down The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Given Company's Core Purpose

The company's purpose is to engage in successful, growing enterprises in information and entertainment while maintaining the highest ethical standards. This means balancing the need to create shareholder value with the responsibility of being the Fourth Estate (the press) in American democracy. That's a tough line to walk, but it's defintely what they aim for.

Official mission statement

The mission statement is a direct adoption of the company's historic motto, reflecting its deep roots in journalism and public utility. It's a powerful, simple charge that has been in place since 1923:

• Give light and the people will find their own way.

This mission drives the continued investment in objective, quality local journalism across its portfolio of more than 60 local TV stations in over 40 markets, even as the media landscape shifts dramatically. They are focused on giving audiences the facts, not just entertainment.

Vision statement

The vision statement is more modern and reflects the company's evolution into a diversified media enterprise that spans broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms.

• We create connection.

This vision is visible in their business strategy, like the launch of Scripps Sports, which aims to deepen connections with audiences and advertisers through partnerships with leagues like the WNBA and the National Women's Soccer League. This strategic move is about finding new ways to connect, which drives revenue growth.

Given Company slogan/tagline

The company's longtime motto serves as its primary slogan, symbolizing its commitment to transparency and public service, often represented by the company's lighthouse logo.

• Give light and the people will find their own way.

This ethos translates into concrete actions, such as the company's commitment to protecting shareholder value, as seen in its November 2025 response to Sinclair Inc.'s acquisition of an approximately 8.2% stake in its Class A shares. They stated they would take all steps to protect the company and shareholders from opportunistic actions, showing a commitment to long-term stability over short-term pressure. Here's the quick math: protecting the company's journalistic integrity is seen as protecting its long-term brand equity, which is crucial when you're reporting a Q1 2025 revenue of $524 million and managing a loss of $18.8 million.

The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) How It Works

The E.W. Scripps Company operates as a diversified media business, primarily generating revenue by selling advertising inventory across its portfolio of local broadcast stations and national television networks, plus securing distribution fees from cable and streaming providers.

Honestly, the company's core strategy right now is a deliberate pivot: they are using premium live sports content and their massive broadcast spectrum holdings to drive growth in the fragmented streaming and connected TV (CTV) market, all while aggressively paying down debt.

The E.W. Scripps Company's Product/Service Portfolio

Scripps divides its operations into two main segments, which is how you should think about their revenue mix. The Local Media division remains the largest contributor, but the Networks division is the growth engine, especially with its sports programming.

The E.W. Scripps Company's Operational Framework

The operational framework focuses on three clear levers: content acquisition, platform distribution, and cost control. This is how they manage to stay profitable in a non-political advertising year, even with industry headwinds.

• Content Aggregation and Monetization: They acquire high-value, live content, like the WNBA and NHL rights, and then distribute it across both their linear broadcast stations and their national networks like ION. This dual-platform approach maximizes ad revenue from a single content investment.
• Hybrid Distribution Model: Scripps leverages its status as the nation's largest holder of broadcast spectrum to deliver content over-the-air (OTA) for free, plus they secure retransmission consent fees from cable and satellite companies. This hybrid model hedges against the industry-wide cord-cutting trend.
• Expense Discipline: Management has been defintely focused on operational efficiency. In the third quarter of 2025, Networks segment expenses dropped 7.5%, which helped the division deliver a strong 27% segment margin. Local Media expenses were also down more than 4% year-over-year.
• Portfolio Optimization: They are actively selling non-core or underperforming assets to strengthen the balance sheet. For example, the sale of two television stations for total proceeds of $123 million in 2025 is a concrete example of this strategy.

For a deeper dive into the numbers, you should read Breaking Down The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

The E.W. Scripps Company's Strategic Advantages

As a seasoned analyst, I see three distinct advantages that give The E.W. Scripps Company an edge over its peers right now, especially in a tough media environment.

• Dominant Broadcast Spectrum Holdings: Owning a vast amount of broadcast spectrum is a massive, long-term asset. It provides the foundation for their OTA reach and gives them significant leverage in negotiating distribution fees with pay-TV providers, which accounted for $186 million in Q3 2025 distribution revenue alone.
• First-Mover Advantage in Niche Sports: Their aggressive move into women's sports (WNBA, NWSL) and local NHL rights is a masterstroke. The WNBA season on ION saw linear and connected TV revenue grow 92% over the 2024 season. This strategy captures premium advertising dollars that are increasingly chasing live, non-NFL sports content.
• Deleveraging Focus: The company is prioritizing debt reduction, which is crucial for financial stability. They reduced their net leverage ratio to 4.6x at the end of Q3 2025, down from 4.9x at the start of the year. This focus strengthens the balance sheet and gives them flexibility for the next election cycle's advertising boom.

The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) How It Makes Money

The E.W. Scripps Company primarily makes money through two core channels: selling advertising time on its local television stations and national networks, and collecting retransmission fees from cable and satellite providers for carrying its local stations.

The company's financial engine runs on the dual fuel of Local Media, which captures essential advertising and distribution revenue, and Scripps Networks, which is aggressively pivoting to high-growth Connected TV (CTV) advertising to offset traditional media headwinds. You need to look past the volatile political advertising cycle to see the underlying strength in core ad sales and the strategic growth in streaming.

The E.W. Scripps Company's Revenue Breakdown

For the third quarter of 2025, The E.W. Scripps Company reported total revenue of $526 million. The revenue mix is heavily influenced by the two-year political advertising cycle, which makes year-over-year comparisons tricky in an odd-numbered year. Here is the segment breakdown for Q3 2025:

Here's the quick math: Local Media generated $325 million in revenue, while Scripps Networks brought in $201 million. The Local Media segment's overall revenue was down 27% year-over-year because political advertising revenue dropped from $125 million in Q3 2024 (an election year) to just $5.1 million in Q3 2025. What this estimate hides is that the core advertising business, excluding political ads, was up 1.8% to $132 million.

Business Economics

The company's business model is a mix of traditional broadcasting economics and a clear, aggressive pivot toward digital growth and high-margin sports content. They are fundamentally a content distribution and advertising platform.

• Local Media: This segment relies on two main revenue pillars:
  • Advertising: Core advertising (like automotive, retail, services) is the steady base, but political advertising is the massive, high-margin biennial spike. The recent focus on the 'Scripps Sports' strategy, including local deals like the Tampa Bay Lightning, is driving core ad growth and commanding premium rates.
  • Distribution Revenue (Retransmission Fees): This is the money cable and satellite companies pay to carry Scripps' local stations. While subscriber numbers continue to decline at a mid-single-digit pace, the company is stabilizing revenue through successful renewal negotiations that cover about 25% of its households.
• Scripps Networks: This division, which includes channels like ION, Bounce, and Court TV, is a national advertising play with a clear growth vector in Connected TV (CTV).
  • Connected TV (CTV) Growth: CTV revenue was up a massive 41% year-over-year in Q3 2025. Management projects this stream, which was essentially zero a few years ago, will exceed $120 million for the full fiscal year 2025. That's a nine-figure revenue line they built from scratch.
  • Sports as a Differentiator: Strategic partnerships, especially in women's sports like the WNBA and National Women's Soccer League, are driving strong advertising demand and premium ad rates on ION and its streaming platforms.

The core economic challenge is managing the secular decline in traditional cable subscribers against the high cost of content and a heavy debt load, but the CTV growth is defintely a bright spot.

The E.W. Scripps Company's Financial Performance

As of November 2025, the company's financial performance shows a mix of strategic progress and macro-economic pressure, particularly in a non-election year. Year-to-date revenue through Q3 2025 was $1.6 billion, down 11% from the prior year, primarily due to the political cycle comparison.

• Profitability & Margins: The company reported a GAAP net loss of $49 million, or $0.55 per share, in Q3 2025, which included significant non-operating costs like a $7.6 million loss on debt extinguishment. The Scripps Networks division, however, delivered a strong segment margin of 27% in Q3 2025, aided by a 7.5% reduction in expenses.
• Deleveraging and Liquidity: A major focus is debt reduction. Total debt remains high at approximately $2.6 billion. However, the net leverage ratio has improved to 4.6x as of Q3 2025. Management is actively selling non-core assets, like two network-affiliated stations for $123 million in total proceeds, to pay down debt. The current ratio, a measure of short-term liquidity, was 1.31 as of December 2024, indicating adequate capacity to cover immediate liabilities.
• Preferred Stock Constraint: A critical financial note is the existence of cumulative undeclared and unpaid preferred dividends totaling $101 million as of September 30, 2025. Under the terms of the Berkshire Hathaway preferred equity investment, the company is prohibited from paying common dividends or repurchasing common shares until all preferred shares are redeemed.

To dive deeper into the ownership structure and the implications of the preferred stock, you should read Exploring The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) Market Position & Future Outlook

The E.W. Scripps Company is in a pivotal, high-stakes phase, aggressively pivoting to a national network and sports-driven strategy to offset secular declines in its core local media business. While the company is projected to report a statutory loss of around $1.04 per share for the 2025 fiscal year on consensus revenue of approximately $2.16 billion, its future trajectory hinges on successfully executing its high-growth Scripps Networks strategy and navigating significant debt and M&A pressure. The company is defintely a value play on the future of over-the-air (OTA) broadcasting and Connected TV (CTV) growth.

Competitive Landscape

In the U.S. broadcast and local media space, scale is everything, and The E.W. Scripps Company is a smaller, more focused player compared to the giants. The key metric for market influence is national household reach, which dictates retransmission fee leverage and advertising scale.

Opportunities & Challenges

The company's strategic plan is clear: reduce debt and use its national networks (ION, Court TV, Scripps News) and broadcast spectrum to capture new, high-margin revenue streams. But, this requires navigating a difficult media environment and a heavy debt load.

Industry Position

The E.W. Scripps Company is positioned as a mid-tier broadcast group that owns a valuable, fully-distributed national network portfolio. Its value proposition is shifting from local news dominance to national reach and niche content, specifically live sports and entertainment via ION. The company is actively managing its balance sheet, having paid down debt and successfully refinanced its term loans in April 2025. You need to look past the headline revenue decline-which is partly due to the non-political advertising year-and focus on the Networks division's margin improvement. That's the real story.

• National Network Scale: The ION network's ability to reach up to 100% of U.S. TV households is a powerful, high-margin asset for national advertising and sports programming.
• Financial Health Focus: Management is disciplined, using $123 million from station sales to reduce debt and lower its net leverage ratio to 4.6x as of Q3 2025.
• Competitive Catalyst: The recent move by Sinclair highlights The E.W. Scripps Company's strategic assets are attractive, especially its national spectrum holdings and its sports strategy.

For a deeper dive into who is betting on this strategic pivot, check out Exploring The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?