Scripps is backing out of a ambitious effort to offer national news across its many TV stations, and its reasons for doing so may give rivals the shudders.
The Cincinnati owner of TV stations and national networks like ION told staffers Friday that it plans to shutter the national news programming produced by its Scripps News unit, resulting in what are expected to be 200 job cuts. Scripps in early 2023 combined its live-streaming Newsy outlet with its local-news operations and its Washington bureau to create Scripps News, which distributed national news programming across the company’s local stations and via streaming outlets.
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The layoffs are to be completed by November 15.
The company found less-than-robust support for the venture from Madison Avenue, according to Adam Symons, Scripps’ CEO. “Amidst an already difficult linear television advertising marketplace, many brands and agencies have decided that advertising around national news is just too risky for them given the polarized nature of this country, no matter the accolades and credentials a news organization like Scripps receives for its objectivity,” he told staffers Friday. “I vehemently disagree, but it is hurting Scripps News, along with every other national linear and digital news outlet.”
Many TV-news operations have grappled with declining support from top advertisers. Media-buying executives say many of their clients prefer not to have to deal with potential backlash that results from the perception that their commercials support tough political rhetoric issued by candidates for office, or some of the hot talk and opinion expressed by cable-news hosts in primetime or regular contributors to those shows.
In recent months, several mainstream news operations have put new emphasis on roundtable programs that rely on a range of personalities, rather than a single opinion whose biases and alignments are on full display each evening. Fox News Channel has found great success with “The Five,” which uses several of its mainstay hosts. MSNBC recently launched the trio of Michael Steele, Alicia Menendez and Symone Sanders-Townsend with a program called “The Weekend.” And CNN has gained some small traction by launching a new format with its 10 p.m. “NewsNight,” which now features a roundtable of squabbling contributors moderated by host Abby Phillip.
“The tough reality is that despite doing remarkable and award-winning journalism, building our OTA audience steadily since we launched, and doubling our weekly OTA revenue in the last year, the national ad market simply did not sustain over the air Scripps News as a viable business,” said Kate O’Brian, a veteran of ABC News and Al Jazeera America who was named in 2024 to head all of the company’s news operations, in a memo released internally Friday. “Even with these gains, the company simply could not find the revenue in the marketplace to support the over the air broadcast.”
O’Brian said she will leave Scripps as part of its decision.
Scripps in recent years has worked on developing a suite of national networks and used them to gain clout among advertisers. The company has used properties like its National Spelling Bee to court interest and has even dipped its toes into sports with an alliance with the WNBA.
“This is not the end of Scripps News as an important part of our company,” said Symson. “We expect approximately 50 Scripps News staff members will remain to report for our local news audiences and produce the streaming and digital content, all under the Scripps News brand. We will prioritize field reporting, our strong political coverage, investigative reporting and our digital and social media presence. This company has a long history of national reporting for local audiences, and Scripps News will continue to connect our viewers to the important events and ideas outside of their communities.”
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