EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 832428
Filing Year: 2025
Filename: 832428_10-K_2025_0000832428-25-000012.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1. Business
Founded in 1878, The E.W. Scripps Company motto is "Give light and the people will find their own way." Our vision statement is We Create Connection. We serve audiences and businesses through a portfolio of more than 60 local television stations in more than 40 markets and national news and entertainment networks. Our local stations have programming agreements with ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. The Scripps Networks reach nearly every American through national news outlets Scripps News and Court TV and popular entertainment brands ION, Bounce, Grit, ION Mystery, ION Plus and Laff. We also serve as the longtime steward of one of the nation's largest, most successful and longest-running educational programs, the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Additionally, we provide a television viewing device called Tablo that allows households to watch and record dozens of free, over-the-air and streaming channels anywhere in their home without a subscription. For a full listing of our brands, visit http://www.scripps.com.
Scripps is a leader in free, ad-supported television. All of our local stations and national entertainment networks reach consumers over the air, and all of our television brands can also be found on free streaming platforms. We have continued to expand in the fast-growing connected television marketplace, and we are leveraging our leadership position in the growing over-the-air marketplace. Currently, one in three non pay-TV homes is watching television over the air alongside their streaming subscription services, and as cord-cutting and streaming service price increases continue, over-the-air channels will be an important part of television viewers' choices. To that end, Scripps continues efforts to broaden antenna use even more and is working with key partners in retail, manufacturing and antenna installation to help television owners understand the quality and quantity of programming available over the air and the ease of antenna use.
In January 2023, we announced a strategic restructuring and reorganization of the Company to further leverage our strong position in the U.S. television ecosystem and propel our growth across new distribution platforms and emerging media marketplaces. The strategic restructuring and reorganization created a leaner and more agile operating structure through the centralization of certain services and the consolidation of layers of management across our operating businesses and corporate office. This initial reorganization of the operating structure was substantially completed by the end of the 2024 second quarter and resulted in more than $40 million in annual savings, of which $20 million of the annualized savings was achieved by the end of 2023. We also have continued to identify efficiency opportunities within the functional departments of our organization, which resulted in additional restructuring charges over the last two quarters of 2024.
In April 2024, we began a public process to explore the sale of our Bounce multi-cast television network. Bounce, which is available in approximately 95% of U.S. television broadcast homes, broadcasts a combination of syndicated shows, movies and original content that is created for Black audiences.
On July 2, 2024, we announced a multi-year agreement with the National Hockey League's Florida Panthers ("Panthers"), which began with the 2024-2025 season. Under the new agreement, we have the ability to televise all locally produced Panthers preseason, regular-season and round one games of the postseason with distribution on cable, satellite and over-the-air television.
On September 27, 2024, we announced plans to significantly reduce Scripps News' national network programming beginning in the fourth quarter of 2024. As of November 15, 2024, Scripps News was no longer broadcast over the air, although it remained on streaming and digital platforms with weekday live coverage from the field. Beginning at the start of 2025, the scaled back Scripps News operation is expected to generate annualized net savings of $35 million.
In January 2025, we announced the formation of a joint venture with Gray Media, Nexstar Media Group, Inc. and Sinclair, Inc. Leveraging broadcasters’ uniquely efficient network architecture and the ATSC 3.0 transmission standard, EdgeBeam Wireless, LLC will provide expansive, reliable and secure data delivery services. This partnership creates a spectrum footprint that no individual broadcaster could achieve on its own, unlocking the potential of ATSC 3.0 to offer nationwide coverage for data delivery to billions of potential devices on market-disrupting terms. We contributed cash consideration of $6.4 million for our 25% ownership interest in the joint venture.
On March 10, 2025, we entered into a Transaction Support Agreement (“TSA”) that was reached with certain of the Company’s lenders. Concurrently, we entered into commitment letters to provide for a new accounts receivable securitization facility and a new revolving credit facility. Transactions contemplated by the TSA and commitment letters, which still need to be consummated, include, among others, entering into new revolving credit and asset securitization facilities and the exchange or repayment of certain of our existing term loans.
Financial information for each of our operating segments can be found under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements of this Form 10-K.
LOCAL MEDIA
Our Local Media segment includes more than 60 local television stations and their related digital operations. We have operated broadcast television stations since 1947, when we launched Ohio’s first television station, WEWS, in Cleveland. Our television station group reaches approximately 25% of the nation’s television households and includes 18 ABC affiliates, 11 NBC affiliates, nine CBS affiliates and four FOX affiliates. We also have 11 independent stations and 10 additional low power stations.
We provide free over-the-air news, information, sports and entertainment content that informs and engages our local communities. We distribute our content on multiple platforms, including broadcast, digital, mobile, social and over-the-top ("OTT"). It is our objective to develop content and applications designed to enhance the user experience on each of those platforms. Our ability to cover our communities across various digital platforms allows us to expand our audiences beyond traditional broadcast television.
We believe the most critical component of our product mix is compelling news content, which is an important link to the community and aids our stations' efforts to retain and expand viewership. We have trained employees in our news departments to be multi-media journalists, allowing us to pursue a “hyper-local” strategy by having more reporters covering local news for our over-the-air and digital platforms.
In addition to news programming, our television stations run network programming, local sporting events, syndicated programming and original programming. Our strategy is to balance syndicated programming with original programming that we control. We believe this strategy improves our Local Media division's financial performance. We also provide live, local sporting events on many of our stations by acquiring local television broadcast rights for these events.
Revenue cycles and sources
Core Advertising
Our core advertising is comprised of sales to local and national businesses. The advertising includes a combination of broadcast spots as well as digital and connected TV advertising. Our core advertising revenues accounted for 33% of our Local Media segment’s revenues in 2024. Pricing of broadcast spot advertising is based on audience size and share, the demographics of our audiences and the demand for our limited inventory of commercial time. Our stations compete for advertising revenues with other sources of local media, including competitors’ television stations in the same markets, radio stations, cable television systems, newspapers, digital platforms and direct mail.
Local advertising time is sold by each station’s local sales staff calling upon advertising agencies and local businesses, which typically include advertisers such as car dealerships, health-care facilities, home improvement companies and other service providers. We seek to attract new advertisers to our television stations and to increase the amount of advertising sold to existing local advertisers by relying on experienced local sales forces with strong community ties, producing news and other programming with local advertising appeal and sponsoring or promoting local events and activities.
National advertising time is generally sold by calling upon advertising agencies, whose clients typically include businesses such as automobile manufacturers and dealer groups, telecommunications companies and insurance providers.
Digital revenues are primarily generated from the sale of advertising to local and national customers on our business websites, tablet and mobile products, over-the-top apps and other platforms.
Cyclical factors influence revenues from our core advertising categories. Some of the cycles are periodic and known well in advance, such as election campaign seasons and special programming events (e.g. the Olympics or the Super Bowl). For example, our NBC affiliates currently benefit from incremental advertising demand from the coverage of the Olympics. Economic cycles are less predictable and beyond our control.
Due to increased demand in the spring and holiday seasons, the second and fourth quarters normally have higher advertising revenues than the first and third quarters.
Political Advertising
Political advertising is generally sold through our Washington, D.C. sales office. Advertising is sold to presidential, gubernatorial, U.S. Senate and House of Representative candidates, as well as for state races and local issues. It is also sold to political action groups (PACs) and other advocacy groups. Political advertising revenues were 20% of our Local Media segment's revenues in 2024, an election year.
Political advertising revenues increase significantly during even-numbered years when local, state and federal elections occur. In addition, every four years, political spending is typically elevated further due to the advertising for the presidential election. Because of the cyclical nature of each political election cycle, there has been a significant difference in our operating results when comparing the performance in even-numbered years to that in odd-numbered years. Additionally, our operating results are impacted by the number, importance and competitiveness of individual political races and issues discussed in our local markets.
Distribution Revenues
We earn revenues from cable operators, satellite carriers, other multi-channel video programming distributors (collectively "MVPDs"), other online video distributors and subscribers for access rights to our local broadcast signals. Distribution revenues were 46% of our Local Media segment's revenues in 2024. These arrangements are generally governed by multi-year contracts and the fees we receive are typically based on the number of subscribers the respective distributor has in our markets and the contracted rate per subscriber. During 2023, we completed renewal negotiations on distribution agreements covering approximately 75% of our subscriber households.
Expenses
Employee costs accounted for 38% of our Local Media segment's costs and expenses in 2024.
We centralize certain functions, such as master control, traffic, graphics, research and political advertising, at company-owned hubs that do not require a presence in the local markets. This approach enables each of our stations to focus local resources on the creation of content and revenue-producing activities. We expect to continue to look for opportunities to centralize functions that do not require a local market presence.
Programming costs, which include network affiliation fees, local sports rights fees, syndicated programming and shows produced for us or in partnership with others, were 45% of our Local Media segment's costs and expenses in 2024.
Our network-affiliated stations broadcast programming is supplied to us by the Big 4 broadcast networks in various dayparts. Under each affiliation agreement, the station broadcasts all of the programs transmitted by the network. In exchange, we pay affiliation fees to the network, and the network sells a substantial majority of the advertising time during these broadcasts. We expect our network affiliation agreements to be renewed upon expiration.
Information concerning our full-power television stations, their network affiliations and the markets in which they operate is as follows:
Station Market Network Affiliation/
DTV Channel Affiliation Agreement
Expires in FCC License
Expires in Market Rank(1)
KNXV-TV Phoenix, AZ - Ch. 15 ABC/15 2026 2030 11
KASW -TV Phoenix, AZ - Ch. 61 Ind/27 N/A 2030 11
WMYD-TV Detroit, MI - Ch. 20 Ind/31 N/A 2029 12
WXYZ-TV Detroit, MI - Ch. 7 ABC/25 2026 2029 12
WFTS-TV Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL - Ch. 28 ABC/17 2026 2029 13
KMGH-TV Denver-Aurora, CO - Ch. 7 ABC/7 2026 2030 16
KCDO-TV Denver-Aurora, CO - Ch. 3 Ind/23 N/A 2030 16
WEWS-TV Cleveland, OH - Ch. 5 ABC/15 2026 2029 17
WSFL-TV Miami, FL - Ch. 39 Ind/27 N/A 2029 18
WMAR-TV Baltimore, MD - Ch. 2 ABC/27 2026 2028 24
WRTV-TV Indianapolis, IN - Ch. 6 ABC/25 2026 2029 27
KMCI-TV Kansas City, MO - Ch. 38 Ind/25 N/A 2030 28
KSHB-TV Kansas City, MO - Ch. 41 NBC/36 2027 2030 28
WTVF-TV Nashville, TN - Ch. 5 CBS/36 2026 2029 29
WTMJ-TV Milwaukee, WI - Ch. 4 NBC/32 2027 2029 31
KGTV-TV San Diego, CA - Ch. 10 ABC/10 2026 2030 33
WCPO-TV Cincinnati, OH - Ch. 9 ABC/26 2026 2029 34
KSTU-TV Salt Lake City, UT - Ch. 13 FOX/28 2025 2030 36
KUPX-TV Salt Lake City, UT - Ch. 16 Ind/29 N/A 2030 36
WPTV-TV West Palm Beach-Port St. Lucie, FL - Ch. 5 NBC/12 2027 2029 37
WHDT-TV West Palm Beach-Port St. Lucie, FL - Ch. 9 Ind/34 N/A 2029 37
KTNV-TV Las Vegas, NV - Ch. 13 ABC/13 2026 2030 41
KMCC-TV Las Vegas, NV - Ch. 34 Ind/32 N/A 2030 41
WGNT-TV Norfolk-Virginia Beach, VA - Ch. 27 Ind/20 N/A 2028 42
WTKR-TV Norfolk-Virginia Beach, VA - Ch. 3 CBS/16 2025 2028 42
WXMI-TV Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, MI - Ch. 17 FOX/19 2025 2029 43
WKBW-TV Buffalo, NY - Ch. 7 ABC/34 2026 2031 49
WFTX-TV Ft. Myers-Cape Coral, FL - Ch. 36 FOX/34 2025 2029 51
WTVR-TV Richmond, VA - Ch. 6 CBS/23 2025 2028 55
KJRH-TV Tulsa, OK - Ch. 2 NBC/8 2027 2030 62
WGBA-TV Green Bay-Appleton, WI - Ch. 26 NBC/14 2027 2029 63
WACY-TV Green Bay-Appleton, WI - Ch. 32 Ind/36 N/A 2029 63
WLEX-TV Lexington, KY - Ch. 18 NBC/28 2027 2029 65
KMTV-TV Omaha, NE - Ch. 3 CBS/31 2025 2030 68
KWBA-TV Tucson, AZ - Ch. 58 Ind/21 N/A 2030 73
KGUN-TV Tucson, AZ - Ch. 9 ABC/9 2026 2030 73
KOAA-TV Colorado Springs, CO - Ch. 5 NBC/25 2027 2030 83
KXXV-TV Waco-Killeen, TX - Ch. 25 ABC/26 2026 2030 91
KIVI-TV Boise, ID - Ch. 6 ABC/24 2026 2030 107
WSYM-TV Lansing, MI - Ch. 47 FOX/28 2025 2029 112
WTXL-TV Tallahassee-Thomasville, FL-GA - Ch. 27 ABC/27 2026 2029 118
KERO-TV Bakersfield, CA - Ch. 23 ABC/10 2026 2030 121
KATC-TV Lafayette, LA - Ch. 3 ABC/28 2026 2029 124
KSBY-TV Santa Barbara-Santa Maria, CA - Ch. 6 NBC/15 2027 2030 130
KRIS-TV Corpus Christi, TX - Ch. 6 NBC/26 2027 2030 135
KTVQ-TV Billings, MT - Ch. 2 CBS/10 2026 2030 164
KPAX-TV Missoula, MT - Ch. 8 CBS/7 2026 2030 167
KXLF-TV Butte-Bozeman-Silver Bow, MT - Ch. 4 CBS/5 2026 2030 187
KRTV-TV Great Falls, MT - Ch. 3 CBS/7 2026 2030 193
KTVH-TV Helena, MT - Ch. 12 NBC/12 2027 2030 204
(1) Market rank is based on the 2024 Comscore HH Universe estimates.
SCRIPPS NETWORKS
Our Scripps Networks segment includes national news outlets Scripps News and Court TV as well as popular entertainment brands ION, Bounce, Grit, ION Mystery, ION Plus and Laff. The networks reach nearly every U.S. television home through free over-the-air broadcast, cable/satellite, connected TV and/or digital distribution.
The segment generates revenue principally from the sale of advertising time on the national television networks. Advertising revenue generated by our networks depends on viewership ratings and advertising rates paid by advertisers for delivery of advertisements to certain viewer demographics. Advertising revenue is sold in the upfront, scatter (together called general market), direct response and connected TV markets. In the upfront market, advertisers buy advertising time for upcoming seasons and, by committing to purchase in advance, lock in the advertising rates they will pay for the upcoming year. In the scatter market, advertisers buy their spots closer to the time when the spots will run. The mix of upfront and scatter market advertising time sold is based upon the economic conditions at the time the sales take place, impacting the sell-out levels management is willing or able to obtain. The demand in the scatter market then impacts the pricing achieved for our remaining general market advertising inventory. Scatter market pricing can vary from upfront pricing and can be volatile. In most cases, advertising sales in the upfront and scatter markets are subject to ratings guarantees that require us to provide additional advertising time if the guaranteed audience levels are not achieved. Similar to the scatter market, direct response advertisers buy their spots closer to the time when the spots will run, and pricing can vary based on demand. Direct response advertisers buy spots based on expected performance, giving advertisers an efficient and measured way to reach their customers. Direct response advertising is not subject to ratings guarantees.
Revenue from advertising is subject to seasonality, market-based variations and general economic conditions. Due to increased demand in the spring and holiday seasons, the second and fourth quarters normally have higher advertising revenues than the first and third quarters.
Programming expenses, employee costs and sales and marketing expenses are the primary operating costs of our Scripps Networks segment. Programming expenses accounted for 55% of our Scripps Networks segment's costs and expenses in 2024, reflecting the costs of investing in quality programming, costs of distribution from carriage agreements with local television broadcasters and cable and satellite providers and costs of programming acquired under multi-year sports rights agreements. The national networks are carried on both our owned and operated television stations and from carriage agreements with other broadcast stations. Our over-the-air ("OTA") television networks are well-positioned to capitalize on cord-cutting trends and provide a platform for delivering mass audiences to national advertisers.
ION
Our ION national television network is available in nearly 99% of U.S. television broadcast homes. It is available through its owned and operated OTA broadcast TV stations, on pay TV platforms and independent broadcast affiliates that carry the ION programming. ION broadcasts popular scripted crime and justice procedural programming and has the fifth-largest average prime-time audience among all broadcast networks on television. ION generally elects government-mandated must-carry provisions, thereby ensuring its programming is available on cable and satellite systems. ION is available as a free advertising-supported streaming television ("FAST") channel with distribution across multiple streaming services.
Bounce
Bounce is available in approximately 95% of U.S. television broadcast homes. Bounce is an African American broadcast network dedicated to inspiring, empowering and entertaining viewers. Bounce programming represents a rich mosaic of the African American community, featuring both licensed and original dramas, sitcoms, movies and specials. Original programming includes the hit series Johnson and Mind Your Business. Bounce XL is available as either an app or FAST channel with distribution on multiple streaming services.
Court TV
Court TV is available in approximately 93% of U.S. television broadcast homes. Court TV is devoted to live, gavel-to-gavel coverage, in-depth legal reporting and expert analysis of the nation's most important and compelling trials. Court TV is available as either an app or FAST channel with distribution on multiple streaming services.
Grit
Grit is available in approximately 98% of U.S. television broadcast homes and appeals more strongly to male viewers. Grit’s programming line-up is primarily iconic Western series and movies. Grit Xtra is available as a FAST channel with distribution across multiple streaming services.
ION Mystery
ION Mystery is available in approximately 98% of U.S. television broadcast homes, and its programming is anchored in popular true-crime and justice procedural programming. Programming on ION Mystery includes NCIS and CSI franchises. ION Mystery is available as a FAST channel with distribution across multiple streaming services.
ION Plus
ION Plus is available in approximately 92% of U.S. television broadcast homes. The network features popular action and suspense programming that includes Hudson & Rex, Bull, MacGyver and Scorpion. ION Plus is available as a FAST channel with distribution across multiple streaming platforms.
Laff
Laff is available in approximately 98% of U.S. television broadcast homes and targets comedy-lovers in the 18 to 49 age range. Programming on Laff includes popular sitcoms such as Home Improvement, Last Man Standing, Man with a Plan and According to Jim. Laff More is available as a FAST channel with distribution across multiple streaming services.
Scripps News
Scripps News is our national streaming news channel focused on bringing objective, fact-based reporting and analysis on world and national news, including politics, entertainment, science and technology. In November 2024, we stopped distribution of the channel on over-the-air television. Scripps News is available on multiple streaming and digital platforms as either an app or FAST channel. The network’s programming lineup includes The National Report, Morning Rush, Scripps News On The Scene, Happening Now In America, Today as it Happened and Scripps News Showcase.
Information concerning our Scripps Networks FCC licensed television stations and the markets in which they operate is as follows:
Station Market DTV
Channel FCC License Expires in Market Rank(1)
WPXN New York, NY 34 2031 1
KILM Los Angeles, CA 24 2030 2
KPXN Los Angeles, CA 24 2030 2
WCPX Chicago, IL 34 2029 3
WPPX Philadelphia, PA 34 2031 4
KPXD Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX 25 2030 5
WPXW Washington, DC 35 2028 6
WWPX Washington, DC 13 2028 6
WBPX Boston, MA 22 2031 7
WDPX Boston, MA 22 2031 7
WPXG Boston, MA 23 2031 7
WPXA Atlanta, GA 16 2029 8
KKPX San Francisco-San Jose, CA 33 2030 9
KPXB Houston, TX 32 2030 10
WXPX Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL 29 2029 13
KPXM Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 16 2030 14
KWPX Seattle, WA 33 2031 15
WPXM Miami, FL 21 2029 18
WOPX Orlando, FL 14 2029 19
KSPX Sacramento, CA 21 2030 20
WINP Pittsburgh, PA 16 2031 22
WRBU St. Louis, MO 28 2029 23
WFPX Raleigh-Durham, NC 32 2028 25
WRPX Raleigh-Durham, NC 32 2028 25
KPXG Portland, OR 22 2031 26
WNPX Nashville, TN 32 2029 29
WPXE Milwaukee, WI 30 2029 31
WSFJ Columbus, OH 19 2029 32
KPXL San Antonio, TX 26 2030 35
WPXC Jacksonville, FL 24 2029 44
WPXQ Providence, RI 17 2031 50
WPXL New Orleans, LA 33 2029 52
WQPX Wilkes Barre-Scranton, PA 33 2031 57
WPXK Knoxville, TN 18 2029 59
WKOI Dayton, OH 31 2029 61
KTPX Tulsa, OK 28 2030 62
KFPX Des Moines, IA 36 2030 71
WIPL Portland, ME 24 2031 74
WPXR Roanoke-Lynchburg, VA 27 2028 75
WLPX Charleston-Huntington, WV 18 2028 78
WZRB Columbia, SC 25 2028 79
WSPX Syracuse, NY 36 2031 82
KPXR Cedar Rapids, IA 22 2030 85
WEPX Greenville-Jacksonville, NC 36 2028 99
WPXU Greenville-Jacksonville, NC 16 2028 99
WTPX Wausau-Stevens Point, WI 19 2029 132
(1) Market rank is based on the 2024 Comscore HH Universe estimates.
Federal Regulation of Broadcasting - Broadcast television is subject to the jurisdiction of the FCC pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (“Communications Act”). The Communications Act prohibits the operation of broadcast stations except in accordance with a license issued by the FCC and empowers the FCC to revoke, modify and renew broadcast licenses, approve the transfer of control of any entity holding such a license, determine the location of stations, regulate the equipment used by stations and adopt and enforce necessary regulations. As part of its obligation to ensure that broadcast licensees serve the public interest, the FCC exercises limited authority over broadcast programming by, among other things, requiring certain children's television programming and limiting commercial content therein, requiring the identification of program sponsors, including specific rules related to identifying programming sponsored or provided by foreign governments, regulating the sale of political advertising and the distribution of emergency information, and restricting indecent programming. The FCC also requires television broadcasters to close caption their programming for the benefit of persons with hearing impairment and to ensure that any of their programming that is later transmitted via the Internet is captioned. Network-affiliated television broadcasters in larger markets must also offer audio narration of certain programming for the benefit of persons with visual impairments. Reference should be made to the Communications Act, the FCC’s rules and regulations, and the FCC’s public notices and published decisions for a fuller description of the FCC’s extensive regulation of broadcasting.
Broadcast licenses are granted for a term of up to eight years and are renewable upon request, subject to FCC review of the licensee's performance. While there can be no assurance regarding the renewal of our broadcast licenses, we have never had a license revoked, have never been denied a renewal, and all previous renewals have been for the maximum term.
FCC regulations govern the ownership of television stations, and the agency is required by statute to review these rules every four years to determine if they continue to serve the public interest. In an Order released in December 2023, the FCC concluded the review that commenced in 2018, largely retaining the existing multiple ownership rules and adding a prohibition on television broadcasters using multicast channels or low power television stations to acquire two “top-four” affiliations in a single market. Existing combinations of two or more “top-four” affiliations are allowed to continue but cannot be sold together to a single buyer. The rule changes adopted in December 2023 went into effect in March 2024. Those changes have been challenged in Court, and those cases remain pending. The 2022 quadrennial review of the ownership rules also remains open.
With respect to national television ownership, the FCC voted in December 2017 to consider whether and how it might revisit its rule preventing applicants from obtaining an ownership interest in television stations whose total national audience reach would exceed 39% of all television households. Earlier in that year, the FCC also reinstated the 50% discount applied to the number of households deemed covered by UHF television stations. Scripps' current national audience reach is 38.0% of television households after application of the “UHF discount.”
We cannot predict the outcome of these open proceedings, including pending court reviews of the FCC's most recent changes to its television ownership rules, or the effect of further FCC rule revisions on our stations' operations or our business.
The restrictions imposed by the FCC’s ownership rules may apply to a corporate licensee due to the ownership interests of its officers, directors or significant shareholders. If such parties meet the FCC’s criteria for holding an attributable interest in the licensee, they are likewise expected to comply with the ownership limits, as well as other licensee requirements such as compliance with certain criminal, antitrust and antidiscrimination laws.
In order to provide additional spectrum for mobile broadband and other services, the FCC in 2017 conducted an incentive spectrum auction in which some television broadcasters agreed to voluntarily give up spectrum in return for a share of the auction proceeds. No Scripps station went off-air or relinquished a UHF-band allocation for a VHF-band allocation as a result of the auction, but many of Scripps' full-power, Class A, and low-power and translator stations relocated to new channels in the reduced broadcast spectrum band. All Scripps stations completed this transition timely.
Broadcasters are continuing to deploy a new voluntary digital television standard, ATSC 3.0. This Internet-protocol based transmission method permits television stations to offer enhanced and innovative services coupled with much improved broadcast signal reception, particularly by mobile devices. The new standard, however, is incompatible with both existing television receivers and with a station’s ability to continue offering its service via the current ATSC 1.0 digital standard. To avoid loss of service to those viewers who lack a new receiver, stations switching to ATSC 3.0 transmission are required to arrange for a local station that continues to use the current 1.0 standard to air (on a subchannel) programming “substantially similar” to that offered by the switching station on its 3.0 channel. In return, the 3.0 station could host the 3.0 signal of its 1.0 “host” station. This “simulcasting” requirement was originally due to “sunset” in 2023 but has been extended by the FCC and is now due to expire in July 2027, unless further extended. Scripps stations in several markets are operating with the new transmission protocol.
The FCC remains committed to permitting non-broadcast spectrum use in the “white spaces” between television stations' protected service areas despite broadcasters’ concerns about the possibility of harmful interference to their existing service and to the potential for innovative uses of their broadcast spectrum in the future. In 2015, the FCC proposed to reserve a 6 MHz “vacant channel” in each market for non-broadcast, unlicensed services (including wireless microphones) which, if adopted, would have further reduced the spectrum available for television broadcasting. The reservation of spectrum in the “broadcast” band for interference-protected non-broadcast services could have had a particularly adverse effect on the ability of low-power and translator television stations to offer service since these stations enjoy only “secondary” status that offers no protection from interference caused by a full-power station. In late 2020, the FCC declined to adopt its own vacant channel proposal, although it continues to explore other ways to allow use of “white spaces” by unlicensed operators. We cannot predict the outcome of these proceedings or their possible impact on the Company.
In 2022, Congress passed the Low Power Protection Act, which directed the FCC to adopt rules that will allow certain low-power television stations in smaller markets to apply for “Class A” regulatory status, which will provide those stations with increased protection from interference. FCC rules implementing the Low Power Protection Act went into effect May 31, 2024, and eligible stations have until May 30, 2025 to apply for “Class A” status. While certain low power television stations owned by the Company may be eligible to apply for this status, we cannot predict the outcome of any such applications or their possible impact on the Company.
Full-power broadcast television stations generally enjoy “must-carry” rights on any cable television system defined as “local” with respect to the station. Stations may waive their must-carry rights and instead negotiate retransmission consent agreements with local cable companies. Similarly, satellite video providers are required to carry the signal of those television stations that request carriage and that are located in markets in which the satellite carrier chooses to retransmit at least one local station. Satellite video providers may not carry a broadcast station without its consent. For stations that do not elect mandatory carriage, FCC rules require parties to negotiate in “good faith” for retransmission consent agreements, and the FCC has imposed significant fines on parties who have been found to have violated these requirements. The Company has elected to negotiate retransmission consent agreements with cable operators and satellite video providers for the majority of both our network-affiliated stations and our independent stations. Prior to the Company’s 2021 acquisition of ION, only two Scripps stations had elected “must-carry” status, but almost all acquired ION stations rely on “must carry” to ensure carriage.
Other proceedings before the FCC and the courts have reexamined the policies that protect television stations' rights to control the distribution of their programming within their local service areas. For example, the FCC in 2014 initiated a rulemaking proceeding on the degree to which an entity relying upon the Internet to deliver video programming should be subject to the regulations that apply to multi-channel video programming distributors (“MVPDs”), such as cable operators and satellite systems. While the major broadcast networks secured a victory in their lawsuit against the streaming service Locast, with the court finding that its retransmission of local television stations’ signals without their consent violated copyright law, the application of copyright law to other potential streaming services remains uncertain. We cannot predict the outcome of any FCC initiatives to address the use of new technologies to challenge traditional means of redistributing television broadcast programming or their possible impact on the Company.
The FCC may impose substantial penalties for violations of its rules and policies. While uncertainty continues regarding the scope of the FCC's authority to regulate indecent programming, the agency has increased its enforcement efforts regarding other programming issues such as sponsorship identification (including specific rules related to foreign-sponsored programming), broadcasting improper emergency alerts and extending service to persons with disabilities. We cannot predict the effect of the FCC’s enforcement efforts on the Company.
Employees and Human Capital Resource Management
Scripps operates under the fundamental philosophy that people are our most valuable asset. Identifying quality talent is at the heart of everything we do, and our business success is dependent upon our ability to attract, develop and retain highly qualified employees. Our core values of courage, compassion, curiosity and community establish the foundation on which the culture is built and represent the key expectations we have of our employees. Our goal is to hire the best, to spark their passion for the job and then to nourish their career with tools that will help them learn and excel. We believe our culture and commitment to our employees help us attract and retain our qualified talent, while simultaneously providing significant value to Scripps and its shareholders. Our company has a long history of evolving to meet the changing needs of the media consumer.
Employees
As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately 5,000 employees, including full-time and part-time employees. Various labor unions represent approximately 360 employees, all of which are in Local Media. We have not experienced any work stoppages at our current operations since 1985. We consider our relationships with our employees to be good.
Workplace
Scripps is committed to a workplace that reflects the communities where we live, work and play.
Our senior leadership team collaborates with business and human resources leaders to develop and implement objectives and initiatives that are focused on culture (educating, developing, and growing), people (attracting and retaining), and business (accessible/engaged leadership, accountability, and transparency). At its core, our work is about engaging every employee and helping them to participate at work in a way that is most fulfilling for them to experience a workplace culture where they experience the satisfaction of belonging and performing well.
Compensation and Benefits
Critical to our success is identifying, recruiting, retaining and incentivizing our existing and future employees. We strive to attract and retain the most talented employees in the industry by offering competitive compensation and benefits. Our compensation philosophy is based on rewarding each employee’s individual contributions by using a combination of fixed and variable pay, including base salary, bonus, commissions and merit increases, which vary across the business and by role. In addition, as part of our long-term incentive plan for executives and certain employees, we provide share-based compensation to foster our merit-based culture, align our business leaders’ interests with those of our shareholders, and attract, retain and motivate our key leaders.
As the success of our business is fundamentally connected to the well-being of our people, we offer benefits that support their physical, financial and emotional well-being. We provide our employees with access to flexible and convenient medical programs intended to meet their needs and the needs of their families. In addition to standard medical coverage, we offer eligible employees dental and vision coverage, health savings and flexible spending accounts, paid time off, employee assistance programs, voluntary identity theft protection, access to student loan assistance programs, voluntary short-term and long-term disability insurance and term life insurance. We also offer a voluntary Employee Stock Purchase Plan ("ESPP") whereby employees can elect to participate through payroll deductions to purchase company stock at a discounted price. Additionally, we offer a 401(k) defined contribution plan to employees and an executive deferred compensation plan to certain senior-level employees. Our benefits vary by location and are designed to meet or exceed local laws and to be competitive in the marketplace.
Professional Development and Training
At Scripps, we recognize that our employees are the foundation of our success. To support their growth and align with the evolving needs of our business, we have prioritized offering flexible, impactful learning and development opportunities. Our programs empower employees at all levels-whether they are new to their roles, aspiring leaders, or seasoned professionals-to develop the skills needed for both current and future success.
We are committed to fostering a culture of continuous learning. In 2024, employees completed training courses tailored to specific roles and skill sets. Our approach ensures that training adapts to the demands of the business, with a focus on building competencies critical to future success. Employees can also update their skills, interests and experiences in our career development platform, enabling us to align opportunities with their aspirations and encourage self-driven career exploration. Our leadership programs are designed to cultivate effective leaders at every level, from first-time managers to future executives.
These programs emphasize continuous learning through flexible formats, including self-paced modules, cohort-based learning and live workshops. Participants gain critical skills such as effective communication, team management, and strategic thinking, reinforced through experiential opportunities like coaching and mentorship. By investing in leadership development, we foster stronger team performance, increased employee engagement, and a robust pipeline of future leaders.
To keep pace with rapidly evolving technology, we provide targeted training for employees in key areas such as journalism and sales. These initiatives combine hands-on learning, mentorship, and on-demand resources to enhance job-specific skills. From storytelling and investigative journalism to strategic marketing and client engagement, our training programs are tailored to meet various learning preferences, ensuring employees can grow at their own pace while staying aligned with industry advancements.
By investing in our people, we equip them to thrive in a dynamic environment while driving the innovation and excellence that define Scripps.
Communication and Engagement
We strongly believe Scripps’ success depends on employees understanding how their work contributes to the Company’s overall strategy. To that end, we communicate with our workforce through a variety of channels and encourage open and direct communication, including frequent emails and videos from corporate leaders to all employees; daily company intranet and social media postings; and regular town hall meetings with the CEO and other executives. We also welcome communication from our employees through focus groups and town hall meeting surveys. In addition, Scripps employees across the country are giving back in their local communities through reporting on critical issues, entertaining audiences with quality content, fundraising to help those in need and volunteering for important causes.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A. Risk Factors
For an enterprise as large and complex as ours, a wide range of factors could materially affect future developments and performance. The most significant factors affecting our operations include the following:
Risks Related to Our Businesses
We expect to derive the majority of our revenues from advertising spending, which is affected by numerous factors. Declines in advertising revenues will adversely affect the profitability of our business.
The demand for advertising is sensitive to a number of factors, both locally and nationally, including the following:
•The advertising and marketing spending by customers can be subject to seasonal and cyclical variations and is likely to be adversely affected during economic downturns.
•Programming and content offered by our businesses may not achieve desired ratings or may decline in popularity with its audience.
•Linear TV viewing levels have declined in recent years due to cord-cutting and a migration of viewing to streaming platforms. Any continued detrimental shifts in viewer preferences adversely impact the size and demographic profile of our audiences and put pressure on advertising rates. The largest Subscription Video on Demand services have introduced advertising-supported versions that could take advertising dollars from linear TV.
•Television advertising revenues in even-numbered years generally benefit from political advertising. The amount of political advertising generated in these even-numbered years can be unpredictable as the competitiveness of specific political races and issues in the markets where our television stations operate determines the extent of the benefit we may realize.
•Continued consolidation and contraction of local advertisers in our local markets could adversely impact our operating results, given that we expect the majority of our advertising to be sold to local businesses in our markets.
•Local television stations have significant exposure to advertising in the automotive, retail and services industries. Our national networks have significant exposure to advertising in the consumer-packaged goods, pharmaceutical
and insurance industries. A disruption in advertising spend within these industries could adversely impact our revenue and we may not be able to secure adequate replacement advertisers.
•Growth in advertising revenues will rely in part on the ability to maintain and expand relationships with existing and future advertisers. The implementation and evolution of technological models, where automation replaces existing pricing and allocation methods, could turn advertising inventory into more of a price-driven commodity. These automated solutions could reduce the value of relationships with advertisers as well as result in downward pricing pressure.
•The TV industry is on the verge of adopting new measurement currencies, and measurement providers are also making methodological changes to the way they measure viewing by incorporating set top box and smart TV data. The emerging currencies generally undercount over-the-air ("OTA") viewing, and measurement providers have not prioritized OTA enhancements. If measurement evolves in a direction that does not appropriately capture OTA viewership trends it could reduce the attractiveness of our audiences to advertisers.
•Catastrophic events or geopolitical conditions that disrupt domestic or international economies.
If we are unable to respond to any or all of these factors, our advertising revenues could decline and affect our profitability.
The growth of direct content-to-consumer delivery channels and resulting proliferation of programming alternatives have fragmented our television audiences. Any fragmentation of our audiences could adversely impact advertising rates as well as cause a reduction in the revenues we receive from retransmission consent agreements, resulting in a loss of revenue that could materially adversely affect our broadcast operations.
We deliver our television programming to our audiences primarily over-the-air and through cable and satellite service providers. Our television audience is being fragmented by the digital delivery of content directly to the consumer audience. Content providers, such as the Big 4 broadcast networks, cable networks and other content developers, distributors and syndicators can deliver their programming directly to consumers via the internet concurrently with our distribution via over-the-air and cable and satellite. The delivery of content directly to consumers allows such distributors to compete with the programming we deliver, which may impact our audience size. Any continued fragmentation of our audiences could impact the rates we receive from our advertisers, as well as shift advertisers away from traditional linear advertising to digital advertising. In addition, reduction in the number of subscribers to cable and satellite service providers could impact the revenue we receive under retransmission consent agreements. The reduction of our advertising and distribution revenues from these factors would affect our profitability.
The loss of affiliation and carriage agreements or the costs of renewals could adversely affect our operating results.
Eighteen of our stations have affiliations with the ABC television network, eleven with the NBC television network, nine with the CBS television network and four with the FOX television network. These television networks produce and distribute programming which our stations commit to air at specified times. Networks sell commercial advertising time during their programming, and the Big 4 networks, ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX, also require stations to pay fees for the right to carry their programming. These fees may be a percentage of retransmission revenues that the stations receive (see below) or may be fixed amounts based on the number of households or subscribers in a market.
ION's broadcast stations are primarily carried by cable and satellite operators in their local television markets pursuant to the FCC’s “must carry” rules. Additionally, in certain of our markets, our national networks are carried by local television broadcasters and cable and satellite operators pursuant to negotiated carriage agreements. These contracts typically require us to make fixed fee payments and generally have three to five-year terms.
There is no assurance that we will be able to reach network affiliation or carriage agreements in the future. The non-renewal or termination of our network affiliation agreements would prevent us from being able to carry programming of the respective network. Loss of a network affiliation would require us to obtain replacement programming, which may not be as attractive to target audiences and could result in lower advertising revenues. In addition, loss of any of the Big 4 network affiliations would result in materially lower retransmission revenue. The loss of carriage agreements for our national networks would reduce our advertising revenues and affect our profitability.
Our retransmission consent revenue may be adversely affected by renewals of retransmission consent agreements, by declines in the number of subscribers to multichannel video programming distributor ("MVPD") services, by new technologies for the distribution of video programming, by revised government regulations, or by MVPDs altering their strategies for delivering paid video services.
As our retransmission consent agreements expire, there can be no assurance that we will be able to renew them at comparable or better rates. As a result, retransmission revenues could decrease and retransmission revenue growth could decline over time.
In recent years, the number of subscribers to MVPD services has declined, as the growth of direct internet streaming of video programming to televisions and mobile devices has incentivized consumers to discontinue their cable or satellite service subscriptions. Decreases in the number of MVPD subscribers reduces the revenue we earn under our retransmission agreements.
The use of new technologies to redistribute broadcast programming, such as those that rely upon the Internet to deliver video programming or those that receive and record broadcast signals over the air via an antenna and then retransmit that information digitally to customers’ television sets, specialty set-top boxes, or computer or mobile devices, could adversely affect our retransmission revenue if such technologies are not found to be subject to copyright or other legal restrictions or to regulations that apply to MVPDs such as cable operators or satellite carriers.
Changes in the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the “Communications Act”) or the FCC’s rules with respect to the negotiation of retransmission consent agreements between broadcasters and MVPDs could also adversely impact our ability to negotiate acceptable retransmission consent agreements. In addition, continued consolidation among cable television operators could adversely impact our ability to negotiate acceptable retransmission consent agreements.
A few MVPDs have announced that they are gradually exiting the paid video services side of their business and transitioning their subscribers to YouTube TV. If other MVPDs follow suit and transition subscribers to virtual services, profitability of our business could be adversely affected.
We make investments in television programming ("content") in advance of knowing whether that particular content will be popular enough for us to recoup our costs. Additionally, if costs to acquire this content increase or this content becomes more difficult to obtain, our operating results may be adversely affected.
We incur significant costs for the purchase of television content. We may have to purchase content several years in advance or enter into multi-year agreements, resulting in the commitment of significant costs in advance of knowing whether the content will be popular with audiences. If this acquired content is not sufficiently popular among audiences in relation to the cost we invest in the content, or if we need to replace content that is performing poorly, we may not be able to produce enough revenue to recover our costs. Additionally, increased competition for content from entrants into the market and the exclusive use of content on streaming services owned by content creators could reduce content availability or increase our content costs. A shortfall in the expected popularity of content we distribute, including sports programming for which we have acquired rights, could have a significant adverse effect on our business. Any of these factors could reduce our revenues, result in the incurrence of impairment charges or otherwise cause our costs to escalate relative to revenues.
Our television stations will continue to be subject to government regulations which, if revised, could adversely affect our operating results.
•Pursuant to FCC rules, local television stations must elect every three years to either (1) require cable operators and/or direct broadcast satellite carriers to carry the stations’ over-the-air signals or (2) enter into retransmission consent negotiations for carriage. If our retransmission consent agreements are terminated or not renewed, or if our broadcast signals are distributed on less-favorable terms, our ability to compete effectively may be adversely affected.
•If we cannot renew our FCC broadcast licenses, our broadcast operations will be impaired. Our business depends upon maintaining our broadcast licenses from the FCC, which has the authority to revoke licenses, not renew them, or renew them only with significant qualifications, including renewals for less than a full term. We cannot assure that future renewal applications will be approved, or that the renewals will not include conditions or qualifications that could adversely affect operations. If the FCC fails to renew any of these licenses, it could prevent us from operating the affected stations. If the FCC renews a license with substantial conditions or
modifications (including renewing the license for a term of fewer than eight years), it could have a material adverse effect on the affected station’s revenue potential.
•As also discussed under Federal Regulation of Broadcasting, the FCC has adopted broadcasters’ proposal to permit the voluntary use of a new digital television transmission standard, ATSC 3.0, that is incompatible with the existing standard. Much uncertainty exists concerning the costs, benefits, and public acceptance of the services expected to become possible under this new standard, and television stations could be adversely affected by moving either too quickly or too slowly towards its adoption.
•The FCC and other government agencies are continually considering proposals intended to promote consumer interests. New government regulations affecting the television industry could raise programming costs, restrict broadcasters’ operating flexibility, reduce advertising revenues, raise the costs of delivering broadcast signals, or otherwise affect operating results. We cannot predict the nature or scope of future government regulation or its impact on our operations.
The loss of skilled employees or an inability to attract and retain skilled employees could adversely affect our business.
To execute our strategic plan and maintain business continuity, we must attract and retain personnel with appropriate talent and skills. If we are unable to hire and retain employees capable of performing key functions in our business, or if measures we take to respond to a decrease in labor availability prove ineffective or have unintended negative consequences, our business could be adversely affected. Sustained labor shortages or increased turnover rates, whether caused by general macroeconomic factors or dynamics within our industry (including a shrinking pool of new talent interested in the media business), could lead to increased costs, such as increased wage rates to attract and retain employees, could negatively affect our revenue and profits and could have an impact on our operations and business continuity.
Acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances involve risks and, if said risks are not managed effectively, our operating results could be negatively affected.
We expect to continue making acquisitions and entering into joint ventures and strategic alliances as part of our long-term business strategy. Acquisitions and other strategic transactions involve inherent risks, such as increasing leverage and debt service requirements and combining company cultures, facilities and systems, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. Additionally, our revenues and profitability could be adversely affected if we are unable to implement effective cost controls, achieve expected synergies, or increase revenues as a result of these transactions. Such transactions can also result in unexpected liabilities and potentially divert management’s attention from the operation of our business.
We may evaluate strategic acquisitions and investments in the future, and there are various risks associated with an investment strategy.
We have pursued and may selectively continue to pursue strategic transactions, subject to market conditions, our liquidity, and the availability of attractive investment candidates, with the goal of improving our business. We may not be able to identify other attractive acquisition and investment targets or some of our competitors may have greater financial or managerial resources with which to pursue strategic targets we may pursue. Therefore, even if we are successful in identifying attractive investment targets, we may face considerable competition and be unsuccessful in acquiring such targets.
Acquisitions of television stations are subject to the approval of the FCC and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. Current or future policies of these regulatory authorities could impact our ability to pursue or consummate future transactions and could require us to divest certain television stations if an acquisition under contract would result in excessive concentration in a market or fail to comply with FCC ownership limitations. There can be no assurance that an acquisition will be approved by these regulatory authorities, or that a requirement to divest existing stations will not have an adverse effect on the transaction or our business.
We will continue to face cybersecurity and similar risks, which could result in the disclosure of confidential information, disruption of operations, damage to our brands and reputation, legal exposure and financial losses.
Security breaches, malware or other “cyber attacks” could harm our business by disrupting delivery of services, jeopardizing our confidential information and that of our vendors and clients, and damaging our reputation. Our operations are routinely involved in receiving, storing, processing and transmitting sensitive information. Although we monitor security measures regularly, any unauthorized intrusion, malicious software infiltration, theft of data, network disruption, denial of
service, or similar act by any party could disrupt the integrity, continuity, and security of our systems or the systems of our clients or vendors. These events, or our failure to employ new technologies, revise processes and invest in people to sustain our ability to defend against cyber threats, could create financial liability, regulatory sanction, or a loss of confidence in our ability to protect information, and adversely affect our revenue by causing the loss of current or potential clients.
We have issued $600 million in preferred shares, the terms of which restrict us from undertaking certain actions while such preferred shares are outstanding.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (“Berkshire Hathaway”) provided $600 million of financing for the ION acquisition in exchange for Series A Preferred Shares of the Company. The preferred shares are redeemable at the option of Scripps beginning on January 7, 2026, and redeemable at the option of the holders in the event of a Change of Control (as defined in the terms of the preferred shares), in each case at a redemption price of 105% of the face value, plus accrued and unpaid dividends (whether or not declared). Following Scripps' election to defer the first quarter 2024 dividend payment, the dividend rate on the preferred shares increased from 8% per annum to 9% per annum and will continue at that rate for the remaining periods that the preferred shares are outstanding. Under the terms of the preferred shares, Scripps is subject to certain restrictions, including being prohibited from paying dividends on and purchasing its common shares until all preferred shares are redeemed. While the preferred shares are outstanding, we may also not issue any additional preferred shares or any shares of any other series of preferred without the consent of Berkshire Hathaway. These restrictions may limit our flexibility to pursue other strategic opportunities.
Risks Related to the Ownership of Scripps Class A Common Shares
Certain descendants of Edward W. Scripps own approximately 93% of Scripps' Common Voting shares and are signatories to the Scripps Family Agreement, which governs the transfer and voting of Common Voting shares held by them.
As a result of the foregoing, these descendants have the ability to elect two-thirds of the Board of Directors and to direct the outcome of any matter on which the Ohio Revised Code (“ORC”) does not require a vote of our Class A Common shares. Under our articles of incorporation, holders of Class A Common shares vote only for the election of one-third of the Board of Directors and are not entitled to vote on any matter other than a limited number of matters expressly set forth in the ORC as requiring a separate vote of both classes of stock. Because this concentrated control could discourage others from initiating any potential merger, takeover or other change of control transaction, the market price of our Class A Common shares could be adversely affected.
We have the ability to issue preferred stock, which could affect the rights of holders of our Class A Common shares.
Our articles of incorporation allow the Board of Directors to issue and set the terms of 25 million shares of preferred stock. The terms of any such preferred stock, if issued, may adversely affect the dividend, liquidation and other rights of holders of our Class A Common shares.
The public price and trading volume of our Class A Common shares may be volatile.
The price and trading volume of our Class A Common shares may be volatile and subject to fluctuation. Some of the factors that could cause fluctuation in the stock price or trading volume of Class A Common shares include:
•major world events and geopolitical conditions;
•general market and economic conditions and market trends, including in the television broadcast industry, the national media marketplace and the financial markets generally;
•the political, economic and social situation in the United States;
•variations in quarterly operating results;
•inability to meet revenue forecasts;
•announcements by us or competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, capital commitments or other business developments;
•adoption of new accounting standards affecting the media industry;
•operations of competitors and the performance of competitors’ common stock;
•litigation and governmental action involving or affecting us or our subsidiaries;
•changes in financial estimates and recommendations by securities analysts;
•loss of key personnel;
•purchases or sales of blocks of our Class A Common shares;
•operating and stock performance of companies that investors may consider to be comparable to us; and
•changes in the regulatory environment, including rulemaking or other actions by the FCC or the SEC.
There can be no assurance that the price of our Class A Common shares will not fluctuate or decline significantly. The stock market may experience considerable price and volume fluctuations that could be unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of individual companies and that could adversely affect the price of our Class A Common shares, regardless of the Company’s operating performance. Stock price volatility might be higher if the trading volume of our Class A Common shares is low. Furthermore, shareholders may initiate securities class action lawsuits if the market price of our Class A Common shares declines significantly, which may cause us to incur substantial costs and divert the time and attention of our management.
Risks Related to Our Indebtedness
We have substantial debt. The principal and interest payment obligations on such debt may restrict our future operations and impair our ability to meet our long-term obligations.
As of December 31, 2024, we had approximately $2.6 billion in aggregate principal amount of outstanding indebtedness, approximately $818 million of which constituted senior unsecured debt, $523 million of which constituted senior secured debt and $1.3 billion of which constituted the aggregate principal amount of term loans under our Credit Agreement. Our term loan that has an outstanding balance of $721 million and matures in May 2026 is our earliest maturing outstanding debt. We have the ability to incur up to $585 million of indebtedness under our Credit Agreement that currently matures on January 7, 2026, all of which is secured indebtedness, effectively ranking senior to unsecured indebtedness to the extent of the value of the assets securing such indebtedness.
Our outstanding debt could have the following consequences:
•require us to dedicate a substantial portion of any cash flow from operations to the payment of interest and principal due under our debt, which would reduce funds available for other business purposes, including capital expenditures and acquisitions;
•place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to some of our competitors that may have less debt and better access to capital resources;
•make us more vulnerable to economic downturns and adverse industry conditions and limit our flexibility to plan for, or react to, changes in our business or industry;
•limit our ability to obtain additional financing required to fund acquisitions, working capital and capital expenditures and for other general corporate purposes; and
•make it more difficult for us to satisfy our financial obligations.
Our ability to service our significant financial obligations depends on our ability to generate significant cash flow. This is partially subject to general economic, financial, competitive, legislative, regulatory, and other factors that are beyond our control. We cannot assure you that our business will generate cash flow from operations, that future borrowings will be available to us under our Credit Agreement or any other credit facilities, or that we will be able to complete any necessary financings, in amounts sufficient to enable us to fund our operations or pay our debts and other obligations, or to fund other liquidity needs. We do not currently have the necessary cash on hand or projected future cash flows to fund the May 2026 debt maturity. To address our capital needs, we are in active discussions with funding sources to refinance portions of our outstanding debt. If we are not able to successfully refinance or restructure our debt, we may need to sell assets, reduce or delay
capital investments, or seek to raise alternative capital. Additional debt or equity financing may not be available in sufficient amounts, at times or on terms acceptable to us, or at all. Specifically, volatility in the capital markets may also impact our ability to obtain additional financing, or to refinance our existing debt, on terms or at times favorable to us. If we are unable to implement one or more of these alternatives, we may not be able to service our debt or other obligations, which could result in us being in default thereon, in which circumstances our lenders could cease making loans to us, and lenders or other holders of our debt could accelerate and declare due all outstanding obligations under the respective agreements, which would likely have a material adverse effect on us.
The agreements governing our various debt obligations impose restrictions on our operations and limit our ability to undertake certain corporate actions.
The agreements governing our various debt obligations, including the indenture that governs senior indebtedness and the agreements governing our Credit Agreement, include covenants imposing significant restrictions on our operations. These restrictions may affect our ability to operate our business and may limit our ability to take advantage of potential business opportunities as they arise. These covenants place restrictions, subject to certain limitations, on our ability to, among other things:
•incur additional debt;
•declare or pay dividends, redeem stock or make other distributions to shareholders;
•make investments or acquisitions;
•create liens or use assets as security in other transactions;
•issue guarantees;
•merge or consolidate, or sell, transfer, lease or dispose of substantially all of our assets;
•engage in transactions with affiliates; and
•purchase, sell or transfer certain assets.
Any of these restrictions and limitations could make it more difficult for us to execute our business strategy.
The agreements governing the Company's debt require us to comply with certain financial ratios and covenants; our failure to do so will result in a default thereunder, which would have a material adverse effect on us.
We are required to comply with certain financial covenants under our Credit Agreement. Our ability to comply with these requirements may be affected by events affecting our business, but beyond our control, including prevailing general economic, financial and industry conditions. These covenants could have an adverse effect on us by limiting our ability to take advantage of financing, merger and acquisition or other corporate opportunities. The breach of any covenants or restrictions under any of our debt arrangements could result in a default, and could give lenders or debt holders the right to declare all amounts outstanding, together with accrued and unpaid interest, to be immediately due and payable, which could, in turn, trigger defaults under other debt obligations and could result in the termination of commitments of the lenders to make further extensions of credit under our revolving credit facility. Similarly, if we were unable to repay our secured debt to our lenders, or were otherwise in default under any provision governing our outstanding secured debt obligations, our secured lenders could proceed against us and subsidiary guarantors and against the collateral securing that debt. Any default resulting in an acceleration of outstanding indebtedness, a termination of commitments under our financing arrangements or lenders proceeding against the collateral securing such indebtedness would likely result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our variable rate indebtedness subjects us to interest rate risk, which could cause our annual debt service obligations to increase significantly.
Borrowings under our Credit Agreement are at variable rates of interest and expose us to interest rate risk. Interest rates may increase in the future. If rates were to increase, debt service obligations on our variable rate indebtedness would increase even though the amount borrowed remained the same, and our net income and cash available to service our obligations would decrease. Additionally, upon the incurrence of new higher-yield term loans, the interest rates on our existing term loans would increase.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Item 2. Properties
We lease our principal executive offices in a building located at 312 Walnut Street, Cincinnati, OH 45202.
We own or lease the facilities and equipment used by our television stations. We own, lease or co-own with other broadcast television stations, the towers used to transmit our television signals.
Our Scripps Networks business primarily leases their facilities. This includes facilities for executive offices, sales offices and studio space.
All of our owned and leased properties are in good condition, and suitable for the conduct of our present business. We believe that suitable additional or alternative space, including those under lease options, will be available at commercially reasonable terms for future expansion.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
We are involved in litigation arising in the ordinary course of business, such as defamation actions and governmental proceedings primarily relating to renewal of broadcast licenses, none of which is expected to result in material loss.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
None.
Executive Officers of the Company - Executive officers serve at the pleasure of the Board of Directors.
Name Age Position
Adam P. Symson 50 President and Chief Executive Officer (since August 2017)
Jason Combs 48 Chief Financial Officer (since January 2021); Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis (April 2015 to January 2021)
David M. Giles 64 Chief Legal Officer (since August 2024); Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer (August 2017 to August 2024)
Lisa A. Knutson 59 Chief Operating Officer (January 2023 to December 2024); President, Scripps Networks (January 2021 to January 2023); Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (October 2017 to January 2021)
Laura M. Tomlin 49 Chief Transformation Officer (since August 2024); Chief Administrative Officer (January 2021 to August 2024); Executive Vice President, National Media (November 2019 to January 2021), Senior Vice President, National Media (2017 to 2019)
Brian G. Lawlor 58 President, Scripps Sports (since December 2022); President, Local Media (August 2017- January 2023)
Daniel W. Perschke 45 Senior Vice President, Controller (Principal Accounting Officer) (since November 2020); Vice President, Assistant Controller (January 2018 to November 2020)
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our Class A Common shares are traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market (“NASDAQ”) under the symbol “SSP.” As of December 31, 2024, there were approximately 13,300 owners of our Class A Common shares, based on security position listings, and approximately 70 owners of our Common Voting shares (which do not have a public market).
There were no sales of unregistered equity securities during the quarter for which this report is filed.
Under the terms of the preferred stock issued in 2021 to Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., we are prohibited from repurchasing our common shares until all preferred shares are redeemed. See Note 17. Capital Stock and Share-Based Compensation Plans in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K for more information.
Performance Graph - Set forth below is a line graph comparing the cumulative return on the Company’s Class A Common shares, assuming an initial investment of $100 as of December 31, 2019, and based on the market prices at the end of each year and assuming dividend reinvestment, with the cumulative total return of the S&P 500 Index and the cumulative total return of the NASDAQ US Benchmark Media TR Index.
12/31/2019 12/31/2020 12/31/2021 12/31/2022 12/31/2023 12/31/2024
The E.W. Scripps Company $ 100.00 $ 99.17 $ 125.50 $ 85.54 $ 51.81 $ 14.33
S&P 500 Index 100.00 118.40 152.39 124.79 157.59 197.02
NASDAQ US Benchmark Media TR Index 100.00 124.67 125.83 72.99 91.46 133.73

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item 6. [Reserved]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations required by this item is filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page of this Form 10-K.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
The market risk information required by this item is filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page of this Form 10-K.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data
The Financial Statements and Supplementary Data required by this item are filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page of this Form 10-K.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures
The Controls and Procedures required by this item are filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page of this Form 10-K.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B. Other Information
None of our directors or officers adopted, modified or terminated a Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement or a non-Rule 10b5-1 trading arrangement (as defined in Item 408(a) of Regulation S-K) during the quarter ended December 31, 2024.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance
Information regarding executive officers is included in Part I of this Form 10-K as permitted by General Instruction G(3).
Information required by Item 10 of Form 10-K relating to directors is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Election of Directors” in our definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders (“Proxy Statement”). Information regarding Section 16(a) compliance is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Delinquent Section
16(a) Reports” in the Proxy Statement.
We have adopted a code of conduct that applies to all employees, officers and directors of Scripps. We also have a code of ethics for the CEO and Senior Financial Officers that meets the requirements of Item 406 of Regulation S-K and the NASDAQ listing standards. Copies of our codes of ethics are posted on our website at http://www.scripps.com.
Information regarding our audit committee financial expert is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Corporate Governance” in the Proxy Statement.
The Proxy Statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with our 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Item 11. Executive Compensation
The information required by Item 11 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” in the Proxy Statement.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters
The information required by Item 12 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Report on the Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners,” “Report on the Security Ownership of Management,” and “Equity Compensation Plan Information” in the Proxy Statement.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence
The information required by Item 13 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the materials captioned “Corporate Governance” and “Related Party Transactions” in the Proxy Statement.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services
The information required by Item 14 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Report of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors” in the Proxy Statement.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
Documents filed as part of this report:
(a)The Consolidated Financial Statements of The E.W. Scripps Company are filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page.
The reports of Deloitte & Touche LLP, an Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, dated March 12, 2025, are filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page.
(b)There are no supplemental schedules that are required to be filed as part of this Form 10-K.
(c)An exhibit index required by this item appears below.
Exhibit Number Exhibit Description Form File Number Exhibit Report Date
2.01 Agreement and Plan of Merger by and among The E.W. Scripps Company, Scripps Media, Inc., Scripps Faraday, Inc., ION Media Networks, Inc., and BD ION Equityholder Rep LLC, dated September 23, 2020
8-K/A 001-10701 2.1 9/23/2020
3.01 Amended Articles of Incorporation of The E.W. Scripps Company
10-Q 001-10701 3.05 3/31/2023
3.02 Amended and Restated Code of Regulations of The E.W. Scripps Company
8-K 000-16914 10.02 5/10/2007
4.01 Warrant Agreement dated January 7, 2021, by and between The E.W. Scripps Company and Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
8-K 001-10701 4.1 1/4/2021
4.02 First Amendment to Warrant Agreement dated as of May 14, 2021
8-K 001-10701 4.2 5/14/2021
4.03 Description of Capital Stock of Scripps
10-Q 001-10701 4.03 3/31/2023
10.01 The E.W. Scripps Company 2023 Long-Term Incentive Plan
DEF 14A 001-10701 Appendix 3/17/2023
10.02 Amendment No. 1 to The E.W. Scripps Company 2023 Long-Term Incentive Plan
DEF 14A 001-10701 Appendix 3/22/2024
10.03 Form of Independent Director Nonqualified Stock Option Agreement
8-K 000-16914 10.03B 2/9/2005
10.04 The E.W. Scripps Company Executive Annual Incentive Plan
10-K 001-10701 10.04 12/31/2019
10.05 Scripps Executive Severance and Change in Control Plan (Effective as of February 25, 2020)
10-K 001-10701 10.05 12/31/2022
10.06 Second Amended and Restated Scripps Family Agreement
SC 13D/A 005-43473 99.1 4/5/2021
10.07 1997 Deferred Compensation and Stock Plan for Directors, as amended
8-K 000-16914 10.61 5/8/2008
10.08 Scripps Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan as Amended and Restated effective February 23, 2015
10-Q 000-16914 10.10 9/30/2017
10.09 Employment Agreement between the Company and Adam P. Symson
8-K 001-10701 10.1 8/2/2022
10.10 Scripps Executive Deferred Compensation Plan, Amended and Restated as of February 23, 2015
10-Q 000-16914 10.14 9/30/2017
10.11 The E.W. Scripps Company Restricted Share Unit Agreement (Non-Employee Directors)
10-K 001-10701 10.10 12/31/2023
10.12 Employee Restricted Share Unit Agreement
10-K 001-10701 10.11 12/31/2023
10.13 The E.W. Scripps Company Restricted Share Unit Agreement (Executive Officers)
10-K 001-10701 10.12 12/31/2023
10.14 CEO Performance-Based Restricted Share Unit Agreement
8-K 001-10701 10.2 8/2/2022
10.15 CEO Time-Based Restricted Share Unit Agreement
8-K 001-10701 10.3 8/2/2022
10.16 Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement dated as of April 28, 2017 (as amended by the First Amendment, dated as of October 2, 2017, the Second Amendment, dated as of April 3, 2018, the Third Amendment, dated as of November 20, 2018 and the Fourth Amendment, dated as of May 1, 2019, the Fifth Amendment, dated as of December 18, 2019, the Sixth Amendment, dated as of January 7, 2021, the Seventh Amendment, dated as of March 7, 2023 and the Eighth Amendment, dated as of July 31, 2023)
10-Q 001-10701 10.1 6/30/2023
10.17 Indenture dated as of July 26, 2019
8-K 001-10701 10.1 7/26/2019
10.18 Secured Senior Notes Indenture dated as of December 30, 2020
8-K 001-10701 10.1 12/30/2020
10.19 Unsecured Senior Notes Indenture dated as of December 30, 2020
8-K 001-10701 10.2 12/30/2020
10.20 Securities Purchase Agreement, by and between The E.W. Scripps Company and Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., dated September 23, 2020
8-K 001-10701 10.1 9/23/2020
10.21 Registration Rights Agreement dated January 7, 2021, by and between The E.W. Scripps Company and Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
8-K 001-10701 10.3 1/4/2021
14 The E.W. Scripps Company Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for the Chief Executive Officer and Senior Financial Officers
10-K 001-10701 14 12/31/2022
19 The E.W. Scripps Insider Trading Policy
10-K 001-10701 19 12/31/2023
21 Subsidiaries of the Company
*
23 Consent of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
*
31(a) Section 302 Certifications
*
31(b) Section 302 Certifications
*
32(a) Section 906 Certifications
*
32(b) Section 906 Certifications
*
97 The E.W. Scripps Company Compensation Recovery Policy
10-K 001-10701 97 12/31/2023
101.INS iXBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document *
101.SCH Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document *
101.CAL Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document *
101.DEF Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document *
101.LAB Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document *
101.PRE Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document *
104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibits 101) *
* - As filed herewith