E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) executives said the company closed out 2025 with a fourth consecutive quarter of results that met or exceeded expectations on “nearly every reporting line,” citing momentum in network streaming distribution and its sports strategy, alongside disciplined expense management.
On the company’s fourth quarter 2025 earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Jason Combs and President and CEO Adam Symson also outlined a recently announced enterprise-wide transformation plan and discussed portfolio actions—including station transactions and the sale of Court TV—intended to improve margins and reduce leverage.
Transformation plan targets $125 million-$150 million EBITDA run-rate improvement
During Q&A, Combs clarified the $20 million-$30 million figure is an “in-year impact” that is additive to 2026 results, while Symson described the plan as “bankable” and said it was developed after months of reviewing opportunities across the company.
Symson said the effort is aimed at both expense reductions and revenue initiatives, and that Scripps is “leaning hard” into technology, AI, and automation. He said the company previously centralized technology, engineering, and IT functions and is now building on that foundation. In response to questions about AI, Symson cited uses such as additional centralization and automation, cloud-based production workflows, enhanced news gathering, marketing operations, and managing external spend. He also said AI can help journalists spend more time reporting by reducing time spent on repetitive distribution and production tasks, such as rewriting broadcast scripts into web-friendly formats.
Fourth quarter results: Local Media pressured by lack of political, but core ad rose 12%
Combs reported Local Media revenue of $360 million, down 30% year over year due to the absence of political advertising compared with the prior year’s political cycle. However, he emphasized that core advertising rose 12% in the quarter, with all five top categories growing year over year. Services, the largest category, increased 19%, while gambling rose 32%.
Management attributed part of the core advertising strength to local sports. Combs cited the addition of the Tampa Bay Lightning and continued growth in existing local sports markets including Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and South Florida. Symson later added that in the first quarter, every one of Scripps’ NHL deals is growing versus the prior year, not just the new Lightning contract.
Local Media distribution revenue declined 1.6%. Expenses for the division were down about 1% year over year, and Local Media segment profit was $50 million, compared with $199 million in the prior year’s political cycle quarter.
Guidance: Q1 core ad up mid-single digits; midterms expected to drive back half
For the first quarter, Combs said Scripps expects Local Media revenue to be up low- to mid-single digits, with core advertising up in the mid-single-digit range. Management said the outlook includes benefits from the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl airing on the company’s 11 NBC stations. Combs noted Olympic revenue was up about 13% versus 2022, and the Super Bowl provided a lift with the event moving from Fox last year to NBC.
Looking to the second half of 2026, management expects Local Media revenue to benefit from what it described as record midterm election spending. Combs said Scripps generated about $200 million in the 2022 midterm election and expects strong spending this cycle in markets with U.S. Senate and gubernatorial races including Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Symson also pointed to competitive races in Kentucky and a special election in Ohio, and said broadcast is projected to receive about 51% of total political spend. He added that Scripps expects to compete meaningfully for political spending through connected TV inventory as well, citing early political activity on CTV in January concentrated in Texas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Illinois.
On distribution, Combs said about 70% of pay TV subscriber households are up for renewal this year. For the full year, the company expects low single-digit growth in gross revenue and low-teens percentage growth in net distribution revenue, reflecting both topline trends and declining affiliate fees.
Scripps Networks: CTV growth and margin expansion; Court TV sale impacts comparisons
In the Scripps Networks division, Combs reported fourth-quarter revenue of $199 million, down less than 8% versus the prior year but “well ahead of guidance and the marketplace.” Connected TV revenue was up nearly 10% year over year for the quarter and 30% for the full year.
Fourth-quarter division expenses fell 13% due to lower employee-related costs and operational reductions. Segment profit was $64 million, and segment margin was 32%. Combs said Scripps exceeded its 2025 margin expansion guidance for the Networks division, delivering nearly 700 basis points of improvement year over year versus guidance of 400 to 600 basis points.
For the first quarter, management expects Scripps Networks revenue to be down in the high single-digit range, with expenses down in the low single digits. In response to questions, Combs cited several factors affecting the Q1 comparison, including the sale of Court TV (with the company’s Q1 outlook including only five weeks of Court TV revenue compared with a full quarter last year), weakness in direct response pricing tied to macro factors, and a weaker upfront outside of sports programming. He said the division typically sees more strength in summer months when WNBA and NWSL programming is on the schedule, and the company expects more favorable comparisons in the second and third quarters.
Asked about FAST competition, Combs said there are more FAST channels in the market, but described Scripps’ channels as “among the most premium” and said the company does not expect connected TV growth to abate, noting it has forecast double-digit growth.
Portfolio actions, leverage, and balance sheet priorities
Management detailed several portfolio moves aimed at improving profitability and reducing leverage:
- Reacquisition of 23 ION-affiliated stations: Scripps said it is exercising an option to reacquire stations previously divested when it bought ION. Combs said the aggregate purchase price is expected to be about $54 million and that the deal will be immediately accretive to the Scripps Networks division profit and margins by eliminating affiliate fees paid to the current owner, though the company expects to seek FCC waivers under current ownership rules.
- Sale of Court TV: The company said the sale closed February 9 and included cash consideration and a long-term distribution agreement, along with a multiyear spectrum lease that management said improves operating performance. Scripps did not disclose financial terms or multiples.
- Station transactions: Scripps said it is progressing toward closing station swaps with Gray and the sales of WFTX (Fort Myers) and WRTV (Indianapolis), with gross proceeds of $123 million. The company expects Fort Myers to close in coming weeks and Indianapolis to follow pending FCC approval, with the Gray transaction expected in coming months.
For the fourth quarter, Scripps reported a loss of $0.51 per share. Combs said results included a $19.5 million non-cash charge related to held-for-sale Court TV assets, $2.4 million in restructuring costs, and a $2.4 million loss on extinguishment of debt, together increasing the loss attributable to shareholders by $0.20 per share. He also noted the preferred stock dividend reduced EPS by $0.18 even though it was not paid.
As of December 31, Scripps reported no borrowings on revolving credit facilities, cash and cash equivalents of $28 million, net debt of $2.3 billion, and net leverage of 4.8x under its credit agreement calculations. Combs said the company paid down $55 million on its B-2 term loan during the quarter and expects leverage to decline meaningfully by the end of 2026 as it executes its EBITDA plan, benefits from midterm spending, and pays down debt. Management reiterated that improving the balance sheet and reducing debt and leverage remain top capital allocation priorities.
Symson also addressed regulatory topics during Q&A, saying he expects the FCC to act in a way that rebalances the marketplace, including potential movement on ownership rules, while cautioning that timing would be speculative. He also said Scripps believes local stations negotiating directly with virtual MVPDs would be beneficial, but said it likely would require reclassification of virtual MVPDs.
Finally, Symson said the board has extended his contract through the end of 2029. He also noted that the company’s board previously rejected Sinclair’s acquisition proposal as not in the interest of stakeholders and said nothing has changed since that decision.
About E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP)
The E.W. Scripps Company is a diversified U.S. media organization headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Established in 1878 by Edward Willis Scripps, the company began as a newspaper publisher before expanding into broadcast television, cable networks and digital journalism. Today, Scripps combines a legacy of local news reporting with a growing portfolio of national cable channels and digital platforms.
Scripps operates more than 60 television stations across over 40 markets, delivering local news, weather, sports and entertainment programming to communities in both large and mid-sized U.S.
