Scripps unveils strategic plan to drive cost savings and revenue growth

The E.W. Scripps Company launched an enterprise-wide transformation plan aimed at improving operating performance and delivering $125 million to $150 million in annualized enterprise EBITDA growth by 2028.

The company said the improved EBITDA run rate would come from cost savings and revenue growth initiatives that leverage technology, including artificial intelligence and automation, and increase revenue yield across existing businesses.

Scripps President and CEO Adam Symson reaffirmed the company’s commitment to local and national news, sports and entertainment programming and introduced a new enterprise vision, “We Create Connection.”

“Scripps is nearly 150 years old, and we have thrived for so long because doing well by doing good is in our DNA,” Symson said. “We are taking E.W. Scripps’ founding mission and values for the enterprise, overlaying today’s company vision to create connection, and doing so with operating principles and a cost structure we would have if we were to be founded today.”

Scripps said it expects 2026 financial performance to benefit from midterm election advertising, the Winter Olympics airing on its 11 NBC stations and televised World Cup competitions in North America, as well as Scripps Sports partnerships, connected TV distribution of its networks and accretive divestiture and acquisition activity.

Symson described the transformation as a proactive step to position the company in a changing media landscape.

“Today’s media landscape isn’t short on information or advertising, but what Americans tell us they are suffering from is a scarcity of real connection,” Symson said. “We uniquely serve this need for connection by bringing Americans together through our news, entertainment and sports programming, and we will continue to do so with the fast and agile infrastructure and technology that our economic environment demands of us.”

The company convened 200 leaders in Cincinnati this week to execute the plan, focusing on revenue and EBITDA growth and expansion into new markets. Additional details, including the timing of savings and associated costs, are expected during the company’s Feb. 26 earnings call. Scripps said investors will receive regular updates on progress.

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The transformation reflects broader cost-cutting efforts across the broadcast sector.

During a November earnings call, Symson cited a focus on expense management. In the third quarter, expenses in the local media division declined more than 4% year over year, while networks expenses fell 7.5%, in part due to lower employee-related costs.

Scripps rejected a merger with Sinclair but has pursued smaller transactions, including station divestitures and a pending station swap with Gray Media. It also agreed this week to sell its Court TV network for less than $125 million, according to a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The transformation follows previous restructuring efforts in 2023 that included eliminating some anchor roles, adding reporters in smaller markets and increasing reporter wages.