News that the E.W. Scripps Company will sell its radio stations stunned employees across the country on Thursday. The company announced that it has placed its 34 stations on the market as part of a restructuring and cost reduction effort.
“Today, Scripps is a dynamic leader in the media industry through its strong local TV station portfolio, its growing multicast network, its national news network, and its podcasting business,” said Scripps’ President and CEO Adam Symson. “The enterprise-wide restructuring positions us well for continued growth while maintaining high-quality journalism as our central focus. This plan is consistent with our goal to create both short-term and long-term value by improving margins and cash flow in our local media business and supporting the growth of our national businesses. Our restructuring analysis also led us to determine the time is right to find a new owner for our radio group that can provide the focus and resources the stations and their creative, devoted employees deserve.”
Scripps acquired the stations in its merger with Journal Communications, taking the radio stations in with its TV stations and spinning the combined company’s newspaper assets off.
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