Key Financial Data
- Total revenue: $526 million (-19% year-over)
- Corporate expenditures: $449 million (-4.9%)
- Local media revenue: $325 million (-27%)
- Local media net income: $52.8 million (-67%)
- Core advertising revenue: $132 million (+1.8%)
- Political revenue: $5.1 million (-97.2%)
- Distribution revenue: $186 million (no change)
- Scripps Networks revenue: $201 million (-0.4%)
- Scripps Networks net income: $53.3 million (+26.6%)
- Read more Q3 2025 media earnings coverage
The E. W. Scripps Company saw an uptick in interest from television advertisers during the third quarter (Q3), a rarity among broadcast companies that have seen things move in the other direction over the past few years.
On Thursday, the broadcaster said its total revenue during Q3 was $526 million, or 19 percent lower compared to last year, when it and most of its peers saw a windfall from political ad revenue during the 2024 presidential election.
With the presidential election behind it, and campaigns not yet spending for the 2026 midterm election, Scripps saw lower political ad revenue during Q3, clocking in at $5.1 million. Most of its political advertising was directly attributed to local and regional campaigns and causes in markets where Scripps owns a local television station.
Core advertising revenue was a bright spot, increasing to $132 million during the quarter, up nearly 2 percent on a year-over basis.
Distribution revenue associated with fees charged to cable and satellite companies for carriage of Scripps-owned stations was flat on a year-over basis, with Scripps earning $186 million from retransmission consent agreements with pay TV providers.
Scripps Networks, which includes Ion, Court TV and Scripps News, earned $201 million during Q3, down less than 1 percent, while segment expenses were 7.5 percent lower, clocking in at $148 million.
In a prepared statement, Scripps CEO Adam Symson said the company continues to exercise a high degree of cost discipline, which aligned its Q3 earnings with prior guidance and Wall Street expectations.
Symson also said the company and its investors should be encouraged by transactions with peer broadcasters that include station swaps and sales, which are further entrenched in its goals of reigning in costs and paying down debt.
“All of these financial milestones should serve as clear evidence that our short-term performance improvement and near-term growth strategies we have been executing, many of them unique among local broadcast groups, are working,” Symson affirmed.
He also touted the ongoing commitment to invest in sports rights for its local stations and national Ion network. Those investments, under the banner of Scripps Sports, had the good timing of aligning with higher interest in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) following college superstar Caitlin Clark’s decision to go pro. WNBA games are carried on Ion, and Clark’s prominence in them has helped lift ratings over the past two years.
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Ion also carries games from the National Women’s Soccer League and competitions from Athlos under multi-year deals with those organizations. In some markets across the country, Scripps-owned local TV stations have rights to games from the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA), among other sports leagues.
In other parts of the business, Scripps is cutting down: The company restructured some of its local news operations and ended the broadcast feed of Scripps News, reverting the channel back to a streaming-only feed.
In its earnings release on Thursday, Scripps said ongoing reductions at Scripps News helped the national networks segment exceed its original guidance of 400 to 600 basis-point improvements over the past three quarters.
“These strategies will help Scripps thrive, driving business growth by creating connection through our local news and network programming in our geographic and audience communities from coast to coast,” Symson said.
