Last year was a tough one for the traditional TV business. Advertisers held back on spending for much of the year while they were uncertain about the economy, but unlike with digital advertising, they did not return to linear TV, where ad dollars fell nearly 11%, according to S&P Global Ratings. Since it wasn’t an election year, there was no ceaseless parade of hyperbolic political ads to juice revenues.
The E.W. Scripps Company—yes, the people who run the spelling bee, you nerds—is one of those businesses, and it has a $268 million loss in the fourth quarter to show for it.
O-U-C-H. Ouch.
“A slower than previously anticipated recovery in the national television advertising market” forced the Cincinnati-based company to write down its national networks, which include Court TV, ION, and Scripps News, by $266 million.
The company’s local TV business, which includes more than 60 stations, fared better. While revenues were down without political ads, its core advertising revenue rose 1% year over year, partially from deals made to air NHL games for the Las Vegas Knights and the Arizona Coyotes. Scripps, which also broadcasts NCAA and WNBA games and will start airing National Women’s Soccer League matches in March, said its distribution revenues grew 22%.
Local advertisers also increased their spending with Scripps stations, especially in the automotive and home improvement categories, up 9% and 8% respectively, COO Lisa Knutson said in an earnings call.
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Offensive lines. CEO Adam Symson came out hard against the disruptive potential of the sports streaming platform being developed by Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox. “From the market’s reaction, you would have thought it was literally the end of television,” Symson said during the earnings call, and he pointed out the new streamer would not include the Olympics and would miss some March Madness and NFL games. “It’s hard to say it’s a slam dunk.” Since sports broadcast revenue was one of the few bright spots for Scripps this quarter, one might say Symson decided the best defense was a good offense.
Election dejection. While Scripps expects to bring in between $210 million to $250 million from political ads this year, Knutson implied that it might have been more if the presidential race wasn’t a Biden-Trump rematch.
“Biden support is not what it was in 2020,” she said, and “much of the money Trump has raised is going to his legal defense, not to [his] campaign.”
“So while experts say there will be a greater level of fundraising for this cycle, it won’t necessarily be spent on the presidential race,” she added.