Scripps Takes $1.1 Billion Networks Impairment

The Tip Desk · August 7, 2026 · 4 min read

The broadcaster booked a $1.1 billion non-cash charge at Scripps Networks as second-quarter revenue fell to $490 million.

The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP) recorded a $1.1 billion non-cash goodwill and other intangible assets impairment at Scripps Networks in the second quarter of 2026, producing a loss attributable to shareholders of $1.2 billion, or $12.68 a share.

The impairment accounted for $11.61 of the per-share loss. The quarter also included $35.8 million of restructuring costs and a $9.3 million gain from a station swap with Gray Media. Together, those items increased the loss by $11.83 a share. A year earlier, the loss was $51.7 million, or 59 cents a share.

Company revenue was $490 million, down 9.2% from the year-ago quarter. Sequentially, revenue was $517 million in the first quarter of 2026. Political revenue was $29.7 million, compared with $3.1 million in the prior-year quarter, a non-election year.

Local Media, which includes more than 60 stations, generated $317 million of revenue, down 5.4% from a year earlier. Core advertising fell 8.7% to $125 million. Distribution revenue decreased $32.1 million, or 17%, to $161 million. Two retransmission negotiations produced temporary station blackouts that had a $26.7 million negative impact on second-quarter distribution revenue. Political revenue in the segment was a second-quarter record $28 million, versus $2.6 million a year earlier.

On an adjusted combined basis that assumes the WFTX, WRTV, WTVQ and Court TV transactions were in place at the start of 2025, Local Media revenue was down only 1.2% and core advertising was down 4.8%. Local Media segment expenses fell 6.5% to $261 million. Segment profit was $55.8 million, essentially unchanged from a year earlier.

Scripps Networks revenue was $172 million, down 16% from a year earlier. Segment profit was $25.5 million, compared with $55.9 million a year earlier. The sale of Court TV contributed to the decline, as did a challenging national advertising market, particularly for direct response, a decline in legacy linear viewing and a shift in advertiser spending to streaming and digital, and changes in Nielsen’s measurement methodology. On the adjusted combined basis, Networks revenue was down 13%.

Segment, shared-services and corporate expenses were $441 million, down from $457 million a year earlier, reflecting favorable programming expenses, employee cost savings and tight expense controls. Adjusted EBITDA was $55.2 million in the three months ended June 30, 2026, versus $88.9 million a year earlier.

Scripps completed three retransmission consent agreements representing the majority of its pay-TV subscriber households scheduled for renewal in 2026. It also completed local station transactions, including acquiring a second Big 4 station in Lexington, Kentucky, and swapping stations with Gray Media across five markets. Earlier in the year, it sold stations in Fort Myers, Florida, and Indianapolis.

Scripps Sports signed its first NBA team, the Detroit Pistons, for a multi-year local distribution agreement after a full-season local rights deal with the NHL’s Nashville Predators. Both are expected to add local core revenue this fall. ION won U.S. rights to the 2027 Women’s Volleyball World Cup.

Cash and cash equivalents were $13 million at June 30, with total debt of $2.5 billion. The company did not declare or pay either 2026 quarterly preferred dividend, leaving $150 million of cumulative undeclared preferred dividends. Under Berkshire Hathaway’s preferred equity terms, Scripps is prohibited from paying common dividends or repurchasing common shares until all preferred shares are redeemed.

The company now expects to have implemented about $100 million in annual run-rate savings by year-end under its target of $125 million to $150 million of enterprise EBITDA growth by 2028. Third-quarter expense improvement will include transformation-related job reductions affecting about 6% of the workforce, or 268 jobs.

For the third quarter of 2026, Scripps guided Local Media revenue up about 20% and Local Media expense down a low-single-digit percent range. Scripps Networks revenue is expected down a mid-teens percent range, with Networks expense up a low-single-digit percent range. Shared services and corporate are expected at about $25 million. The company now expects 2026 full-year local political revenue of $225 million to $250 million.