Scripps CEO Adam Symson sent out another one of his emails to the staff.

I could go on and on about this email for quite some time.

Instead, I’ll just let you read it, but notice news isn’t mentioned at all in his strategic plan, and culture doesn’t come until the end.

Colleagues:

Recently, we have announced difficult decisions about winding down Scripps News’ over-the-air product and our intent to sell Bounce that have impacted some of our colleagues and left many of you with questions about the future direction of the company. Today, I want to share why we made those decisions in the context of our new strategic plan.

During 2024, our leadership team developed the company’s latest three-year strategic plan, which will take us through 2027. This plan takes into account where we are today as a company – our mission, financial position, brands and businesses, current consumer trends, opportunities and threats. I believe it is important to share more about this plan, so you understand why we have made and are making certain decisions.

Our three-year strategic plan is rooted in improving our financial picture and positioning the company to grow. As you know, the 2021 acquisition of ION required us to borrow a significant amount of money. It was the right decision at the time – allowing us to transform the company by building a powerful national networks business in a way that diversified our sources of revenue. However, that debt, coupled with a national advertising recession, has created financial strain and put pressure on our stock price.

Improving the company’s financial performance and reducing our debt are the top priorities at the moment so that we can continue to execute our mission on firm financial footing. This is among the reasons we announced our intent to sell Bounce. And without a viable path to significant revenue growth, it’s also why I made the difficult decision to wind down Scripps News’ over-the-air programming. Decisions like these are difficult to make and painful for the impacted employees as well as those who continue on with Scripps. Still, I believe they are the right things to do for the long-term health of the company.

These are the four objectives that make up our three-year strategic plan:

 Objective No.1: Aggressively improve the company’s financial performance

Achieving this objective is required ahead of any other ambitions we may have. Here, “financial performance” is shorthand for growing revenue and maintaining appropriate expenses while we prioritize the paydown of our debt. We are intentional about using the word “aggressively.” It signals our intent to do this proactively. This objective also is the reason for the creation of our Transformation Office, led by Laura Tomlin, which is designed to identify new areas for process improvement, efficiency and revenue growth, including through technology.

Objective No. 2: Maximize the value of our distribution assets

Scripps’ over-the-air broadcast, pay television, connected TV and digital distribution represents a formidable platform for reaching consumers. As audiences continue to fragment, each of these platforms is in its own life stage that calls for unique strategies to maximize its value to Scripps. Our distribution team works closely with local, networks and Scripps Sports leaders to ensure we maintain our reach, grow our revenue opportunity and mitigate risk.

Today, we use our broadcast spectrum exclusively for our television business, but that bandwidth has additional revenue potential through a more advanced broadcast standard known as ATSC 3.0. To capture this opportunity and build a business for the future, we’re working to create new data transmission businesses that sit alongside television. Finally, Tablo provides significant new opportunity to serve as an advertising and data platform, not to mention a way to market all of our broadcast channels and FAST networks.

Objective No. 3: Transform the business from having an indirect to a direct relationship with consumers

Linear television’s ability to reach large swaths of consumers is one of our greatest assets. Yet it’s also abundantly clear that the advertising industry is moving toward advertising solutions with more direct connection to the audience – informed by data. That’s why we are setting ambitious goals to embrace that shift.

You can already see this in action through the work we’ve done to grow our connected TV revenue in the last few years. This also is the reason we’re bullish on Tablo as a data platform. And it’s why we’ll be putting a lot of attention on the greater use of data and technology to enhance the value of our advertising inventory on cable, satellite and over the air.

Objective No. 4: Cultivate a high-performing culture

We can’t achieve the above objectives in this plan without you. We know a company culture that supports performance starts with strategic clarity and requires continued candor. And it’s grounded in our values: courage, compassion, curiosity and community. The purpose of this email is to make clear where we are going as a company, how we’re making decisions, what you should expect of Scripps and how you can help in driving this mission-focused company forward.

Over the next several months, you will hear more about this plan and what it means to you and your teams. You’ll see how we prioritize projects and initiatives that will achieve this plan. My commitment to you is to communicate the company’s decisions and how they align with our strategic plan.

Adam Symson (he/him)
President and CEO