Yesterday, FTVLive did a story titled “Is Scripps Looking to Sell?”

The story had pictures from Scripps-owned WXYZ in Detroit. The photos showed painters working outside in the rain, painting the building. Landscapers, were putting in new plants in the rain. Trees that had been on the property for years were being taken down.

This was all happening as the company stock price was sitting at rock bottom.

FTVLive wrote, “Scripps can’t afford to be paying for new plants, just before Winter. Think about it, people paint their homes in the Spring, not before the Winter weather. If you ask me, this looks like Scripps is sprucing up WXYZ to make it look pretty for a potential buyer.

We even heard they put in a new air conditioning unit.

In the Fall?

Scripps VP of Communications emailed FTVLive on Tuesday, saying, “The folks in Detroit are just trying to make it a great place to work. There is no plan to sell the station or the facility.”

At the end of FTVLive’s story yesterday, we wrote, “If they’re not selling, and Scripps is spending money on landscaping, painting and tree removal, then they are more screwed up than even I thought.”

Well….

But here is something interesting about this story.

Yesterday, Scripps CFO spoke at the Deutsche Bank Leveraged Finance Conference in Arizona.

We were not able to tune in, but one person who did said that in the presentation, Scripps is planning to execute a sale and leaseback of real estate at several of their stations.

Scripps is looking to sell KNVX in Phoenix and lease it back from the buyer. Could WXYZ be another one of those stations?

Scripps comms chief, Michael Perry, says, no, that isn’t happening, and they are just “trying to make it a great place to work.”

Meanwhile, the work continues in the rain.