What Happened?
Shares of media, broadcasting, and digital services company E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ: SSP) jumped 8.5% in the afternoon session after the company announced an agreement to sell its Court TV network to Law&Crime.
Law&Crime is a multiplatform crime and legal content studio. While the financial details of the sale were not disclosed, E.W. Scripps' President and CEO, Adam Symson, stated the transaction reflected the company's "longstanding entrepreneurial DNA." The move also came amid broader positive sentiment for broadcasting stocks. The sector seemed to get a lift after a public endorsement was made for the proposed merger between Nexstar Media and Tegna, which appeared to benefit related stocks like E.W. Scripps.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
E.W. Scripps’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 66 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 3 months ago when the stock gained 33.8% on the news that rival broadcaster Sinclair Inc. acquired an 8.2% stake in the company's class A non-voting shares, fueling discussions about a potential merger.
According to a filing, Sinclair's board and management had engaged in "constructive discussions" with E.W. Scripps for several months regarding a potential combination of the two companies. The acquisition involved approximately 6.28 million shares. In response, Scripps' board stated it remained focused on its strategic plan but would evaluate alternatives to enhance shareholder value. The board also noted it would take steps to protect the company and its shareholders from what it termed "opportunistic actions" by Sinclair or others.
E.W. Scripps is down 7.2% since the beginning of the year, and at $3.67 per share, it is trading 25.2% below its 52-week high of $4.90 from December 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of E.W. Scripps’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $223.48.
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