The EW Scripps Company is selling its Court TV franchise to Jellysmack, a “creator growth” company that also owns the Law&Crime Network. Court TV was acquired by Scripps from Turner Broadcasting in 2019.

The sale comes amid pressure for the station group—which operates a portfolio of more than 60 stations in 40-plus markets, as well as Scripps News, Ion, Bounce, Grit, Ion Mystery, Ion Plus and Laff channels—to reduce its debt.

“This move is consistent with the way Scripps has operated for nearly a century and a half: We identify where consumer behavior is headed, build and grow businesses that meet those evolving interests and make strategic decisions about how we unlock their greatest value—whether in our portfolio or through exits that strengthen our balance sheet and position us for the future,” Adam Symson, the CEO of Scripps, said in a statement on Monday.

Last summer, the station group sold WFTX to Sun Broadcasting for $40 million; it also fought back an attempted takeover from Sinclair Broadcasting, which acquired a 9.9% stake in Scripps last fall. Sinclair proposed to acquire the Cincinnati-based station group for about $7 per share in a mix of cash and stock, but the Scripps board rejected the proposal.

The station group announced today that it has launched “an enterprise-wide transformation plan designed to improve operating performance and unlock new value, targeting annualized enterprise EBITDA growth of $125 million-$150 million by 2028,” and that it “will deliver this improved EBITDA run-rate through cost savings and revenue growth initiatives that will leverage technology including AI and automation and increase revenue yield on its existing businesses.”

Symson dubbed this transformation under the motto “We Create Connection.”

“Scripps is nearly 150 years old, and we have thrived for so long because doing well by doing good is in our DNA,” said Symson. “We are taking E.W. Scripps’ founding mission and values for the enterprise, overlaying today’s company vision to create connection, and doing so with operating principles and a cost structure we would have if we were to be founded today.”

The company held a meeting of 200 of its employees at its Cincinnati headquarters this week and said it will share more details of its transformation plan on its Feb. 26 earnings call, including the timing cadence of savings being realized and the costs to achieve the savings.

DENVER––In a bid to improve the content management and revenue potential of its archives, Court TV has selected Veritone to manage and monetize its extensive digital content library.

Court TV, which offers live coverage of trials, boasts a massive content archive dates to the founding of the original Court TV cable network in 1991. To better manage, organize and monetize that library, E.W. Scripps-owned multicast network Court TV is deploying Veritone’s AI-powered Digital Media Hub. DMH provides a secure, cloud-based environment for content storage, search and retrieval that makes Court TV’s content accessible to its affiliates, media professionals, partners and legal institutions.

In addition to content management, Veritone’s Content Licensing will enable Court TV to exploit new revenue opportunities by offering its unique content to an even broader audience, including more filmmakers, documentarians and podcasters, enhancing its reach and impact, the companies said.

“Consumer interest in the real-life drama of true-crime programming is at an all-time high and the Court TV library is enormous, containing thousands of hours of coverage and footage from the nation’s biggest cases over the past 30 years,” Ethan Nelson, head of Court TV, said. “We believe Veritone’s Digital Media Hub and content licensing solutions will help us pursue and unlock new opportunities for monetization of the library and make the content even more accessible to audiences and partners alike.”

Court TV’s adoption of Veritone’s solutions reflects the growing trend among media organizations to adopt AI-powered tools to become more efficient and better monetize content.

More information about Veritone’s Digital Media Hub is available here; more information about Veritone’s Content Licensing can be found here.

The E.W. Scripps Company has launched two new free ad-supported streaming channels, Court TV: Legendary Trials and Laff More. The launches are part of a larger push by the company to expand streaming operations and they increase the number of Scripp’s free, ad-supported streaming channels to nine.

“People have flocked to our website to watch Court TV’s trial archive, and when we’ve posted clips on other digital platforms, including YouTube, they’ve watched in record numbers. In just the past year alone, Court TV more than doubled its hours of viewing on digital/streaming,” said head of Court TV Ethan Nelson. “We anticipate that Court TV: Legendary Trials will be added to the must-watch lists of the enormous number of true crime fans.”   

Court TV: Legendary Trials features high-profile cases from the past 30 years, curated from the massive Court TV archives. Presented in four-hour chapters, Court TV: Legendary Trials streams four iconic trials from morning to midnight Monday through Friday, with weekends devoted to viewing marathons of the trials.

Laff More features comedy around the clock, with a hall of fame lineup of sitcoms. The channel is an extension of Laff, the first over-the-air broadcast television network devoted to contemporary comedy sitcoms and movies geared toward adults 18-49. 

Court TV: Legendary Trials is available on Fubo TV, Amazon Freevee, Xumo Play and Plex. Laff More can be seen on Amazon Freevee, LG Channels, Xumo Play and Plex. Additional platforms and on-demand options will be announced, the company reported. 

ATLANTA—The E.W. Scripps Company has appointed veteran media executive Vanessa Strouse to the role of vice president and head of digital for Newsy and Court TV, effective June 20, 2022.

Strouse will be responsible for the overall digital and social media strategies for the news group. She will report to Kate O’Brian, head of the News Group, Scripps Networks.

“Vanessa has more than two decades of experience building brands and growing audiences,” O’Brian said. “She will be an integral part of the Scripps Networks News Group, leading the digital team to develop new methods of connecting with our audiences through our digital and social media platforms.”

Prior to joining Scripps, Strouse spent four years at Yahoo, one of the largest digital media organizations in the United States. Most recently, she served as Yahoo’s vice president and head of audience development and content strategy. In that role, Strouse oversaw content development, distribution strategy and audience acquisition for Yahoo’s media portfolio, including Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Entertainment, Yahoo Lifestyle, Autoblog, Engadget, Makers and Built By Girls. She created and executed an audience development strategy for Yahoo’s social platforms. She also served as general manager for Autoblog and Engadget.

Strouse led operations for Yahoo Finance in 2018, launching live programming and leading the over-the-top (OTT) and linear distribution strategy for Yahoo Finance Live.

In 2007, Strouse launched Fox Business Network, which included hiring teams and launching 14 shows in four months. She spent a decade at Fox Business Network, leading the creative teams for all programming.

Strouse also led the graphics team at MSNBC and worked as a producer, writer and booker for CNBC, covering a wide variety of stories.

Strouse earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University-Long Beach. She lives in New Jersey with her family.

CINCINNATI—A number of E.W. Scripps Company multicast networks are set to move over to Ion stations. Per Scripps, Bounce, Court TV, Court TV Mystery, Gritt and Laff networks will be carried on Ion stations starting on March 1; rolling transition will continue as those networks’ affiliation agreements expire over the next five years.

Scripps recently finalized its acquisition of Ion, and this action with the multicast networks is one of its first efforts to combine the two sides’ operations.

“The distribution expansion of Scripps multicast networks through Ion’s broadcast spectrum is the first major step in our realizing the tremendous synergies of the Ion transaction,” said Adam Symson, Scripps president and CEO.

Related to the addition of Scripps’ multicast networks to Ion station, Ion multicast networks Ion Plus, Qubo and Shop Ion will cease operations on Feb. 28. Scripps will continue to operate the Ion Television network on its 48 Ion stations’ primary channels.

Other post-transaction moves that Scripps has announced is the cutting of 120 jobs across its national networks and corporate workforce.

Scripps estimates that it will exceed its initial estimates of $500 million in synergies, most of which it says are contractually based, over the next six years.

For more information, visit www.scripps.com.  

ATLANTA & WASHINGTON—Starting May 4, Court TV will bring live audio of Supreme Court oral arguments to its viewers, the first time that real-time arguments will be available from the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court announced earlier in April that it would conduct oral arguments via a conference call starting in May after suspending oral arguments in March and April because of the coronavirus. It was later revealed that these arguments would be available for the public to listen in on live.

Court TV’s coverage of the hearings will feature the live audio while also presenting images and graphics of the litigants and justices as they speak. Court TV morning anchor Ted Rowlands will host the coverage, which will include additional reporting and commentary from other Court TV contributors. Special coverage will also be given to explain the cases being heard and their importance to viewers.

Here is the schedule for the Supreme Court cases:

May 4: United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V.

May 5: Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International Inc.

May 6:  Little Sisters of the Poor Saints and Paul Home v. Pennsylvania; Trump v. Pennsylvania; and Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants Inc. 

May 11: McGirt v. Oklahoma; Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru; and St. James School v. Biel

May 12: Trump v. Mazars USA LLP; Trump v. Deutsche Bank AG; and Trump v. Vance

May 13: Chiafalo v. Washington; and Colorado Department of State v. Baca

CINCINNATI—Court is in session again, Court TV that is. After initially being taken off the air in 2008, Katz Networks, part of the E.W. Scripps Company, officially relaunched the 24/7 court coverage network on Wednesday, May 8.

During Court TV’s initial run it covered high-profile court cases to air, including the trials of O.J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers and Casey Anthony. In its new iteration, Court TV will provide live, gavel-to-gavel coverage, in-depth legal reporting and expert analysis of important and compelling trials across the county. Katz Networks has also acquired the complete library of the original Court TV’s library.

Katz has made agreements with local TV station group owners that will make the network available to more than 50% of U.S. television households through over-the-air broadcast; it will also be available to 25% of U.S. cable homes. Tribune will offer Court TV to 22 of its markets; E.W. Scripps will provide it in eight markets; Entravision Communications will have it in 10 markets; Univision will provide it in three markets; and Citadel Communications will air Court TV in Providence, R.I.