WASHINGTON—The NCTA has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission opposing E.W. Scripps acquisition of TV stations from INYO that argue the agency lacks the authority to waive ownership caps on broadcast station groups.

DirecTV has also filed comments opposing the deal.

Earlier this year, Scripps has announced that it is exercising its option to re-acquire 23 ION-affiliated stations for about $54 million. The stations were divested to INYO Broadcast Holdings in 2021 as part of its acquisition of ION so that the deal would comply with Federal Communications Commission ownership caps.

The plan to reacquire them comes at a time when the FCC has been more open to altering or eliminating ownership caps,

The proposed acquisition would, if approved by the agency, create a combined station group covering 40.29% of the country or 1.29 percentage points more than the current ownership cap of 39%. Under FCC Chair Brendan Carr the agency has asserted its authority to waive the ownership caps if they are in the public interest.

Recently, the Media Bureau did waive ownership rules in its approval of the Nexstar/Tegna merger, which would create a combined group covering 54.5% of the U.S. population or 15.5 percentage points over the cap. That decision is now being litigated in Federal courts in California and Washington D.C.

In its filing, the cable-backed NCTA argued that Congress did not give the FCC authority to waive the caps and that even if it did, the agency’s Media Bureau did not have the power to do so on "delegated authority”

“Accordingly, the Commission itself should resolve any `questions regarding the Commission’s authority in this area.’” the group argued. “And, as discussed above, that resolution should make clear that the Commission lacks authority to repeal or modify the National Cap.”

The full filing is available here.

WASHINGTON—DirecTV and broadband and cable associations from six states have filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to block E.W. Scripps proposed acquisition of INYO.

In February, Scripps announced that it was exercising its option to re-acquire 23 ION-affiliated stations for about $54 million. The stations were divested to INYO Broadcast Holdings in January of 2021 as part of its acquisition of ION so that the deal would comply with Federal Communications Commission ownership caps.

The filing argued “in re-acquiring these stations, Scripps will own television stations covering 40.29 percent of U.S. households (taking into account the UHF discount), thereby exceeding the FCC’s National Television Multiple Ownership Rule.”

Although the FCC has been increasingly willing to waive ownership caps, something that it did with the Nexstar/Tegna deal, the filing also argued that “the FCC lacks authority to waive the National Cap. The 2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) enshrined a `39 percent national audience reach limitation’ into law by (1) directing the Commission to adopt the 39 percent limit; (2) excluding the 39 percent cap from the quadrennial review of broadcast ownership rules; (3) removing the Commission’s forbearance authority with respect to entities that exceed the 39-percent cap; and (4) requiring any entity exceeding that limit (except through population growth) to come into compliance in two years or less.”

“Petitioners recognize that the Media Bureau recently rejected these arguments in approving Nexstar’s acquisition of Tegna,” the filing noted. “But that decision was both erroneous on the merits and involved `novel questions of law, fact or policy that cannot be resolved under existing precedents and guidelines.’ Petitioners have sought full Commission review of that decision. Unless and until the full Commission (and reviewing courts) affirm the Media Bureau’s approach, Petitioners will continue to raise their concerns in appropriate contexts.”

The filing notes that if the deal is approved, the re-acquisition of these twenty-three stations, which are “primarily” ION affiliates, would give Scripps its “first station in nine local markets, create new duopolies in four local markets, and (assuming approval of a separate transaction) create new triopolies in eight local markets. Adding these stations to Scripps’ portfolio will also give the company a national audience reach of 40.29 percent when taking the UHF discount into account—thereby exceeding the National Cap.”

Those arguments have been consistently rejected by The FCC and broadcasters. In the last year, the FCC has argued that the ownership caps are in fact FCC rules, not a statutory requirement set by Congress and that the Media Bureau does have the authority to waive those rules.

The full filing is available here.

NEW YORK—The WNBA has released its 18-game preseason schedule for 2026 and announced that in addition to four national broadcasts on Ion, every preseason game will be available via WNBA League Pass for free.

Fans can stream these games for free in the WNBA App by signing up or logging in with a WNBA ID to unlock the preseason preview. This marks the second consecutive year that the entire preseason slate will be available to fans via the out-of-market streaming service. Information on the Canadian television broadcast and streaming schedule will be released at a later date.

“We’re seeing unprecedented demand for the WNBA, and WNBA ID is helping us meet that moment by making every preseason game available to fans for free,” WNBA chief growth officer Colie Edison said.

The WNBA’s 2026 preseason action tips off Saturday, April 25, with a five-game slate. That day also features the first of four nationally broadcast games on Iib, when two-time All Star Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever visit the New York Liberty and former Kia WNBA MVPs Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart at Barclays Center (3 p.m. ET).

As part of its Q4 2025 earnings report, E.W. Scripps has announced that it is exercising its option to re-acquire 23 ION-affiliated stations for about $54 million.

The stations were divested to INYO Broadcast Holdings in January of 2021 as part of its acquisition of ION so that the deal would comply with Federal Communications Commission ownership caps.

The plan to reacquire them comes at a time when the FCC is signaling that it is open to altering or eliminating ownership caps and several broadcast station groups have announced deals that would require changes or waivers of ownership rules.

Scripps noted that the deal would require FCC approval and that deal would close after FCC approval.

If approved, Scripps said that the ownership of these INYO stations would be immediately accretive to the company’s Network segment profit and margin.

In the Q4 earnings call, Jason Combs, executive vice president and CFO said “the transaction allows us to expand our already sizable spectrum holdings. After close, we will no longer be paying the owner of those stations affiliate fees -- so acquiring these station assets will be immediately accretive to the Scripps Networks division segment profit and margins. We will seek waivers for the transaction under the FCC's current television station ownership rules.”

Later in the call, Combs added that “we had to divest these stations to comply with the FCC rules back in 2021. And with current regulatory environment, we think it's the right time to reacquire them. The ownership of these stations is immediately accretive from the segment profit and a margin perspective, plus we also get some favorable tax benefits. So we have -- this transaction will ultimately relieve a significant onetime tax liability we've been carrying on our balance sheet. So when you kind of put all of that together, it just seemed like the right thing to do.”

E.W. Scripps has tapped Amira Lewally, a veteran cable TV programmer, as senior director of original programming.

Lewally will oversee all original content development for the broadcast group’s portfolio of national networks, including Ion, Bounce, Grit, Laff and Ion Mystery, and for its local TV stations from concept to execution, Scripps said. She’ll also lead efforts to align creative talent with network brand strategies, foster audience engagement and deliver compelling programming for viewers nationwide, the company said.

Lewally will be based in Washington, D.C.

“As Scripps advances its next chapter of original programming, Amira’s proven track record of cross-platform storytelling and creative vision, producing content across multiple genres and for different audiences, make her the right leader for this role,” said Scripps senior vice president of programming Adam Harman, to whom Lewally will report. “Amira’s history of creating programming with strong viewer affinity will enhance the value of content across our full portfolio and in what we deliver to our partners.”

Lewally most recently was a supervising producer at A+E Networks, managing more than 300 hours of live programming, original series and specials for cable network A&E. Her credits include “60 Days In,” “The Judd Family: Truth Be Told” and the “Secrets of…” franchise. Her work has been featured at such major festivals as the Tribeca Film Festival, the American Black Film Festival and the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, Scripps said. She has been nominated for the Critics Choice Awards, the NAACP Image Awards and the IDA Documentary Awards.

Lewally also co-created, produced and co-hosted the Lifetime podcast “The Table Is Ours.”

“Scripps’ diverse portfolio opens up incredible opportunities to innovate and tell stories that truly resonate,” Lewally said. “I’m excited to explore new ways to create compelling content, deepen our connection with viewers, and build on the company’s legacy of must-watch original programming that serves and reflects our communities.”

Lewally has a master’s degree in writing and producing for television from Long Island University and a bachelor’s in business with a minor in film from Baylor University. She was recognized as Baylor’s alumna of the year in 2022 and has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30: Hollywood & Entertainment list and to Cablefax’s Thrivers Under 30.

CINCINNATI—Scripps Sports continues to add to its sports portfolio with an exclusive broadcast deal with Major League Volleyball (MLV) to bring the league’s championship to ION.

ION will carry the MLV’s two semifinal matches live on Thursday, May 7, 2026, as well as the championship on Saturday, May 9, with the host city to be announced.

“Volleyball is exploding in popularity worldwide, and MLV is driving the future of professional women’s volleyball in the U.S.,” said Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports. “Bringing the 2026 MLV championship to our national audience is exactly what Scripps Sports is built for – showcasing elite women athletes and their sports that inspire millions of fans.”

The MLV is the latest to join Scripps Sports’ robust portfolio of women’s sports, which includes the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

The MLV partnership announcement also follows Scripps Sports’ recent coverage of Athlos NYC 2025, a first-of-its-kind women’s-only track and field event, in October. Also coming this fall to ION is the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off – a premier early-season college basketball tournament held Thanksgiving weekend.

Scripps cited its sports programming as a factor in a 2% increase in core advertising in Q3 2025 in its local media group.

The deal also comes at a time of major change in professional volleyball. Last summer, Pro Volleyball Federation (PVF) and Major League Volleyball announced plans for a single, united league poised to elevate professional women’s volleyball in the United States.

Beginning play in January 2026, MLV is an evolution of PVF, and the upcoming campaign will be recorded as the league’s third season. The league will feature eight teams based in Atlanta, Columbus, Dallas, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Omaha, Orlando and San Diego and will grow to 10 in 2027 with additions in Northern California and Washington, D.C. The selection of the next set of outstanding players to join Major League Volleyball will take place on Monday, Nov. 24, as the latest group of newcomers is chosen by teams during the 2025 MLV Draft.

Additional details, including on-air talent and broadcast times, will come at a later date, Scripps said.

CINCINNATI—The E.W. Scripps Company has announced that six of its channels are now streaming as part of Peacock’s 24/7 channel offering and are available to subscribers of NBCU’s Peacock streaming service.

The six channels are ION, ION Mystery, Bounce, Court TV, Court TV Legendary Trials and Scripps News.

Peacock’s always-on streaming channels are designed to be a robust collection of fan-favorite content across a variety of categories, including Sports (NFL, Premier League), News (NBC News, Sky News, TODAY), Entertainment (WWE and Saturday Night Live); and dozens more channels for every fan, from reality, true crime, Spanish-language, comedy and more.

Scripps described the six channels as follows:

• ION is a leading general entertainment network featuring an expansive programming lineup that includes women’s sports, popular off-network series and more.
• ION Mystery is home to some of television’s most binge-worthy dramas, docuseries and originals.
• Court TV is devoted to live gavel-to-gavel coverage, in-depth legal reporting, and expert analysis of the nation's most important and compelling trials.
• Court TV Legendary Trials features Court TV’s archived footage from some of the nation’s most gripping trials through the years.
• Bounce features a programming mix of original series and movies, theatrical motion pictures, off network series, specials and events designed for African American audiences.
• Scripps News delivers compelling, context-driven news, fact-based reporting and a deeper look at the “why” of each story with objective, impactful storytelling.

NEW YORK and CINCINNATI—E.W. Scripps has announced a new, multiyear agreement with the WNBA that will continue Ion's regular-season coverage of the league on Friday nights. Ion has been the league's Friday night national broadcast home since 2023.

“The WNBA’s partnership with Scripps has already delivered great results in expanding the league’s reach and visibility,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. “This new multiyear agreement reflects the growing excitement surrounding the league and the rising demand for WNBA games. Through Scripps’ Ion Network Friday-night doubleheaders, we will continue to showcase the world-class talent of WNBA athletes to even more fans nationwide.”

This new agreement comes on the heels of a 2024 season where average viewership for the “State Farm WNBA Friday Night Spotlight” increased by 133% year over year and attracted more than 23 million unique viewers across games and wrap shows, Scripps reported.

“Since 2023, the ‘WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on Ion’ has enhanced the accessibility and reach of WNBA games for fans nationwide,” Scripps President and CEO Adam Symson said. “Our robust partnership with the league has flourished, and we are thrilled to solidify Ion’s status as the premier Friday night destination for WNBA action for years to come.”

This season, Ion is broadcasting the most regular-season games, 50 in total, as part of “WNBA Friday Night Spotlight.” The lineup also includes the “WNBA on Ion Studio Show,” which is the first weekly game broadcast studio show dedicated exclusively to coverage of the league.

The new deal is part of Scripps Sports’ ongoing push to expand its sports broadcasts and operations.

As pro sports teams’ engagements with TV station groups explode into a historic search for a successor to the pay-TV distribution model, they’re generating a wealth of promising options with one overarching question still unanswered: Will they last?

Can any of these efforts generate the robust returns pro sports leagues enjoyed during the golden decades of the regional sports network (RSN) era that came to a crashing halt when Diamond, the biggest player in the field, filed for bankruptcy in early 2023? And, if not, do streaming giants really offer the gold-plated payoff some OTT advocates are touting?

Two years into this grand experiment, the acceleration in deals between station owners, pro teams and their leagues, including engagements prompted by the surging popularity of women’s sports, attests to growing optimism that OTA broadcasters are the key to the way forward. But as promising as the early results might be, it remains to be seen whether what’s happening translates into what Gray Media president and co-CEO Pat LaPlatney calls “needle-moving revenues” for the station groups, let alone for teams and leagues.

It’s All About Reach
The good news is, so far, so good on all sides. Noting Gray’s expanding portfolio of alliances with NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL and other pro sports leagues, LaPlatney asserts the combination of “tons of live sports” and local news offered through Gray’s regional station clusters harkens back to an earlier era in regional broadcast operations. “It’s a really good model,” he says.

And, he adds, it looks like a winning model for the teams as well. “Broader distribution leads to better marketing, better ad sales, selling more tickets and more merch,” he says. “It’s a virtuous cycle.”

Discussions with other station group executives elicit a similar perspective on what has turned the sports tide in their direction amid the nosedive in subscribers to Diamond’s 18 former Baily RSNs now operating under the FanDuel brand and the many other RSNs still dotting the landscape.

That collapse led to FanDuel exercising its rights to broadcast the games by cutting carriage deals with station groups while retaining control over production, which leaves open the question of how carriage and production will be worked out with the leagues once those deals expire.

“The regional sports network was a great business for decades,” says Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor from last month’s TV Tech Leadership Summit. “It reached 80% of all the households in a market. Today that number is less than 40 in most markets.”

But Brad Ramsey, senior vice president of media operations for Tegna, who heads up the company’s sports distribution efforts, says it’s not easy for station groups as they make their case for providing better reach to the sports leagues. “While audiences are significantly larger on broadcast and we have fantastic data points and case studies estimating and showing we’re achieving big audience growth,” he says, “it’s going to take time for advertising and sponsorship to catch up and match the way things have been done in recent years.”

No Quick Fixes from Streaming
Still, broadcasters can forge ahead knowing there are no quick fixes for the leagues. Looking at MLB’s conundrum following its mutual agreement with ESPN to terminate the final two years of their seven-year contract, legal analyst Rob Rosenberg, founder and principal at Telluride Legal Strategies, cites the risks the league faces trying to fill or exceed the $550-million annual revenue gap with another big distribution deal.

“If you think about it realistically, if MLB is looking for a big payday for putting together a national rights deal in 2028, is Fox CBS, NBC or ABC going to be in a better financial situation than they are today?” Rosenberg asks. And given the volatility and audience fragmentation plaguing the streaming business, there are no easy answers on the streaming side either.

“MLB will have to balance getting maximum dollars in a big contract with the need to get the reach they need to regenerate audiences and fans in their local markets,” he says. “It’s not a long-term win if you leave reach out of the equation.”

The New Consensus on a Way Forward
The consensus now taking hold across the sports ecosystem is that the new business framework will have to be built on a well-conceived mix of local TV, national network broadcasting and streaming with the likelihood the returns on pay TV distribution will continue to slide. “It may take a while for them to phase down and out, but I think RSNs are a dying breed,” Rosenberg says.

HFS Research analyst Jason Dann, in a new report describing how “sports media is scrambling to meet consumer demands,” makes clear where he thinks they should place their bets: “The solution? A hybrid approach. Leaders must balance embracing digital innovation and ensuring accessibility for all audiences.”

Jeremy Goldman, senior director at Emarketer agrees. In another recent post describing research on the sports distribution situation, he says, “The shift to digital viewing represents a pivotal moment in sports media consumption, but the transition poses significant challenges. The fragmentation of rights across multiple platforms creates friction for consumers while driving up costs. Success in this new environment will require balancing traditional broadcast reach with digital innovation.”

Nobody is playing the pro sports broadcast and streaming arena more broadly than Scripps Sports, which has also taken a leading role in bringing women’s pro sports to broadcast (see sidebar). The unit works with the E.W. Scripps portfolio of 61 stations in 41 markets and the national ION broadcast network to provide distribution platforms for sports partners, including the WNBA, the National Women’s Soccer League, the NHL’s Florida Panthers, Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Hockey Club, and the NCAA’s Big Sky Conference.

On the streaming side, along with coordinating with outside streaming services, the company has partnered with sports streamer ViewLift to launch a free streaming outlet providing Panther fans online access to 70 Scripps broadcast games and a pay streaming service in Nevada covering roughly the same number of Golden Knights broadcasts.

“We really like the formula,” Lawlor says, noting the ratings for Scripps’ broadcast of Golden Knights games in the first year of the affiliation were double the previous year and ratings at the halfway mark in the first year with the Panthers are up 130%.

As for any perceived threat from pro teams’ affiliations with the major streaming services, Lawlor believes the broadcast and streaming domains are complementary and are likely to remain that way. “I don’t think it has to be either or,” he says. “It’s all about the visibility.”

Stations and Streamers Collaborate
And, notes Gray’s LaPlatney, for broadcasters it’s all about cooperating with the streamers. “In a lot of our deals, teams do the streaming deal in tandem with what they’re doing with us,” he says.

A particularly close relationship in this vein can be found in Gray’s groundbreaking April 2023 deal with the NBA’s Phoenix Suns and WNBA’s Mercury, which helped kick off pro sports’ teams moves away from RSNs. Along with locking in the Gray affiliations, which ignited statewide OTA broadcasts of all their home games, the teams’ ownership simultaneously signed on with the Kiswe streaming service to supply an AZ Family Sports Network cellphone app that gives residents free statewide online access to the games.

In September following the Phoenix deal, Gray signed another groundbreaking agreement with the New Orleans Pelicans, which replaced RSN coverage reaching about 250,000 households with free OTA and affiliated MVPD coverage over a new Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network, reaching 4.1 million households on stations throughout Louisiana, much of Mississippi and Mobile, Ala. With stations serving 113 television markets nationwide, Gray is also racking up big successes with the likes of the Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers and other MLB teams.

A similar story of ongoing expansion in a variety of dealmaking scenarios is unfolding at Tegna, which operates 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets. Among a wide range of multi-sport affiliations described by Ramsey, Tegna is the primary rights holder with the Dallas Mavericks and the Seattle Kraken NHL franchise and has been working with the San Antonio Spurs since late 2023.

The company just agreed to carry most WNBA Dallas Wings games, and recently signed with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, owner of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Avalanche, to carry 20 of each team’s games. There are also some OTA “carve outs” involving a handful of Indiana Pacer, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Milwaukee Bucks games, and Tegna is in discussions with five MLB teams weighing OTA partnerships.

One of the more interesting wrinkles in this multifaceted dealmaking quilt is Tegna’s arrangement with Amazon Prime in Seattle. “With Kraken, our linear feed is on Amazon Prime and our sales team is negotiating with advertisers based on how they want to use both the OTA and digital outlets to market their products,” Ramsey says, noting there’s nothing better than a win/win for everyone where teams can create a one-stop shop for marketers to reach all audiences on all screens.

“There are a number of ways linear and streaming can co-exist,” he adds. “In all cases teams are looking at the landscape thinking about how they can make their linear and digital rights complement each other and, at the end of the day, create the best financial outcomes.”

The resurgence in TV stations’ roles in sports broadcasting may just be getting underway, but it’s not too soon to think the hybrid approach to distribution could win out in the long run.

ATLANTA—Coming off last year's inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) on ION, Scripps Sports has unveiled production plans and a new studio team for the network's 2025 season coverage, which kicks off March 15.

The NWSL on ION showcases top matches from across the league every Saturday night of the regular season. In the upcoming season the NWSL on ION studio shows—the first-ever weekly studio shows dedicated to the NWSL by any broadcast network—will feature Seb Salazar and Kylen Mills as co-hosts.

Salazar adds ION duties to his work with ESPN, where he regularly appears on ESPN FC, the company's signature soccer program. He has also co-hosted the popular biweekly Fútbol Americas show on ESPN+.

Mills, a former college soccer standout, is an Emmy-nominated sports broadcaster with a resume of on-air work across Fox Sports, NBC Sports, The Big Ten Network and Pac-12 Networks.

"Seb Salazar is an exceptional talent in soccer reporting, bringing a wealth of experience and deep-rooted passion for the game," said Brian Lawlor, president, Scripps Sports. "His work on ESPN and his insightful commentary on Fútbol Americas have made him a trusted voice and a household name among soccer fans. Kylen Mills is a distinguished sportscaster whose extensive on-air analyst experience and deep understanding of soccer from her own time on the pitch make her an invaluable addition to our team. We are delighted to have Seb and Kylen at the helm of our NWSL on ION studio show this season and eagerly anticipate the outstanding coverage and analysis they will bring to viewers."

The Scripps Sports production team is led by Quinn Pacini, vice president of broadcast operations. Nicole Denne, a veteran producer, serves as executive producer for the NWSL on ION's studio content. This year, Taylor Quellman joins as studio show producer. Quellman has been serving as the pre- and post-game producer for Scripps Sports' coverage of Vegas Golden Knights hockey, as well as holding the same role for the San Diego Padres.

Scripps Sports and the NWSL will again co-produce the Saturday night doubleheaders, with two distinct NWSL on ION match broadcast teams – both of which are returning for the network's second season. The team for match one features JP Dellacamera on play-by-play with former U.S. Women's National Team goalkeeper Jill Loyden as analyst. For match two, Maura Sheridan will take the mic for play-by-play duties while former NWSL player Jordan Angeli will serve as analyst.

"In our first season of coverage, ION quickly became a popular home for the NWSL," said Pacini. "We are picking up where we left off with a robust and experienced broadcast team, and we look forward to another great season for NWSL fans across the country."

The NWSL on ION will feature 50 matches across 25 weeks of its Saturday night doubleheaders. The first doubleheader of the season is set for March 15, with 2024 rookie sensation Ally Sentnor and the Utah Royals FC hosting Zambian standout Racheal Kundananji and Bay FC (7:30 p.m. ET), followed by USWNT veteran Rose Lavelle and Gotham FC traveling to Seattle to face former teammate and the NWSL's all-time leading scorer Reign FC forward Lynn (Williams) Biyendolo (10 p.m. ET).

In the run-up to the second season, Scripps also released some viewing figures for the first season on ION:

• In addition to reaching more than 20.5 million total unique viewers, NWSL on ION reached 13.5 million viewers unique to ION.
• ION delivered the largest female percentage audience of any network (57% of the P25-54 audience, 55% of the P2+ audience).
• 50% of all NWSL viewers watched matches on ION, the highest percentage of all linear broadcast partners.
• Matches drew an average audience of 145,000 P2+ per game with a high of 234,000 on July 6 for the Orlando-Kansas City match.
• NWSL matches on ION delivered more than 3.6 million hours of viewing across free ad-supported television (FAST) channels, including Roku, Samsung TV, LG, Vizio, Dumo, Plex, Amazon Fire TV Channels, Pluto, CW and Tablo.

CINCINNATI—E.W. Scripps said its the first season of National Women's Soccer League on Ion broadcasts—matches and studio shows—reached more than 20.5 million total unique viewers, including 13.5 viewers unique to the network.

Scripps Sports televised Saturday night doubleheaders on Ion throughout the season, a total of 50 matches—more than any other network—and 53 studio shows. Ion was among the networks involved in a multiyear distribution agreement announced in November 2023 that included CBS Sports, ESPN and Prime Video.

Ion delivered more than 130 hours of NWSL content during the season.

“NWSL fans consistently showed up to watch Ion every week,” Scripps Sports president Brian Lawlor said. “It was an incredible first year. We expect to continue growing the audience and helping the league grow its fan base.”

League officials agreed.

“Our matches on Ion brought incredible NWSL content to fans everywhere,” added Brian Gordon, NWSL senior vice president of broadcast. "Beyond the matches, the ability to go in depth with our athletes and give them a platform to amplify their own stories helped our fans grow an even deeper affinity for the players, clubs and league. We are very proud of our collaboration with Scripps Sports and look forward to continuing our work together next season.”

Other highlights of the audiences on NWSL on Ion included:

• Ion delivered the largest share of female viewers of any network (57% of the P25-54 audience, 55% of the persons 2-plus).
• 50% of all NWSL viewers watched matches on Ion, the highest percentage of all linear broadcast partners.
• Matches drew an average audience of 145,000 viewers 2-plus per game, with a high of 234,000 on July 6 for Orlando-Kansas City.
• NWSL matches on Ion delivered more than 3.6 million hours of viewing across free ad-supported television (FAST) channels, including Roku, Samsung TV, LG, Vizio, Xumo, Plex, Amazon Fire TV Channels, Pluto, The CW and Tablo.
• Scripps Sports formed more than two dozen advertising partnerships, including Capital One as presenting sponsor of “NWSL on Ion Saturday Night Soccer.”

New data from Scripps Sports provides fresh evidence of a rapidly growing interest in women’s sports, with average viewership for the State Farm WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION in 2024 increasing by 133% compared to 2023. Overall, the network attracted 23.37 million unique viewers across games and wrap shows as the male audience (ages 25-54) grew 181%.

The E.W. Scripps Company and the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) recently completed the second year of a multi-year agreement to televise weekly double-headers in primetime on Fridays during the regular season on ION, a national sports and entertainment broadcast network that reaches every U.S. TV household over-the-air and on all major pay TV and connected TV services.

ION broadcast a WNBA-high 43 regular-season games and a league-high 67 hours of WNBA regular-season content. This year ION also added a studio show that aired before, in-between and sometimes after games. Scripps Sports also unveiled a new studio designed and built, in part, specifically for ION on WNBA studio shows.

Highlights of "WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION" Season 2:

• WNBA games on ION averaged 670,000 P2+ viewers, a 133% increase from 2023.
• Of the total reach of 23.37 million – up from 12.3 million last year – 9.46 million viewers P2+ only watched games on ION. (One-minute qualifier Live+SD; excludes repeat broadcasts and ESPND)
• 7 telecasts exceeded an average of 1 million viewers, topped by the Aug. 30 games between the Indiana Fever and Chicago Sky, a national broadcast, and the Minnesota Lynx and Dallas Wings, a local broadcast, which together drew an average of 1.6 million and peaked at 1.92 million.
• ION delivered the largest percentage of female audience of any network airing WNBA games this season – 50% of the ION P18-49 audience was female and 45% of the P2+ audience was female.
• ION delivered more than 3.7 million hours of viewing across the season, including via Roku, Samsung TV+, LG, Vizio, Xumo, Plex, Amazon Fire Channels, Pluto, CW and Tablo.
• Scripps added more than 20 new advertisers as ratings surged in the second year of WNBA broadcasts on ION.
• The WNBA on ION social media saw strong year-over-year growth, generating 100 million+ impressions on Instagram, X and Facebook through collaborations with players, teams and the league.

"This season was a big step forward for the WNBA and its players in terms of exposure both in arenas and on television," said Brian Lawlor, Scripps Sports president. "It was so fun to watch the momentum build throughout the season. Scripps is thrilled to have played a part in that."

"We are incredibly pleased with the success of our partnership with Scripps Sports, which has played a pivotal role in amplifying the reach and visibility of the WNBA season," said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. "Through this partnership, we've been able to showcase great basketball with a broader audience, deepening the connection between the league, the players and our growing fanbase while delivering record-breaking viewership numbers."

NEW YORK and CINCINNATI—The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and The E.W. Scripps Company have signed a multi-year agreement to televise games on Friday nights during the regular season on ION.

The agreement makes the WNBA the first sports property to air on ION and is part of a company-wide effort to expand its sports operations.  In December, Scripps launched a new sports division. 

As part of the deal, ION will air “WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION,” which will feature WNBA games during two windows on Friday nights over 15 weeks from May 26 to Sept. 8. 

The Friday night schedule and windows, details of which will be announced at a later date, will include games that will be available nationally as well as games made available on a regional basis.

“The WNBA is thrilled to partner with Scripps to expand the league’s media horizon and reach basketball fans in greater numbers,” said WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “Access to watch WNBA games is in high demand, and Scripps’ dedicated Friday night lineup of WNBA games on ION will become much desired appointment viewing for WNBA fans.”

“The WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION brings women’s professional basketball the broadest possible reach with the consistency that fans, players, teams and the league deserve,” said Adam Symson, Scripps president and CEO. “Scripps is fully committed to serving and growing the number of American women’s basketball fans who value the athleticism, professionalism and excitement the WNBA brings into their living rooms.”

To promote the games, ION said it will produce an extensive promotional effort to drive awareness and tune-in for the new Friday primetime franchise. Bounce, Scripps News and Scripps’ other popular national networks will help with cross-marketing and promotion. Scripps also will use its local TV stations to promote the “WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION” throughout the season.

“Scripps Sports was established to help leagues and teams extend their reach and connect with audiences through new distribution channels,” said Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports. “We are pleased the WNBA sees the ION network as an opportunity to showcase its games with a weekly nationwide franchise designed to increase visibility and fandom for this sport. Women’s sports merits a national broadcast network that ensures every American TV household can watch these amazing athletes and their gripping game play.”

ATLANTA—Scripps Networks has announced that ION, Bounce and Scripps News will launch on YouTube TV as part of its base service offering this week.

The launch is part of a new multi-year distribution agreement between YouTube TV and Scripps Networks, the national television network division of  The E.W. Scripps Company.

As part of the agreement, YouTube TV will also continue its existing carriage of Court TV and has the option to launch Grit, ION Mystery, and Laff in the future.

"We believe our diversified portfolio of networks will help strengthen YouTube TV as a pay tv option for consumers and are excited to be part of their continued growth in the marketplace. We look forward to growing our relationship with YouTube TV and their parent company Google," said Jeffrey Wolf, chief distribution officer, Scripps Networks.

ION features a lineup of popular off-network series, original and holiday movies and more. Bounce features a programming mix of original series and movies, theatrical motion pictures, off network series, specials and events designed for African American audiences. 

Scripps News, formerly Newsy, is the nation's only free 24/7 broadcast news network, serving viewers opinion-free national news from 16 news bureaus across the U.S. 

Court TV is devoted to live gavel-to-gavel coverage, in-depth legal reporting, and expert analysis of the nation's most important and compelling trials.

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.  

CINCINNATI—The E.W. Scripps Company has announced that it has acquired the national broadcast network Ion Media for a price of $2.65 billion. The deal will combine Ion with Scripps’ Katz networks and Newsy, creating a national television network business, according to Scripps announcement.

Berkshire Hathaway, which is owned by Warren Buffet, is supporting the deal by investing $600 million in Scripps.

Scripps is purchasing Ion from Black Diamond Capital Management. Ion Media is a national TV network offering primarily popular crime and justice procedural programming, with a reach of more than 100 million homes, per Scripps, with licensed TV stations in 62 markets that it owns as well as 124 affiliated TV stations. Ion elects government-mandated must-carry provisions for cable distribution rather than negotiating retransmission revenue.

With Katz, Newsy and Ion, Scripps says that its national networks business will reach nearly every American through free over-the-air broadcast, cable/satellite, OTT and digital distribution, with multiple advertising-supported programming streams.

“The evolution of Scripps’ national television network business, through the combination of Ion, the Katz networks and Newsy, repositions the company in the television landscape,” said Adam Symson, Scripps president and CEO.

“For more than 70 years, Scripps has been dedicated to local broadcasting and the markets we serve with an unparalleled commitment to quality objective journalism, community service and stewardship of the public’s airwaves,” continued Symson. “Now, with this national broadcasting acquisition, Scripps will be the largest holder of broadcast spectrum, poised to take an even greater leadership role in the development of future business models that leverage ATSC 3.0 and spectrum to benefit the American people.”

Wells Fargo analyst Steven Cahall told TVT’s sister publication B+C that this is “the deal of the year.”

“While we've historically liked Scripps management and assets, investors have found the portfolio too in between: not enough National (relative to the portfolio) to be a growthy stock thesis, and not enough Local scale to get the cash profile of its peers,” Cahall said.

“The Ion deal is undoubtedly transformative as it nearly doubles Scripps enterprise value and the mix of stations + a national net ties everything together like a media bow,” he said. “Bringing Berkshire Hathaway in is also about the best equity market seal of approval there is. We expect investor interest in Scripps to accelerate on the back of this deal and should push Scripps' strong operating performance and proactive strategy into the limelight.”

The Scripps-Ion deal is still subject to FCC approval. To meet requirements, Scripps has already said that it will divest 23 Ion stations, and that it has agreed to a transaction with a buyer, though no specific details were shared. Scripps expects the deal to close in the first quarter of 2021.

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.—More homes have been going broadcast-only with their TVs over the last five years, according to a recent study by Nielsen. The report, commissioned by ION Media, saw a rise of 41 percent in the last five years, increasing the number of broadcast-only households to 15.8 million.

There appears to be a strong support for broadcast TV among millennials, per the report. A higher percentage of young viewers (median age 34.5) are in broadcast-only homes compared to total TV (median age 39.6). In addition, 39 percent of broadcast-only homes have children, compared to 34 percent for total TV.

The report also seems to indicate that there is a greater representation of diversity among broadcast-only homes. There is a 42 percent composition of Hispanic, African-American and Asian households with broadcast-only; total TV households are at a reported 30 percent.

ION Media asserts that the study supports its TV station and affiliate expansion, which includes a set of upcoming acquisitions that will expand its nationwide footprint to 63 stations, allowing it to operate a TV station in all 20 of the largest U.S. markets.