[2] Its corporate motto is "Give light and the people will find their own way", which is symbolized by the media empire's longtime lighthouse logo.

[3] In terms of audience reach, Scripps is the second largest operator of ABC affiliates, behind the Sinclair Broadcast Group, and ahead of Hearst Television and Tegna.

In July 1895, it was named the Scripps-McRae League to reflect the leadership of Cincinnati Post general manager Milton A. McRae, a longtime partner.

[5][6] The company expanded during the decade to publish newspapers in California, Denver, Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, and elsewhere.

[4] In early November 1922, the Scripps-McRae League was renamed Scripps-Howard Newspapers to recognize company executive Roy W.

It started selling content to non-Scripps owned newspapers in 1907, and by 1909, it became a more general syndicate, offering comics, pictures and features as well.

[19][20] The company expanded its newspaper holdings throughout the pre-World War II period, acquiring many titles and merging them, including the Rocky Mountain News and Knoxville News-Sentinel.

[21] Two years later, Scripps Howard sold off Kartes Video Communications back to its founders, after an aborted deal where Scripps-Howard's acquisition of Hanes failed.

[39] On May 22, 2018, Scripps announced that it was changing its common stock listing back from the NYSE to Nasdaq, which occurred on June 4, 2018.

While United Media effectively ceased to exist, Scripps still maintains copyrights and intellectual property rights.

The company was formed in 1935 when Scripps Howard made its foray into broadcasting by purchasing radio station WDBZ, renaming it WCPO after newspaper The Cincinnati Post.

[43][44] In 1936, The Commercial Appeal was purchased by the Scripps Howard newspaper chain, which included the WMC stations.

[4] The company expanded its television holdings in 1961 by purchasing West Palm Beach station WPTV-TV from the Phipps family.

[46][47] On January 1, 1971, the day after the Scripps purchase was completed, the station changed its call letters to KTEW-TV (standing for "Tulsa E.W.

[51][52] On October 9, 1986, two of Scripps' stations in Phoenix and Kansas City became affiliates of the Fox Broadcasting Company television network.

[65]: 16 The demand came at the expense of two equally long-standing ABC affiliates: WJZ-TV had been with the network since 1948[66] while KTVK emerged in the 1980s as a market leader for local news, albeit family-owned and not part of a larger chain.

[65]: 16  Announced on June 15, 1994, the ABC-Scripps agreement included all three stations Scripps demanded join the network, along with WEWS and WXYZ.

[69][70] For WFTS, the announcement came with an expedited buildout of a news department,[71] with local newscasts debuting the day of their switch.

[73] ABC later signed an unrelated affiliation deal with WCPO-TV in September 1995, taking effect on June 3, 1996.

In March 1996, KSHB owner Scripps Howard Broadcasting reached a deal to manage KMCI under a local marketing agreement.

The new KMCI lineup included an inventory of programs that KSHB owned but had not had time to air after it switched to NBC in 1994.

[78] Exercising an option from the 1996 pact with Miller,[76] Scripps bought KMCI outright for $14.6 million in 2000, forming a legal duopoly with KSHB.

On September 26, 2006, Scripps announced that it was selling its Shop at Home TV stations to New York City-based Multicultural Television for $170 million.

[89] In June 2018, Griffin Communications reached a deal to buy the Scripps Tulsa radio cluster.

In July 2018, Good Karma Brands reached a deal to buy the Scripps Milwaukee radio cluster.

[99][100][101][102][103] In July 2020, the company sold their Stitcher podcast service and assets to Sirius XM for $325 million.

[104] On September 22, 2020, the company announced it was buying KCDO-TV and KSBS-CD from Newsweb Corporation for $9.5 million, pending approval of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC); this would make them sister stations to ABC affiliate KMGH-TV.

[111] The division, eventually called Scripps Sports, announced on April 20, 2023, a deal with Ion and the WNBA for a broadcast package airing on Friday nights during the regular season, with "WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on Ion" featuring both national and regional telecasts.

Scripps also did not renew the affiliations with the CW on its second subchannels for its statewide Montana Television Network and converted them to independent stations to accommodate the broadcasts.

[112] On October 5, 2023, Scripps Sports announced a deal with the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes, with ABC affiliate KNXV's sub-channel Antenna TV (15.2) serving as the flagship network for all non-national exclusive games in the Phoenix market beginning with the 2023–24 season.