CINCINNATI – The E.W. Scripps Company announced today that Kenneth W. Lowe has been elected by the board of directors as president, chief operating officer and a director of the company, effective immediately. Lowe, 49, who is chairman and CEO of Scripps Networks, has spent the past five years building the company’s category television division into one of the nation’s fastest growing and most successful creators of unique brands for television and the Internet. He has overseen the start of both the Home & Garden (HGTV) and Do It Yourself (DIY) cable networks, as well as managing the Food Network, in which the company owns a majority interest. “Ken Lowe perfectly embodies the strength and vision of The E.W. Scripps Company,” said William R. Burleigh, chairman and chief executive officer of Scripps. “He has strong roots in the traditional media outlets that are the foundation of the company, and a deep understanding of the growth potential and power of new media applications and the Internet. He is the perfect person to lead our operations into a new century and a new millennium.” “I am very excited by this new role and these added responsibilities,” Lowe said. “Scripps is a special company, with a rich heritage and a strong set of core values that cut across all of our diverse operations. Regardless of the technology, our progress will be driven by the quality of the content we create, and by our ability to educate, inform and inspire.” In his new role, Lowe will manage day-to-day operations at Scripps’ four divisions – newspapers, broadcast television, category television, and licensing/other media. He will report to Burleigh, who is relinquishing his position as president and will continue to serve as chairman and CEO until the end of September, when he reaches the company’s mandatory retirement age. Lowe, a North Carolina native who began his career in radio broadcasting while a student at the University of North Carolina, joined Scripps in 1980 as general manager of the company’s radio properties. In 1988, he became vice president of programming, promotion and marketing for the company’s nine network affiliated television stations. In 1994, he founded HGTV and currently serves as chairman and CEO of the Scripps Networks, which also includes the Food Network and the new Do It Yourself network. “In 1878, Edward W. Scripps borrowed $23 to establish a newspaper that helped set off America’s first information revolution,” Burleigh said. “Today we are in the midst of another revolution, and Scripps is in an even better position to lead. Ken Lowe understands the fundamental principles that have made E.W. Scripps one of the nation’s great communications companies. He is uniquely qualified to help direct Scripps into a new era of communications.” The E.W. Scripps Company operates 19 daily newspapers; nine network-affiliated television stations; three TV networks, Home & Garden Television, the Food Network and Do It Yourself; and a TV programmer, Scripps Productions. The company also operates United Media, a worldwide syndicator and licensor of news features and comics; the Scripps Howard News Service; and publishes independent Yellow Pages directories. Scripps operates 31 revenue-producing Web sites, including hgtv.com, foodtv.com, diynet.com and comics.com.