Fox Television Stations and The E.W. Scripps Company have created a local news service for the companies’ stations in Detroit, Phoenix and Tampa with plans to include other partners in each of the markets.
Beginning in April 2009, the service will pool content-gathering resources at general market news events, allowing the stations to save on duplicate efforts. By reducing costs, the stations will be able to increase their focus and resources on specialized franchise reporting. The stations will continue to operate independently in all other respects of their businesses, including newsgathering operations.
Commenting on the agreement, Jack Abernethy, chief executive officer, Fox Television Stations, Inc., stated, “We are pleased to be working with Scripps, a company that faces reality, makes quick decisions and understands what it takes to keep local television robust and independent.”
The news service management will autonomously identify the stories to be covered each day and make arrangements to collect and deliver the video back to each of the participating stations. Each station will then decide how to use the video adding their own reporting and editorial style.
“This news service will allow our existing staff to cover even more local news across multiple platforms,” said Brian Lawlor, Scripps’ senior vice president of television, “and we’ll now have the resources to deliver that content with deeper storytelling and richer context.”
Content produced by the local news service can be used across multiple platforms, including over-the-air broadcasts, and online and mobile reporting. All employees involved in the shared operation will remain employees of their respective news organizations.
About Fox Television Stations
Fox Television Stations is one of the nation’s largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprising 27 stations in 18 markets and covering nearly 37.34% of television homes in the U.S. This includes six duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C. and Houston; as well as duopolies in Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.
About Scripps
The E.W. Scripps Company (NYSE: SSP) is a diverse, 130-year-old media enterprise with interests in television stations, newspapers, local news and information Web sites, and licensing and syndication. The company’s portfolio of locally focused media properties includes: 10 TV stations (six ABC affiliates, three NBC affiliates and one independent); daily and community newspapers in 14 markets and the Washington, D.C.-based Scripps Media Center, home of the Scripps Howard News Service; and United Media, the licensor and syndicator of Peanuts, Dilbert and approximately 150 other features and comics.