It started off as a Generation Z and Millennial-focused news and information offering distributed strictly in the “over the top” (OTT) space. Then, it morphed into a MVPD-distributed cable channel. In autumn 2021, it headed to free-to-air television as a “DigiNet.”
Yet, on January 1, 2023, Newsy will be no more. That’s not to say the channel focused on in-depth news reporting, minus political commentary, is going away.
“To further take advantage of the company’s scaled local and national media broadcast platforms,” The E.W. Scripps Company says it is merging its nationally focused news resources into a national news division called Scripps News.
And, that will be the new name for Newsy, as it gets a rebrand.
“The combined operation will better and more efficiently serve national audiences and Scripps local stations,” the company believes.
With the combination of resources of the Scripps Washington Bureau and the Local Media national news desk, Kate O’Brian will assume the role of EVP for the newly created Scripps News division.
O’Brian, who will continue to oversee Court TV, has served as head of news in the Scripps Networks division since April 2021. She was previously a senior vice president at ABC News and, before that, President of Al Jazeera America.
“In the creation of Scripps News, we are leveraging the company’s collective resources and building upon the equity of the Scripps name and stellar reputation for journalism,” Scripps President/CEO Adam Symson said. “The American people need greater access to free, quality local and national journalism produced by a company committed to fact-based news and information. Since the company’s inception more than 140 years ago, we have served audiences with the highest ethics and standards of independent journalism. The rebrand, merger of resources and reorganization reflects our company’s longstanding commitment and belief that journalism is central to our mission.”
Scripps News journalists will operate out of a headquarters operation in Atlanta. Bureaus will be housed in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Missoula, Nashville, New York, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa and Tulsa.
The Scripps News Washington Bureau will continue to cover the capital and produce investigative and enterprise stories for all Scripps outlets. Scripps News also will draw upon reporting from Scripps local newsrooms.
With respect to Newsy, its programming will largely be unchanged, and remain “the country’s only free, 24/7 national news broadcast.”
That said, NewsNet this week is undergoing a growth spurt, with O&O acquisitions being conducted in Detroit, Miami and Las Vegas. NewsNet is a diginet, like Newsy, and offers continuous 30-minute newscasts, unlike Newsy.
Newsy was founded in 2008 and acquired by Scripps in 2014.
