Investors reacted to an announcement from ESPN parent The Walt Disney Co., FOX and Warner Bros. Discovery that they have reached an agreement to launch a sports-focused subscription-based streaming platform by selling off their shares in key broadcast television companies.
By mid-afternoon Wednesday, double-digit percentage dips were seen.
At 3:15pm Eastern, Gray Television stock was down by 15.8% to $7.39, pushing shares back to mid-November 2023 prices. Volume was slightly higher than normal.
For Sinclair Broadcast Group, a 10.6% dip in share value was seen as of 3:15pm Eastern, with the company’s stock trading at $13.28 after dipping under $13 earlier in the trading session. It was late December 2023 when SBGI was at that price.
Then there is The E.W. Scripps Co., which created the Scripps Sports unit and shifted the head of its local TV stations, Brian Lawlor, to help lead a division dedicated to grabbing pro team sports rights agreements. So far, it’s a success. Yet, investors appear to be worried as “SSP” reverted to a price last seen on November 1, 2023, with a 25.3% decline to $5.55 as of 2pm Eastern. At 3:15pm Eastern a 24.4% dip was seen, with a price at $5.61. Volume was more than double the average for Scripps.
Other TV station ownership groups with publicly traded stock were not immune, as TEGNA stock was off 6.1% to $14.45.
Nexstar Media Group stock was down by 7.8%, to $159.14, a $13.78 dip.
CBS News & Stations parent Paramount shares were down 8.1% to $12.85. Unlike the other broadcast TV companies suffering steep decreases in their share values, Paramount’s dip widened as the trading day progressed.
