On Friday, RBR+TVBR first reported on the forthcoming conclusion of Scripps News‘ run as a digital multicast network, competing with the likes of CNN, NewsNation, MSNBC, FOX News, Newsmax and digitally delivered news and information sources since The E.W. Scripps Co. acquired what was formerly known as OTT-based Newsy.
It is now known that President of News Kate O’Brian will exit the company at the end of 2024 — a move tied to the November 16 end of Scripps News’ 24/7 channel.
News of O’Brian forthcoming departure from Scripps was disclosed in a SEC filing made late Tuesday by the company.
The document briefly discusses that O’Brian will leave no later than December 31 and that she is entitled to payments and benefits under Scripps’ “Amended and Restated Executive Severance Plan,” described in the company’s 2024 proxy statement.
According to the company’s 2023 annual report, O’Brian is not an executive officer of the company. The 2024 proxy statement confirms this, too.
While the SEC filing made O’Brian’s departure from Scripps publicly known, an internal email sent to team members on Friday first shared the news. The e-mail, obtained by RBR+TVBR, at first addresses the pending wind-down of Scripps News as a 24/7 operation.
“I know that there are no words that I can write to ease the pain we are all feeling right now,” O’Brian wrote. “Nevertheless, I want you to know that we fought very hard to keep this from happening. While terribly disappointing, this was a business decision driven by external factors and is in no way a reflection on the incredible work of each one of you. The tough reality is that despite doing remarkable and award-winning journalism, building our over-the-air audience steadily since we launched and doubling our weekly over-the-air revenue in the last year, the national ad market simply did not sustain over the air Scripps News as a viable business. Even with these gains, the company simply could not find the revenue in the marketplace to support the over the air broadcast.”
O’Brian added that “it is some consolation that the Scripps News brand will not disappear altogether, and that 50 of our colleagues will be staying to continue the top-notch reporting and producing going forward.” That said, O’Brian confirmed that it is on November 15 when Scripps expects “more than 200 of our colleagues will be leaving Scripps News.”
With that, O’Brian revealed, “I will also be leaving the company.”
O’Brian spent some 30 years at ABC News before joining Scripps in Spring 2021 as head of the news group for Scripps Networks, which included the former Newsy and Court TV. Then, just seven months ago, Scripps created the role of President of News, giving it to O’Brian.
In addition to her time at ABC, O’Brian is also the first woman to run a 24/7 cable news organization when she was appointed president at Al Jazeera America.
At Scripps, O’Brian was chiefly responsible for converting the digitally distributed Newsy to a cable TV offering before shifting to digital multicast distribution. By September 2023, some 43 Scripps-owned stations added Scripps News as a “diginet.”
At the time, Scripps shares were priced at $6.77 as the company’s Scripps Sports venture and its reimagined local news teams under the direction of Dean Littleton worked to reshape the company. Today, “SSP” is trading at $2.20, down 5.7% year-to-date and 9.7% from October 1, 2022.
