The E.W. Scripps Company raised its full-year political advertising outlook for its local TV stations, citing strong spending ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The company also said it has completed another round of workforce reductions as part of a cost-transformation plan, and intends to use cash and fourth-quarter political revenue to pay down at least $150 million of debt.
The update included preliminary third-quarter political revenue figures, but not full quarterly results. Scripps plans to report those results after the market closes on Nov. 5.
Key details
- Scripps now expects about $275 million in local-media political advertising revenue for 2026, up from the $225 million to $250 million range it gave in August. The new estimate is about 40% higher than its political revenue in the 2022 midterm election year.
- Local Media political revenue was nearly $81 million in the third quarter. Scripps attributed the spending to candidate, issue and advocacy campaigns across markets including Michigan, Ohio, Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Virginia.
- The company completed 431 workforce reductions on Tuesday, bringing the number of employees affected by reductions in 2026 to about 850—nearly 20% of its workforce at the start of the year.
- The reductions are part of a transformation plan targeting $125 million to $150 million of enterprise EBITDA growth by 2028. Scripps expects the effects of the plan to become most evident in its fourth-quarter results and says it expects to have implemented about $100 million in annual run-rate savings by year-end.
- Scripps had $83 million in cash at the end of the third quarter. It plans to use that cash, along with proceeds from fourth-quarter political advertising, to repay at least $150 million of debt during the fourth quarter.
The update points to two near-term priorities: reducing costs through a substantially smaller workforce and using a strong election-year advertising cycle to reduce debt. The $275 million political revenue figure is guidance, while the company’s full third-quarter financial results are still to come.