ATLANTA, Ga.—The Cox Media Group has announced a partnership with E.W. Scripps Co.’s Florida 24 Network (FL24) that will expand FL24’s coverage of Florida with content and coverage from CMG’s stations in Jacksonville and Orlando.
The collaboration is expected to begin sometime in the first quarter. Scripps will continue to own FL24.
In June 2021, Scripps formed FL24, a statewide over-the-top and over-the-air news network that provides real-time depth, context, and clarity to the biggest stories impacting Florida residents, the companies said.
FL24 currently highlights reporting from journalists at Scripps’ six Florida stations in Miami, Tampa, West Palm Beach, Tallahassee, and Fort Myers.
As a result of the new agreement between CMG and Scripps, CMG’s local brands, WFTV (Orlando) and WJAX/WFOX (Jacksonville), will contribute content and coverage to help cover the remaining Florida markets.
“When seeking out a partner for this arrangement, we wanted to make sure that they have the same journalistic beliefs that we have and we believe we have found that in CMG,” said Joe Naylor, Scripps Local Media vice president, emerging products. “Scripps is committed to serving viewers throughout the state and providing more valuable content. Collaborating with CMG provides us an opportunity to share content and create a robust offering for all Florida consumers and audiences. We’ve been pleased with the results that we’ve seen so far and look forward to compounding that growth.”
“This partnership makes perfect sense because Scripps and CMG are so like-minded and share similar values. We both believe in the power of local journalism and this just gives us another platform to do that,” said Marian Pittman, CMG executive vice president of content, product & innovation. “We plan to share our Central Florida Spotlight segments, community programs, and public service outreach, in addition to local news investigations and weather forecasts. By providing this content, we’re filling a gap for Scripps but also helping our viewers in our markets get a better idea of what’s going on around the state they love.”
