CINCINNATI—Newsy, the national news network focused toward millennial audiences, has been predominantly located on OTT services, but now it is expanding into the cable and satellite marketplace. E.W. Scripps, which owns Newsy, has announced the acquisition of carriage contracts from the Retirement Living Television cable network.
As a result of the deal, Scripps will take over RLTV’s carriage agreements for about 26 million subscribers and reprogram the network with Newsy’s lineup of shows. The transition from RLTV to Newsy is expected to take place over the next few months. Scripps forecasts that Newsy will be available to about 40 million cable and satellite subscribers by the end of 2018.
“Newsy has already made a name for itself among millennial news consumers who rely on over-the-top television,” said Adam Symson, president and CEO of Scripps. “Now we’ll be reaching Americans with cable and satellite service who are looking for a fresh approach to news coverage.”
The financials of the deal are not yet finalized. The acquisition’s purchase price will be based on the number of subscribers that come under contract with the cable companies and convert to Newsy, with the price being no more than 93 cents per subscriber. The final purchase price could go as high as $23 million.
