CINCINNATI—E.W. Scripps has announced plans to take Newsy, its OTT news network, over the air, setting an Oct. 1 launch of an OTA Newsy network. According to Scripps, this will make Newsy the only American news TV network with ubiquitous OTT and OTA distribution.
The decision is designed to serve what Scripps calls “the growing OTA market of cord-cutting self-bundlers.” As of its launch, Newsy will be available over the air to at least 80% of U.S. TV homes, carried primarily by Scripps-owned ION stations and select Scripps local TV stations and those of other station groups, Scripps said.
“As TV viewers ‘self-bundle’ by combining free television with subscription video-on-demand services, Newsy will build on its success in OTT by joining the other Scripps Networks in the over-the-air marketplace to bring these viewers high-quality, free news programming,” said Lisa Knutson, Scripps Network president.
Newsy will be headquartered in Atlanta, with nearly a dozen bureaus across the country, including in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Denver and Phoenix. It will continue to use resources from Scripps Washington Bureau and Scripps’ local TV stations.
Kate O’Brian will serve as Newsy’s head of news.
For more information, visit www.scripps.com.
