The fight to buy Warner Bros Discovery has become 2025’s most nail-biting corporate finance saga. But amid the uncertainty over whether Netflix or Paramount Skydance will emerge victorious, it would be too easy to miss another merger-related drama that could shape the future of US media in a different way: the hostile bid for EW Scripps.
Scripps once was one of the most venerable names in American print media. Now, it is a collection of 60 local television networks in 40 different markets. Last week the company rejected a buyout bid from its larger rival, Sinclair, worth just over $3bn. Compared with the $108bn duel over WBD, with trophy brands such as Harry Potter and CNN, this might seem a trifle.
But local TV is surprisingly important in the US — and politically influential too. Earlier this year two other local TV groups, Nexstar and Tegna, joined forces in a $20bn combination that Sinclair at one point considered gatecrashing. Now, the right-leaning group with stations from Abilene, Texas to Yakima, Washington is seeking other ways to keep growing.