The OTA growth is expected to accelerate because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The research also indicated that both companies’ networks performed “relatively well” in the national advertising marketplace this year amid the economic crisis.
Scripps Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Lisa Knutson said, “We have created tremendous shareholder value while managing debt through asset sales and high-cash-flow revenue streams such as retransmission fees and political advertising, working all the while to maintain a flexible balance sheet in order to capitalize on our next opportunity.”
“Now we are building an even stronger financial foundation that will allow us to act as leaders in the future of the television industry while we serve our audiences and consumers in effective and efficient new ways,” she added.
A strategic acquisition that will boost coverage and operational efficiencies
FitchRatings sees the deal as a strategic acquisition that will expand coverage of U.S. TV households and scales up operations to compete with the increase in online streaming.
