E.W. SCRIPPS widens interim loss as revenue softens and operating line flips, even as operating cash generation strengthens

Bottom line

- For the three months ended the three months ended June 30, 2026, the company moved from operating profit in the prior-year quarter to an operating loss in the current quarter; parent net income was a loss in both quarters and was wider in the current period, and diluted earnings per share followed the same path, remaining a loss in both quarters and widening in the current quarter. - For the six months ended the six months ended June 30, 2026, the same pattern repeats at a larger scale: operating income crossed from profit in the prior-year comparative to a loss in the current year, while parent net income and diluted earnings per share stayed a loss in both windows and widened in the current period. - Revenue from contracts with customers, excluding assessed tax, was positive in every period shown; both the three-month and six-month windows reported lower revenue than their prior-year comparatives. - The filing under 10-Q for period-ended-2026-06-30 (0000832428-26-000034, CIK 0000832428, ticker SSP) is the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed by E.W. SCRIPPS Co, whose unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes cover the three and six months ended that month; the source scope is limited to that interim filing and incorporates by reference the audited consolidated financial statements from the issuer's most recent Annual Report on Form referenced elsewhere in that document. - The cited note on Use of Estimates and the cited note on Segment Information are the only numbered references the catalog exposes for this section, and the catalog does not expose any segment-level revenue or operating-income figures for this filing.

- The aggregate direction is clear without computing any number: revenue softened, operating income crossed from profit to loss, and the parent-level result remained a loss that widened — consistent with a year-over-year compression at both the operating line and the bottom line across the two reported windows. - Because the catalog carries no peer or industry benchmark for this issuer in this window, no read-across to comparable broadcasters is offered here; the catalog carries no comparable revenue or margin percentages for any other issuer in this section either, so any statement of magnitude would be speculation. - The cited note on segment information exists in the filing, but the catalog exposes no segment-level revenue or operating-income keys for this section, so segment attribution of the operating-line deterioration is not made here; investors looking for a segment breakdown can still cross-check the period-level headline figures reported above against tools like the ROI Calculator when sizing their own work.

- Operating cash generation strengthened even as reported parent-level earnings moved from profit to a loss over the longer reporting window.

UNKNOWN: - The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause. - The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison. - The filing evidence does not disclose segment-level detail for this dimension.

Financial performance

- Reported fact — Revenue from Contract with Customer, Excluding Assessed Tax fell against the prior-year comparative on both reported windows. $1,007,269,000 is below $1,064,473,000 and $490,401,000 is below $540,080,000; both lines remain positive. - Reported fact — Operating Income (Loss) crossed from a profit to a loss on both reported windows.

$104,079,000 and $76,604,000 are positive, while -$1,132,774,000 and -$1,157,539,000 are negative. - Reported fact — Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent is a loss on both current and prior windows, and the loss widened. -$1,153,040,000 is more negative than -$39,417,000, and -$1,151,250,000 is more negative than -$35,962,000.

- Reported fact — Earnings Per Share, Diluted is negative on every reported window, and the per-share loss deepened year over year on each window. 59 per diluted share. - Management explanation — The filing describes a media enterprise organized into the Local Media, Scripps Networks and Other segments, with revenue drawn from core advertising, political advertising and distribution, and with advertising recognized over time as ads are delivered and distribution treated as a license of functional intellectual property recognized at the point of transfer.

Cost of revenues captures programming, content distribution, satellite transmission fees, production and operations and other direct costs, and is the principal offset between top-line revenue and the operating line. - Analyst inference — Because revenue stayed positive while the operating line flipped from profit to loss on both reported windows, the deterioration sits between revenue and operating income rather than at the revenue line alone, with the gap falling through to a wider parent-level loss and a wider diluted loss per share.

The quarter's loss is deeper than the prior-year quarter, mirroring the year-to-date pattern. - Counter-evidence — A separate filing comparison shows the operating line moving in the opposite direction; see Covista Inc. Reports Higher Revenue, Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted EPS Across the Twelve-Month Period Versus the Prior-Year Comparative, With Each Line Remaining Profitable Year Over Year for a window in which each line remained profitable year over year.

The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause. - Unknown — Forward revenue, operating income, net income, or earnings-per-share guidance is not stated in the quoted evidence, and management's discussion within the filing is not reproduced here. The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.

Operating drivers and segments

- E.W. SCRIPPS Co reports its media businesses through three reportable segments described in the filing: Local Media, Scripps Networks and Other. The filing notes that segment information, including revenue by significant product and service offering, is presented separately, consistent with the cited segment note. - For the three-month reporting period, Revenue from Contract with Customer, Excluding Assessed Tax was $490,401,000 USD, lower than the prior-year comparative of $540,080,000 USD. For the six-month year-to-date period, the same line was $1,007,269,000 USD, lower than the prior-year comparative of $1,064,473,000 USD. - Operating Income (Loss) was -$1,157,539,000 USD for the three-month reporting period versus $76,604,000 USD in the prior-year comparative. For the six-month year-to-date period, Operating Income (Loss) was -$1,132,774,000 USD versus $104,079,000 USD in the prior year. The operating line moved from a profit in the prior-year comparative to a loss in the current period on both windows. - Revenue mix within the broadcast portfolio is described as core advertising (local and national), political advertising, and digital advertising, with political advertising tied to the federal election cycle and sold to Senate and House candidates, state and local issues, and advocacy groups.

- Management states that there have been no material changes to the risk factors disclosed in the cited risk-factor item. - Management describes legal proceedings as consisting of litigation and regulatory matters arising in the ordinary course, such as defamation actions and governmental proceedings primarily relating to renewal of broadcast licenses, none expected to result in material loss. - Management flags that a recent FASB guidance on disaggregation of income statement expenses was issued in November of a recent year and is referenced in the segment information discussion; the filing notes that further information, including revenue by significant product and service offering, is available in the cited segment note. - Management's discussion of operating results is incorporated by reference to the financial statements and notes, with the results-of-operations commentary filed as part of the cited management's discussion item. - Operating cash generation strengthened even as reported parent-level earnings moved from profit to a loss over the longer reporting window. - The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.

Analyst inference and counter-evidence: - The independent comparison shows that revenue declined on both reported windows while the operating line crossed from profit to loss, indicating that operating profitability deteriorated faster than top-line revenue in the reported periods. No segment-level operating-income breakdown is presented in the filing evidence, so a precise segment-by-segment margin walk cannot be reconstructed from this filing alone. - The political-advertising commentary implies a cyclical revenue stream tied to the election calendar, but the filing evidence does not isolate political dollars from core or digital dollars, so any claim that political spend offset other revenue weakness would not be grounded here. - The cited segment note is where revenue disaggregation by significant product and service offering is presented; the consolidated statements reproduced in this filing do not contain that breakdown, so segment-level revenue and margin changes remain a referenced rather than visible detail in this section.

Counter-evidence: - Operating cash generation strengthened even as reported parent-level earnings moved from profit to a loss over the longer reporting window.

Unknowns: - The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison, so relative performance against other broadcast groups cannot be assessed here. - The filing evidence does not attribute the operating-line deterioration to any single cause.

Cash flow and capital

- Operating cash flow turned positive for the six months ended June 30, 2026 at $17,096,000, against a use of cash in the six months ended June 30, 2025 of -$13,858,000, marking an increase that The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.. - Operating cash generation strengthened even as reported parent-level earnings moved from profit to a loss over the longer reporting window. - Investing cash flow remained positive for the six months ended June 30, 2026 at $102,252,000, also higher than the $16,533,000 inflow reported for the six months ended June 30, 2025; the company continued to fund property, plant, and equipment with $19,689,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2026, which was higher than the $17,245,000 paid in the six months ended June 30, 2025.

- Financing activities shifted from an inflow of $5,133,000 in the six months ended June 30, 2025 to a use of cash of -$122,920,000 in the six months ended June 30, 2026, an authorized decrease with no cause attributed. - The balance sheet at the balance sheet date of June 30, 2026 showed cash and cash equivalents of $13,046,000, accounts receivable (net of allowance for credit loss) of $526,417,000, accounts payable of $65,938,000, and long-term debt (excluding current maturities) of $2,493,889,000; the relationship between the cash on hand and the long-term debt balance is not quantified here.

- Working-capital posture: the source narrative in Note 13 discusses contract balances, payment terms, advance payments from political advertisers, and an allowance for doubtful accounts based on expected credit losses; segment-level breakouts of receivables or payables are not disclosed here, so The filing evidence does not disclose segment-level detail for this dimension.. - Capital-allocation read: a positive investing line coexisting with elevated capital expenditures is consistent with continued investment in broadcast assets rather than divestitures, while the move from financing inflows to outflows suggests the period was not used to expand gross debt balances; The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause..

- Peer benchmark: any cross-company read on cash conversion or leverage for SSP cannot be drawn from this filing because The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison..

Peer and historical context

Against its own prior-year comparative windows, E.W. SCRIPPS Co under 10-Q for period-ended-2026-06-30 (accession 0000832428-26-000034, CIK 0000832428, ticker SSP) shows a uniform step-down on the income-statement lines and a split picture on the cash-flow statement, while no peer benchmark is supplied in the filing evidence.

On a year-to-date basis, Revenue from Contract with Customer, Excluding Assessed Tax registered $1,064,473,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2025 and $1,007,269,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2026 — both positive, with the current window lower than the prior comparative. The three-month view mirrors that pattern: $540,080,000 versus $490,401,000, again positive on both sides with the current quarter below the prior-year quarter. Operating Income (Loss) crossed the line in the opposite direction: it was positive at $104,079,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2025 but negative at -$1,132,774,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2026, and the same profit-to-loss flip is visible on the quarter, where $76,604,000 was positive and -$1,157,539,000 was negative. Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent was a loss in every window — -$39,417,000 and -$1,153,040,000 for the half-year pair, -$35,962,000 and -$1,151,250,000 for the quarterly pair — with the current period below the prior comparative on each measure.

The cash-flow statement tells a different story for the half-year window. Net Cash Provided by (Used in) Operating Activities moved from a use of funds at -$13,858,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2025 to a source of funds at $17,096,000 for the six months ended June 30, 2026 — the only line among the catalogued metrics where the current window improved on the prior comparative. Operating cash generation strengthened even as reported parent-level earnings moved from profit to a loss over the longer reporting window.

For any single change described above, The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.

Industry or peer benchmarking is not present in the filing evidence; The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison. Readers comparing operating leverage across broadcasters can pair this reading with the earlier broadcaster write-up on Covista Inc. Reports Higher Revenue, Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted EPS Across the Twelve-Month Period Versus the Prior-Year Comparative, With Each Line Remaining Profitable Year Over Year for context on how a peer set prints when every line stays profitable, and can sanity-check the cash-versus-earnings framing using the ROI Calculator when stress-testing the half-year reversal.

Scenario framing

- In the base scenario, the loss persists and revenue continues at the reported lower level, consistent with the Gray stations swap integration and the still-in-progress accounting-standard evaluations described in the filing. - In the upside scenario, the operating-cash generation flagged above sustains the business through the current loss cycle, allowing the wider reported losses to narrow without the revenue base needing to expand. - In the downside scenario, revenue softness on both reported windows compounds, capital spending tied to property, plant, and equipment continues to absorb cash, and the parent-level loss widens beyond the levels captured here.

- Tools such as the ROI Calculator can serve as a reference point for readers modelling cash recovery paths against recurring obligations, though they do not change the scenario assumptions drawn from this filing.

Risks and what to watch

- Reported facts: Net Income (Loss) Attributable to Parent is negative on both windows in the current filing, with the six-month year-to-date result at -$1,153,040,000 USD and the three-month result at -$1,151,250,000 USD; the prior-year comparatives show a six-month loss of -$39,417,000 USD and a three-month loss of -$35,962,000 USD, so both reported windows remain in loss. Revenue from Contract with Customer, Excluding Assessed Tax is positive on both windows in the current filing, with the six-month figure at $1,007,269,000 USD and the three-month figure at $490,401,000 USD, against prior-year comparatives of $1,064,473,000 USD and $540,080,000 USD respectively.

W. SCRIPPS Co (SSP, CIK 0000832428). Risk-factor disclosure is carried forward without material change at Item 1A, management's discussion appears under Item 2, controls and procedures sit at Item 4, market-risk disclosure at Item 3, other information at Item 5, exhibits at Item 6, and the financial statements themselves — including the segment note referenced as the cited note under Note 13 — are filed as part of Item 1.

- Management explanations: Management points to a stations swap completed with Gray Media, Inc. involving several CBS, NBC, ABC, and Fox affiliates across Colorado Springs, Grand Junction, Twin Falls, Lansing, and Lafayette, with a preliminary fair-value table prepared for the assets acquired and liabilities assumed; this narrative appears inside Item 2. Management also flags recently issued FASB guidance on disaggregation of income-statement expenses, which would require additional tabular disclosure of natural expense categories and selling expenses, effective for the company's next annual period and interim periods thereafter, with retrospective application permitted and the company still evaluating the impact.

- Analyst inference: Against those reported facts, revenue direction on both windows is lower year over year and earnings direction on both windows is also lower year over year, while the operating line transitions from profit to loss on both windows relative to the prior year — all in line with the authorized relations and without an authorized cause. Diluted earnings per share likewise move lower on both windows and remain in loss on both sides of the comparison. - Counter-evidence: Operating cash generation strengthened even as reported parent-level earnings moved from profit to a loss over the longer reporting window.

— operating cash generation strengthened even as reported parent-level earnings moved from profit to a loss over the longer reporting window. - Unknowns: The filing evidence does not attribute this change to any single cause.. The filing evidence contains no peer or industry comparison..

- Watchlist: next period's revenue direction on both windows versus the current year-to-date and quarterly prints; the operating line's ability to return to profit after the year-to-date loss-to-loss comparison; capex trend following the higher year-to-date investment-property outlays; the financing line, which moved from positive to negative cash on a year-to-date basis; the still-pending FASB disaggregation disclosure build; the closeout of the Gray stations-swap fair-value table; and any update to risk factors at Item 1A.

- Observers tracking quarter-on-quarter swings may find context in Covista Inc. Reports Higher Revenue, Operating Income, Net Income, and Diluted EPS Across the Twelve-Month Period Versus the Prior-Year Comparative, With Each Line Remaining Profitable Year Over Year, and readers thinking about how the next print feeds back into capital-allocation choices can pair this section with the ROI Calculator.