Scripps Buys Newsy, Plans to Increase its Presence Online
While the E.W. Scripps Company is a news powerhouse, owning 19 local television stations and newspapers in 13 markets, it hasn't yet conquered the online space. It hopes to change that, however, with today's announcement that it has acquired Newsy for $35 million in cash. Newsy is a five-year-old startup that creates video news bites for online and mobile viewing, and also creates custom informational videos for clients.
"Newsy adds an important dimension to our video news strategy," says Rich Boehne, chairman, president, and?CEO of Scripps. "It's a next-generation news network designed and built exclusively for digital audiences."
With the acquisition of Newsy, Scripps gains a national news brand that should enhance its local offerings. Newsy will also provide an online audience for Scripps, letting it sell ads to national brands.
While Scripps is based in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Newsy is based in Columbia, Missouri, the Newsy office and its 35-person team will stay where they are. Scripps will run Newsy as a wholly owned subsidiary. The acquisition should close on January 1.
In May of this year, Newsy announced that it would create evergreen video segments for About.com on a range of topics. At the time, Newsy said it created over 2,000 video each month.
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