be confused with other organizations named scripps . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message the e. w. scripps company type newspaper and station company traded as nyse ssp industry broadcast television broadcast radio founded november 2 1878 as the penny press headquarters cincinnati ohio united states key people edward w. scripps 1854 1926 founder roy w. howard 1883 1964 rich boehne president & ceo revenue 1.1 billion 2007 website www.scripps.com the e. w. scripps company is an american broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by edward willis scripps . it was also formerly a media conglomerate . the company is headquartered inside the scripps center in cincinnati ohio . 1 its corporate motto is give light and the people will find their own way . 2 contents 1 history 2 scripps newspapers 2.1 other newspapers owned by scripps 2.2 syndicates 3 broadcasting 3.1 television stations 3.2 radio stations 3.3 former scripps owned stations 3.3.1 television 3.3.1.1 general commercial stations 3.3.1.2 shop at home owned and operated stations 3.3.2 radio 4 national spelling bee 5 see also 6 references 7 further reading 8 external links history edit this section needs expansion . you can help by adding to it . december 2014 the e. w. scripps company was incorporated on december 1 1987 3 but it traces its history to november 2 1878 when edward willis scripps published the first issue of the cleveland penny press . in 1894 e. w. scripps and his half brother george h. scripps organized their various papers into the first modern newspaper chain . in july 1895 it was named the scripps mcrae league with the addition of cincinnati post general manager milton a. mcrae as a partner . 4 on november 29 1921 it was renamed scripps howard newspapers to recognize roy w. howard . 5 on november 23 1922 the company was placed in trust for e. w. scripps children and grandchildren . 5 the company s shares were divided into two types class a common shares which were traded on the new york stock exchange and common voting shares which were not publicly traded and elected a majority of the company s directors . a number of media companies including the new york times company and the washington post company are governed by this system so that the descendants of the company s founders can keep control of the company . 6 the e. w. scripps company is headquartered in the scripps center in downtown cincinnati . in 1990 the company completed a new downtown cincinnati headquarters the scripps center . 7 on october 16 2007 the company announced that it would separate into two publicly traded companies the e. w. scripps company newspapers tv stations licensing syndication and scripps networks interactive nyse sni hgtv food network diy network cooking channel formerly known as fine living travel channel and great american country . the transaction was completed on july 1 2008 . on october 3 2011 the e. w. scripps company announced it was purchasing the television arm of mcgraw hill for 212 million . 8 this purchase nearly doubles the number of scripps stations to 19 with a combined reach of 13 % of u.s. households . upon the 2012 death of e. w. scripps grandson robert scripps the edward w. scripps trust was dissolved and its stock divided among the surviving trustees . 6 the e. w. scripps company and journal communications announced on july 30 2014 that the two companies would merge and spin off their newspaper assets . 9 the deal created a broadcast group under the e.w. scripps company name and retaining the cincinnati headquarters and a newspaper company based in milwaukee wisconsin under the journal media group name . 10 the fcc approved the deal on december 12 2014 and it was approved by shareholders on march 11 2015 . 11 the merger and spinoff were completed on april 1 2015 . 12 13 journal media group merged with the all newspaper gannett company on april 8 2016 . gannett had also shed their television and broadcast operations into a spin off tegna months after the scripps journal merger . in april 2016 demand media announced the sale of the humor listicle website cracked.com to e.w. scripps . 14 in june it acquired podcast service stitcher from deezer 15 scripps newspapers edit in 1997 scripps bought daily texas newspapers in corpus christi abilene wichita falls san angelo and plano plus the paper in anderson s.c. from harte hanks communications along with 25 non daily newspapers and san antonio based kens tv and kens am . 16 the purchase price was to be between 605 and 775 million depending on a federal ruling . 17 the company before the merger with journal and creation of spinoff owned and operated newspapers in 13 american markets ventura county star camarillo california redding record searchlight redding california naples daily news naples florida treasure coast newspapers the stuart news stuart florida indian river press journal vero beach florida the st. lucie news tribune fort pierce florida the jupiter courier weekly ; jupiter florida evansville courier & press evansville indiana the gleaner henderson kentucky the anderson independent mail anderson south carolina the knoxville news sentinel knoxville tennessee the commercial appeal memphis tennessee the abilene reporter news abilene texas corpus christi caller times corpus christi texas san angelo standard times san angelo texas times record news wichita falls texas kitsap sun bremerton washington other newspapers owned by scripps edit this list is incomplete ; you can help by expanding it . name city fate date note the day book chicago closed 000000001917 07 06 0000july 6 1917 experimental advertising free penny press that fell short of profit expectations . toledo news bee toledo ohio closed 000000001938 08 02 0000august 2 1938 remnants of the paper were acquired by the toledo blade . houston press houston texas closed 000000001964 03 20 0000march 20 1964 assets were sold to the houston chronicle . indianapolis times indianapolis indiana closed 000000001965 10 11 0000october 11 1965 new york world telegram new york city merged then closed 000000001966 04 23 0000april 23 1966 world telegram and sun 000000001967 05 05 0000may 5 1967 world journal tribune known as the new york world telegram and sun after 1951 when it purchased the remnants of the new york sun . after a proposed joint operating agreement between two other newspapers with distinct histories hearst s new york journal american and john hay whitney s new york herald tribune collapsed due to union pressure all three merged to form the new york world journal tribune all three owners had a stake in the publication as world journal tribune inc. . the combined paper did not launch for 140 days due to a newspaper strike triggered by the merger and ultimately folded the following may . scripps would maintain ownership of the world telegram s annual publication the world almanac and book of facts until 1993 when that was sold to primedia . the washington daily news washington dc sold 000000001972 08 01 0000august 1972 sold to and ultimately merged into the washington star . fort worth press fort worth texas closed 000000001975 01 01 00001975 cleveland press cleveland ohio sold 000000001980 10 31 0000october 31 1980 the company s first newspaper and original flagship . merged with the cleveland news in 1960 . sold to entrepreneur joseph e. cole in 1980 after the cleveland plain dealer surpassed it in both circulation and revenue throughout the 1960s and 1970s . subsequently closed on june 17 1982 . memphis press scimitar memphis tennessee closed 000000001983 10 31 0000october 31 1983 afternoon only daily paper . the paper s roots trace back to 1880 ; it was acquired by scripps antecedent the scripps mcrae league in 1906 . scripps also purchased the city s morning paper the commercial appeal which it still owns in 1936 . columbus citizen journal columbus ohio closed 000000001983 12 31 0000december 31 1983 founded in 1899 . also had its roots in what was one of the first newspapers in ohio the ohio state journal which was founded in 1814 . operated as part of a joint operating agreement with the columbus dispatch for several decades ; scripps folded the paper after the dispatch terminated the joa and a sale of the paper to akron area businessman nyles v. reinfeld collapsed . pittsburgh press pittsburgh pennsylvania sold 000000001992 05 17 0000may 17 1992 sold to block communications subsequently merged into the pittsburgh post gazette . revived as an online only paper in 2011 . thousand oaks news chronicle thousand oaks california closed 000000001995 07 22 0000july 22 1995 publication relocated to camarillo california and merged with the co owned ventura county star . birmingham post herald birmingham alabama closed 000000002005 09 23 0000september 23 2005 the paper s roots trace back to the elyton herald founded 21 years before birmingham s incorporation as a city . merged with the scripps owned birmingham post in 1950 . long a morning newspaper it switched to an afternoon only publication by request of joint operating agreement partner the birmingham news which itself became a tri weekly in 2012 . dirt boulder colorado closed 000000002006 01 01 00002006 cincinnati post cincinnati ohio closed 000000002007 12 31 0000december 31 2007 distributed in the covington kentucky region as the kentucky post ; that version was converted to an online only publication as kypost.com which operates to this day . the albuquerque tribune albuquerque new mexico closed 000000002008 02 23 0000february 23 2008 founding owner carl magee s slogan for the paper give light and the people will find their own way and accompanying lighthouse logo would both be adopted by scripps after their 1923 acquisition of the paper . rocky mountain news denver colorado closed 000000002009 02 27 0000february 27 2009 purchased by scripps in 1926 . folded 55 days prior to its 150th anniversary of publication . youngstown telegram youngstown ohio sold 000000001936 07 02 0000july 2 1936 acquired by the youngstown vindicator printing company and merged into the vindicator . the daily camera boulder colorado sold 000000002009 01 01 00002009 acquired by media news group inc. el paso herald post el paso texas closed 000000001997 10 11 0000october 11 1997 san francisco news san francisco merged 000000001965 01 01 00001965 founded 1903 . merged with the hearst s san francisco call bulletin to form the news call bulletin in 1959 . hearst acquired complete control in 1962 and merged it into the san francisco examiner in 1965 . syndicates edit scripps operated united media composed of the united feature syndicate and the newspaper enterprise association . united feature syndicate syndicated many notable comic strips including peanuts garfield li l abner dilbert nancy and marmaduke . nea originally established as a secondary news service to the scripps howard news service later evolved into a general syndicate and were best known for syndicating alley oop freckles and his friends the born loser and frank and ernest in addition to an annual christmas comic strip . 18 the distribution rights to properties syndicated by united media was outsourced to universal uclick in february 2011 . while united media effectively ceased to exist scripps still maintains copyrights and intellectual property rights . 19 20 scripps also operated united press international united press from its 1907 inception until a 1958 merger with hearst s international news service until selling it off in 1982 . it also previously owned the scripps howard news service which shut down in 2013 . 21 broadcasting edit e. w. scripps television division currently owns thirty three television stations in twenty four markets ; fifteen abc affiliates five nbc affiliates five azteca am rica affiliates two