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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.
Just because local TV is small doesn’t mean politicians and regulators don’t have strong views. But they’re not all consistent. Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, favours more consolidation. That suggests he would be minded to relax the rules enough to let Sinclair and Scripps merge — and Nexstar and Tegna too.
Not so fast, though. President Trump, posting on his social network Truth Social, argued earlier this month that the cap on local media concentration should be lowered — contradicting the views of his man at the FCC. Trump’s rationale seems to be that more consolidation would allow what he perceives to be biased leftwing media to get bigger and more bothersome.
For now, that debate is academic. The family that controls Scripps has rejected Sinclair’s offer. It’s not clear why they would: the proposed $7 per share is more than triple the company’s undisturbed price. Scripps currently has a $420mn market capitalisation, but creaks under a near-$3bn pile of debt. They may just think they can force a better deal.
Sinclair may be able to offer more. TV mergers can create significant value because overheads can be shared, content spread across more markets and pay-TV distributors coaxed into giving better terms. Sinclair says it can wring benefits from a Scripps combination that Lex reckons have a present value of at least $1bn. Sinclair, too, needs the help: its $1bn market value compares with a debt pile of $4bn.
Public shareholders in Scripps seem unconvinced that the family will relent. Scripps shares remain well below the Sinclair offer. They may also believe that, in any case, Trump’s confused anti-merger leanings would make a deal hard to pull off. The question now is whether Sinclair wants to press the issue. With WBD’s fate also uncertain, the scene is set for a 2026 regulatory showdown.
sujeet.indap@ft.com
