by Lauren Nicholas

9721 Sherrill Boulevard
Knoxville, TN 37932                                                                                                               865.694.2700

www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com

Who is Scripps Networks Interactive

Scripps Networks Interactive (SNI) is a cable television network that offers a variety of popular “slice of life” brands across numerous mediums such as television, digital media, mobile, and publishing. The network is practiced exclusively in the lifestyle genre housing syndicated shows on popular channels such as Food Network, Travel Channel, and HGTV. Scripps is truly an interactive network with shows that inspire its audience, about 144 million unduplicated viewers per month, to try new things and explore the world around them.

Due to the style of its shows Scripps is known for integrating products into the actual program. With its number 1 rank in persuading viewers to buy new products, Scripps Network has become a favorite among advertisers. [1] [2] 

History

Scripps Networks Interactive first began to develop into the company it is today in 1994 with the debut of HGTV (formally Home & Garden Television). However, its roots date back to 1878 when Edward W. Scripps founded The Penny Press in Cleveland. Penny Press established the E.W Scripps Company as one of the post-war era’s most influential newspaper publishers. Following the success of HGTV, the company debuted additional channels through the late 90s and early 2000s including but not limited to, the DIY Network (1999) and Cooking Channel (formally Fine Living Network) (2002).   In 2008 Scripps expanded into two publicly traded companies. E. W. Scripps Company houses broadcast television, news, and community educational services. Scripps Networks Interactive houses interactive media, and cable television. Today, Scripps Networks Interactive has grown to include six channels all of which have an active online presence through channel websites, social media pages and online videos. [3]

Key People

 

 

Kenneth W. Lowe – Chairman, President and CEO

Joseph G. NeCastro – Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

John Lansing – President Scripps Networks

 

 

Brands/Channels

Food Network: Food Network is a unique channel that reaches viewers through TV, the web and magazine.  The channel is distributed to more than 100 million American households. The channel also has a growing international presence with availability in more than 150 countries, including Great Britain, India, Asia and Africa. [4] 

DIY Network:  DIY is a home improvement channel that answers questions about home craft projects and makeovers. DIY reaches more than 56 million American households. [5]

HGTV: The veteran channel of Scripps Networks Interactive has everything you could ask for about the home and its surrounding landscape. HGTV offers a number of how-to home improvement series that focus on artistic renovations, crafts and maintenance. HGTV boasts a following of more than 95 million American households. [6]

Cooking Channel: As its catch phrase “Stay Hungry”, suggests Cooking Channel is a station that is as passionate about food as its viewers. Following the model of many series on Scripps other channels Cooking Channel features various instructional shows about proper cooking habits and features various unique recipes. [7]

Travel Channel: Travel Channel is a station all about the world around us. Programs offer beautiful adventures to its viewers by looking at the culture, food and homes of different nations. Travel Channel reaches more than 95 million American households. [8]

 

GAC: Great American Country (GAC) offers programs that focus on style of country living.  Programs give viewers access to country music videos, cooking shows and reality TV series. GAC reaches more than 59 million American households. [9]

Finances

As of April 8th 2013 Scripps Networks Interactive stock is priced at $66.89. This is an increase of about 1.43% from yesterdays stock prices. The companies current market capitalization, as of April 5th, is about $9.82 billion.  The companies current annual net income is about 681.48 million which is a great increase of about 60% from 411.56 million in 2011. Scripps seems to be doing very well with 305.80 million this quarter. [10]

Recent/Future News

January 2013

Last July Scripps Networks Interactive closed a carriage deal with Comcast that included TV Everywhere. Over the next 18 to 24 months, Scripps chairman and CEO Kenneth Lowe, plans to expand the companies TV Everywhere deals. TV Everywhere deals are

sure to substantially benefit Scripps series especially those that specialize in cooking. TV Everywhere could extend the amount of time a viewer spends watching a show. With channels like Food Network, viewers can take their laptops, tablets or smartphones into the kitchen to continue watching a program while the cook along with the show host. Lowe stated that Scripps could see more ratings as a result because their will be multiple platforms rather than a single stationary TV screen. However, some trouble lies within properly tracking TV Everywhere ratings. Nielsen Media Research insists it can consistently and accurately track TV Everywhere ratings, however, Lowe remains somewhat apprehensive. He states that the problem is with pricing and technical issues with programmers and rating companies. [11]

February 2013

Scripps Networks Interactive has been making progressive moves to expand its presence over seas by selecting two new additions to its international leadership team.  Derek Chang and Márcio Fonseca have been named managing director of Asia Pacific and Latin American respectively. Food Network and Travel Channel already have a substantial

viewership in some parts of the Asian Pacific but Scripps is looking to further expand its market reach through wider distribution and additional program availability. Both Food Network and Travel Channel shows are rich with content related to Asian countries and have become the premiere brands in the life style programming categories. Chang, along with Scripps, have great plans for the future of these channels. Similarly, though Scripps is less established in Latin America, managing director Fonseca will carry out various growth strategies to launch the networks international presences. With these two new managers Scripps Networks now has a growing presence in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific and Latin America. [12] [13]

Late this February Scripps Networks Interactive ventured into the VOD market with its first streaming video-on-demand partnership with Amazon. Scripps licensed many episodes of its top series to Amazon Prime. Though the deal was only about $15million, small potatoes compared to deals by CBS and Time Warner, it is expected to grow over time. Customers of Amazon Prime will have access to series from HGTV, Food Network, Cooking Channel and Travel Channel. These programs include but aren’t limited to “Rachael Ray’s Week in a Day”, “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations” and “Iron Chef America.” Some of these series will almost be available to buy and download from Amazon Instant Video. These new deals with Amazon are part of Scripps new initiative to offer their programs whenever and wherever their viewers want it. [14]

April 2013

Travel Channel prepares for the spring season with two new series added to its lineup; “Red, White & New,” and “Dig Wars”. These two original series will premiere in late April and mid-June respectively with back to back new episodes. “Red, White & New,” is produced by Powderhouse Productions, and has cast Steve Watson as its show host. Watson will travel across the nation to discover original and unique American inventions. The show aims to celebrate new American ingenuity by highlighting people who invent interesting tools that transform their lives in exciting ways.

These inventions include a robotic exoskeleton that gives its wearer a form of super human strength, an extreme design of the classic Pogo stick that allows high jumping with compressed air-power, a the world’s first working water-powered jet pack! Host Steve Watson will test these inventions first hand while discussing the inspiration behind each project with the inventors. 

 “Dig Wars,” is produced by Sharp Entertainment and in june it will feature three teams as they hunt down relics across the country to uncover this nations hidden history. These teams will challenge each other head-to-head to unearth the most valuable relics through the exploration of numerous historical locations in America. Each episode, once they arrive on site, teams will work from sunrise to sunset using their archeological knowledge to gain victory. When the hunt ends the team’s treasures will be judged by a local expert who declares the winner. [15]

Food Network prepares for the its spring line up with a the new program “Giving You The Business”. The series is produced by Cineflix, and will follow employees that are selected by the company’s CEO to compete for the opportunity to own a food franchise. The twist, however, is that the contestants don’t know they are in a competition. Hand-selected for their devotion to the company the employees take part in various hidden-camera challenges meant to test the skills and knowledge that are typical in management positions. The winner is judged by the CEO, and is awarded their own franchise. The show is set to premiere April 25^th and will feature Famous Famiglia as its first victim with Walter Bond as the show’s host. [16]

 Sources

1: Scripps Networks Interactive logo: http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/our-company/about-us/

2: Who is Scripps: http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/our-company/about-us/     http://brandedcontent.adage.com/cableguide2012/network.php?id=60

3: History: http://www.scripps.com/scripps-timeline

4: People: http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/our-company/leaders/

5: Lowe-photo: http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/newsroom/media-assets/?start1=37

6: Brands: http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/our-brands/

7: Food Net photo: http://www.foodnetwork.com/about-us/about-foodnetworkcom/index.html

8: DIY photo: http://www.diynetwork.com/

9: HGTV photo: http://www.hgtv.com/about-us/questions-for-hgtvcom/index.html

10: GAC photo: http://www.gactv.com/

11: Cooking Channel photo: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/site/about-us.html

12: Travel photo: http://www.travelchannel.com/

13: Finances: https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3ASNI&ei=DnNjUYDBFKXulgOl8wE

14: Scripps Networks Brands photo: http://brandedcontent.adage.com/cableguide2012/network.php?id=60

15: TV Everywhere deal: http://www.multichannel.com/cable-operators/scripps-more-tv-everywhere-deals-come/141093

16: Jonathan Phang photo: http://www.travelchanneltv.asia/series-info.asp?series=Jonathan+Phang+Caribbean+Cookbook&ID=1652#.UWNkXXAgNFs

17: Asia Pacific expansion: http://ir.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=222475&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1788325&highlight=     http://ir.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=222475&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1798372&highlight=

18: Amazon Prime deal: http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/492101-Scripps_Networks_Puts_Shows_on_Amazon.php

19: Travel Channel series: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/03/12/new-additions-to-travel-channels-spring-lineup-red-white-new-dig-wars/173165/

20: robo photo: http://www.travelchannel.com/tv-shows/whats-new-on-travel-channel/photos/red-white-and-new

21: Giving You The Business: http://www.scrippsnetworksinteractive.com/newsroom/company-news/Employees-unknowingly-compete-for-own-food-franchise-in-new-Food-Network-series/

22: Giving you the Business video: http://youtu.be/JPtTw1bmPD0