Scripps News Shut Down Its Broadcast Channel in Mid-November as TV News Continues to Shrink

If you were a regular viewer of Scripps News, you were likely disappointed to turn the channel on and discover that it no longer exists on television. The channel officially disappeared on Nov. 15, leading many who watched it to wonder what happened to the news service.

Scripps's disappearance is just one small part of a broader media story. Here's what we know about why the channel disappeared and what it signals about the shifting landscape of TV news.

According to The Los Angeles Times, E.W. Scripps announced that it would be shuttering its 24-hour news channel back in September, moving its news coverage to streaming only.

E.W. Scripps CEO Adam Symson said that the audience for the channel was actually growing, and that they attracted more than 1 million viewers for their coverage of the debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The problem, at least according to Symson, was that the channel was unable to attract advertisers because of the divisive political moment that we find ourselves living in.

“Many brands and agencies have decided that advertising around national news is just too risky for them given the polarized nature of this country, no matter the accolades and credentials a news organization like Scripps receives for its objectivity,” Symson said. “I vehemently disagree, but it is hurting Scripps News, along with every other national linear and digital news outlet.”

“We recognize that streaming is the future of our business — and we’re well positioned to reach even more viewers there since we have grown our streaming viewership more than 44 percent year over year,” Scripps News Vice President Matt Simon said in a press release. “We’ll continue to deliver quality journalism with an even greater emphasis on integrating with our local stations — and our focus will be on innovative showcasing of our original reporting across the enterprise.”

CBS, ABC, NBC, and CNN are all making reductions to their staffs as they face declining ratings for their news programs, in part because more and more young viewers are moving away from linear television altogether and getting their news either online or on social media.

TV news now caters to a much older demographic, and that demographic is shrinking day by day. Scripps was not the most popular or viewed TV news program out there, but its disappearance is indicative of a broader trend inside of news media as more established sources of information lose audience share and trust among their prospective audience. TV news may try to be objective (at least most of it), but plenty of viewers want to get their information from other sources.

All of this leads to an information environment that is dispersed and decentralized, making it harder to understand where people get their information or how they come to understand the things they believe.