The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call August 4, 2023 9:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Carolyn Micheli - EVP, Chief Communications & IR Officer

Adam Symson - President, CEO & Director

Jason Combs - EVP & CFO

Lisa Knutson - COO

Conference Call Participants

Daniel Kurnos - The Benchmark Company

Steven Cahall - Wells Fargo Securities

Michael Kupinski - NOBLE Capital Markets

Craig Huber - Huber Research Partners

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Scripps Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions].

I'd now like to turn the conference over to our host, Investor Relations Officer, Ms. Carolyn Micheli. Please go ahead.

Carolyn Micheli

Thanks, Brad. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for a discussion of The E.W. Scripps Company's financial results and business strategies. You can visit scripps.com for more information and a link to the replay of this call.

A reminder that our conference call and webcast include forward-looking statements and actual results may differ. Factors that may cause them to differ are outlined in our SEC filings. We do not intend to update any forward-looking statements we make today.

Included on this call will be a discussion of certain non-GAAP financial measures that are provided as supplements to assist management and the public in their analysis and valuation of the company. These metrics are not formulated in accordance with GAAP and are not meant to replace GAAP financial measures and may differ from other companies' uses or formulations. Included in our earnings release are the reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the GAAP measures reported in our financial statements.

We'll hear this morning from Scripps' President and CEO, Adam Symson; Chief Financial Officer, Jason Combs; and Scripps' Chief Operating Officer, Lisa Knutson. Here's Adam.

Adam Symson

Good morning, everybody. Today, I'd like to provide you with a big-picture perspective on this moment in the television landscape and how Scripps is executing on its plan to capitalize on our industry's evolution.

The television industry is experiencing an era of volatility, where the growth of streaming is upending a long successful business model. But as a wise and very successful investor recently reminded me, just because everything is moving towards streaming doesn't mean it in and of itself is a good business.

For most in the industry, the math on streaming alone doesn't work. And as media investors are well aware, the path to value creation is far from certain. Content creators are rebelling against the new model, sparking the most significant strikes in Hollywood history. Experts have said the strikes are fueled by existential worries over the industry's future. And it's no doubt that the end result will make the economics for streamers worse.