Edward W. Scripps borrowed $10,000 from family members in 1878 and founded "The Penny Press," later called the "Cleveland Press." The newspaper was molded in the gruff, whiskey-drinking, cigar-smoking founder's image and was designed to appeal to the greatest number of people. It was simple, inexpensive, and aimed at blue-collar workers. Dozens of newspapers and other media subsidiaries later, the E.W. Scripps Company is still taking the side of the marginalized masses: The company licenses Dilbert, the country's fastest-growing comic strip and trumpet call for the downtrodden officer worker. The company itself, however, is hardly a bit player. Its place in history is secure with the 1907 founding of the United Press International news service as a competitor to the Associated Press, and its syndication of Charles Schulz's Peanuts. The company also runs the well-known Scripps Howard News Service (the second name belongs to longtime company chief Roy Howard). With $2.52 billion in assets, ten large-market TV stations, 20 daily newspapers, full or part ownership in four cable television networks, and 31 web sites, it is currently one of the largest media companies in the world. About 60 percent of its revenue is drawn from newspapers, which include Denver's Rocky Mountain News, The Knoxville News-Sentinel, The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, and the recently acquired Fort Pierce Tribune from Florida's panhandle. In May 1997, the company grew considerably with its acquisition of Harte-Hanks's newspapers for $775 million. The buyout added newspapers in South Carolina and Texas, including the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. All told, about 1.3 million Americans read Scripps newspapers.

Looking to the future

Furthering its interests in the Internet arena, Scripps plans to spend $54 million on developing its web sites, while taking in $33 million in revenues, between January 1999 and January 2001. Its sites, which are linked to its print publications and TV stations and include hgtv.com (Home and Garden Television), diynet.com (Do-it-Yourself), and foodtv.com (Food Network), average 21 million page views a month. By 2001, Scripps also plans to launch a fourth specialty network, called Fine Living. The 24-hour network, with complementing web site, will be aimed at those with disposable income and those who aspire to have it. More specifically, the network speaks to adventurous, tech-savvy professionals interested in watching programs on fine dining, entertaining at home, luxury cars, yachts, private jets, fine art, vacation homes, and estate planning.

In addition to these web sites, in September 1999, Scripps created venture capital fund Scripps Ventures II, committing $100 million to finance Internet entrepreneurs. Scripps also created a New Ventures group in January 2000, which plans to find ways to get Scripps Networks into new media areas such as broadband, video-on-demand, and interactive TV.

Changes at the top