INVESTMENT INSIGHTS - E.W. SCRIPPS COMPANY (SSP)

START – $3.10 | FINISH – $4.50

TRADING PLAN

●     Potential Entry: Entry can be initiated once the share price closes above $3.10. The price is currently testing the lower trendline of an ascending channel, a zone where buyers have repeatedly stepped in, and a confirmed close above this level, supported by the recent increase in trading volume, would signal that buyers have absorbed the selling pressure and momentum has shifted back in favour of the uptrend.

●     Risk Management: The stop-loss level is set at $2.48, approximately a 20% decline from the potential entry. This level sits below the lower boundary of the ascending channel, so a close beneath it would invalidate the bullish structure and limit downside exposure if the pattern fails.

●     Profit Target: The primary profit target is $4.50, representing a 45.2% gain from the entry level. The next key resistance zone, offering a risk-to-reward ratio of roughly 2.3-to-1.

WHY THESE SHARES HAVE POTENTIAL FOR PROFIT

●     Regulators are about to unlock a wave of TV deal-making: On 15 July 2026, Scripps shares surged approximately 10% after news broke that the FCC plans to eliminate the long-standing rule preventing broadcasters from reaching more than 39% of US television households. Removing this cap opens the door to large-scale consolidation in local television, with Nexstar's acquisition of Tegna cited as the most immediate beneficiary. With a market value of only about $287 million and a portfolio of more than 60 stations across over 40 markets, the market is treating Scripps as a potential participant in that consolidation wave, whether as a buyer of stations or an acquisition target. One caution to keep in mind: insiders sold about $1.1 million in shares in the three months before the announcement.

●     Midterm election money is starting to flow: Political advertising is one of the most profitable revenue streams for broadcasters, and 2026 is a midterm election year. In the first quarter, Scripps' political advertising revenue nearly tripled to about $9 million, and that is before the heavy spending season in the second half of the year. Management has highlighted that Scripps owns stations in several of the most hotly contested battleground states, including Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin, where expensive Senate and governor races will drive campaign money directly onto its airwaves between now and November 2026, within this trade's time horizon.

●     Sports rights are securing future revenue: Scripps has quietly become a serious player in live sports — the last kind of TV people still watch in real time. Its ION network renewed a multiyear national WNBA rights deal and carries 50 regular-season games in 2026, the most of any national broadcast partner, while Scripps Sports signed the Detroit Pistons in May 2026 as its first NBA local broadcast partnership, adding to rights for five NHL teams, a WNBA franchise and an NWSL club.

TECHNICAL INDICATORS

●     Price testing the lower trendline of an ascending channel: The share price has been moving inside an ascending channel, a pattern of higher highs and higher lows contained between two parallel upward-sloping trendlines. It is currently testing the lower trendline, the support boundary where buyers have consistently returned. As long as this trendline holds, the uptrend structure remains intact, and entries near channel support historically offer the most favourable risk-to-reward positioning within the pattern.

●     Increased trading volume confirming buyer interest: The test of channel support is accompanied by a noticeable increase in trading volume. Rising volume at a support level is an important confirmation signal; it indicates genuine participation and accumulation rather than a quiet drift lower, and suggests larger buyers are active at these prices. Volume expansion at support frequently precedes the next upward leg within a channel.

●     Bollinger Bands expanding, a directional move is building: The Bollinger Bands, which measure volatility around a 20-period moving average, are expanding. Band expansion after a period of contraction signals that volatility is returning and a decisive directional move is getting underway. Combined with the price holding channel support on rising volume, the expansion strengthens the case that the coming move resolves to the upside.

RISKS

●     A heavy debt load and a distressed credit rating: Scripps still carries roughly $2.6 billion in debt against a market value of under $300 million, making its equity highly sensitive to any setback. S&P lowered the company's credit rating to 'CC' during its debt-restructuring efforts, viewing parts of the refinancing as resembling a distressed exchange. If cash flows disappoint, the debt burden could overwhelm the equity story.

●     Linear television is in structural decline: Cord-cutting continues to shrink the traditional pay-TV universe, pressuring both retransmission revenue and audience reach. Scripps' national networks division has seen revenue declines, and core advertising remains tied to a soft consumer economy. Political advertising is powerful but cyclical; it largely disappears in odd years, so the underlying business must keep improving for gains to hold beyond the election window.

SOURCES 

·         SSP Shares Surge as FCC Moves to Lift Broadcast Audience Cap

·         Scripps Narrows Q1 Loss as Local TV Revenue Offsets National Decline

·         Scripps Completes $885M Multi-Facility Debt Refinancing

·         Scripps Completes Station Swap with Gray Media

·         WNBA Reaches Media Rights Deal to Continue Airing Games on ION

·         Scripps Sports Signs Local Broadcast Agreement with Detroit Pistons

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** This article was prepared by BROKSTOCK analyst Maboko Seabi