Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

As used in the Condensed Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, the terms “Scripps,” “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us” may, depending on the context, refer to The E. W. Scripps Company, to one or more of its consolidated subsidiary companies or to all of them taken as a whole.

Basis of Presentation — The condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. The interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto included in our 2012 Annual Report on Form 10-K. In management's opinion all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) necessary for a fair presentation of the interim periods have been made. Certain amounts in prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation.

Results of operations are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for future interim periods or for the full year.

Nature of Operations — We are a diverse media company with interests in television and newspaper publishing. All of our media businesses provide content and advertising services via digital platforms, including the Internet, mobile devices and tablets. Our media businesses are organized into the following reportable business segments: Television, Newspapers, and Syndication and other. Additional information for our business segments is presented in the Notes to our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

Use of Estimates — Preparing financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires us to make a variety of decisions that affect the reported amounts and the related disclosures. Such decisions include the selection of accounting principles that reflect the economic substance of the underlying transactions and the assumptions on which to base accounting estimates. In reaching such decisions, we apply judgment based on our understanding and analysis of the relevant circumstances, including our historical experience, actuarial studies and other assumptions.

Our financial statements include estimates and assumptions used in accounting for our defined benefit pension plans; the periods over which long-lived assets are depreciated or amortized; the fair value of long-lived assets, goodwill and indefinite lived assets; the liability for uncertain tax positions and valuation allowances against deferred income tax assets; and self-insured risks.

While we re-evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis, actual results could differ from those estimated at the time of preparation of the financial statements.

Revenue Recognition — We recognize revenue when persuasive evidence of a sales arrangement exists, delivery occurs or services are rendered, the sales price is fixed or determinable and collectability is reasonably assured.

Our primary sources of revenue are from the sale of print, broadcast and digital advertising and the sale of newspaper subscriptions.

The revenue recognition policies for each source of revenue are described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012.

Share-Based Compensation — We have a Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) which is described more fully in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. The Plan provides for the award of incentive and nonqualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock units (RSUs), unrestricted Class A Common shares and performance units to key employees and non-employee directors.

Share-based compensation costs totaled $0.5 million and $1.6 million for the second quarter of 2013 and 2012, respectively. Year-to-date share-based compensation costs totaled $3.9 million and $4.7 million in 2013 and 2012, respectively.

Earnings Per Share (“EPS”) — Unvested awards of share-based payments with rights to receive dividends or dividend equivalents, such as our RSUs, are considered participating securities for purposes of calculating EPS. Under the two-class method, we allocate a portion of net income to these participating securities and therefore exclude that income from the calculation of EPS for common stock. We do not allocate losses to the participating securities.

The following table presents information about basic and diluted weighted-average shares outstanding:



	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
(in thousands)	2013			2012			2013			2012

Numerator (for basic and diluted earnings per share)
Net income attributable to the shareholders of The E.W. Scripps Company	$	3,185		$	5,416		$	514		$	1,001
Less income allocated to RSUs	(89		)	(225		)	(16		)	(51		)
Numerator for basic and diluted earnings per share	$	3,096		$	5,191		$	498		$	950
Denominator
Basic weighted-average shares outstanding	57,448			55,146			56,894			54,961
Effect of dilutive securities:
Stock options held by employees and directors	1,299			340			1,172			221
Diluted weighted-average shares outstanding	58,747			55,486			58,066			55,182
Anti-dilutive securities ⁽¹⁾	—			5,824			—			5,824

⁽¹⁾ Amount outstanding at Balance Sheet date, before application of the treasury stock method and not weighted for period outstanding.

Derivative Financial Instruments — It is our policy that derivative transactions are executed only to manage exposures arising in the normal course of business and not for the purpose of creating speculative positions or trading. Derivative financial instruments are utilized to manage interest rate risks. We do not hold derivative financial instruments for trading purposes. All derivatives must be recorded on the balance sheet at fair value. Each derivative is designated as a cash flow hedge or remains undesignated. Changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated and effective as cash flow hedges are recorded in other comprehensive income (loss) and reclassified to the statement of operations when the effects of the item being hedged are recognized in the statement of operations. These changes are offset in earnings to the extent the hedge was effective by fair value changes related to the risk being hedged on the hedged item. Changes in the fair value of undesignated hedges are recognized currently in the statement of operations. All ineffective changes in derivative fair values are recognized currently in earnings.

All designated hedges are formally documented as to the relationship with the hedged item as well as the risk-management strategy. Both at inception and on an ongoing basis the hedging instrument is assessed as to its effectiveness, when applicable. If and when a derivative is determined not to be highly effective as a hedge, or the underlying hedged transaction is no longer likely to occur, or the hedge designation is removed, or the derivative is terminated, the hedge accounting discussed above is discontinued.