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Evansville Courier & Press

By The Associated Press

Broadcaster and newspaper publisher E.W. Scripps Co. said Wednesday it agreed to sell certain Shop At Home television network assets to Jewelry Television for $17 million.

The company is selling the network's fixed assets, including Shop At Home's building and real estate, satellite uplink facilities, information technology systems, the network's call center, Web site and production studios.

Jewelry Television also intends to assume a number of agreements that Shop At Home has with broadcast television stations and operators of cable and satellite television systems to carry the network's programming.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of June.

As a result of the deal, Scripps revised the estimated charge it expects to record during the second quarter related to the Shop At Home divesture. The company now expects to record an after-tax charge of between $35 million and $45 million, compared with prior charge estimates of up to $60 million.

Separately, Jewelry Television said it plans to continue scaled- down operations of Shop At Home and will retain a number of the network's employees. Shop At Home employees retained by Jewelry Television will still be eligible for severance packages and career transition services from Scripps.

The transaction does not include five Shop At Home-affiliated broadcast television stations that Scripps owns and operates in San Francisco, Boston, Cleveland, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Bridgeport, Conn. Scripps has retained a broker to actively seek a buyer for these stations.

In the meantime, the five broadcast television stations will air a combination of Shop At Home and Jewelry Television programming.

E.W. Scripps is the parent company of the Evansville Courier & Press.

Shares of Scripps closed down 12 cents at $45.44 on the New York Stock Exchange.

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