The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) announced that The E.W. Scripps Company will receive the NAB Distinguished Service Award during the 2012 NAB Show. The E.W. Scripps Company is a diverse, 134-year-old media enterprise with interests in television stations, newspapers and local news and information Web sites. The award will be accepted by Scripps President and CEO Rich Boehne at the opening keynote session on April 16 in Las Vegas.

"A media pioneer since the 1800s, the Scripps Company is held in the industry’s highest esteem," said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. "In recognition of the company’s commitment to excellence, innovation and outstanding service to local communities, we are proud to present Scripps with the Distinguished Service Award whose recipients are among broadcasting’s most respected leaders."

Each year the NAB Distinguished Service Award recognizes members of the broadcast community who have made significant and lasting contributions to the broadcasting industry. Previous award recipients include Michael J. Fox, Mary Tyler Moore, President Ronald Reagan, Edward R. Murrow, Bob Hope, Walter Cronkite, Oprah Winfrey and Charles Osgood, among others. "Scripps is humbled to receive the most prestigious and coveted honor the broadcasting industry can bestow," said Boehne. "Only one other company in the storied history of the Distinguished Service Award has had the privilege of joining the ranks of the industry’s greatest names. On behalf of the Scripps family and the thousands of Scripps employees who constantly find innovative ways to make their communities better places to live, I express our deepest appreciation to the NAB for this remarkable recognition."

Scripps was founded in 1878 by Edward W. Scripps, who borrowed $10,000 from his brothers to help launch America’s first information revolution. With the loan, the young entrepreneur set out to build one of the first newspaper chains under common ownership and later founded United Press International, a service that became a leading force in worldwide journalism. The company took advantage of America’s next information revolution by launching radio stations in the 1930s, then some of the country’s first local television stations in the 1940s. Two of the company’s first TV stations are still among its most successful: WEWS in Cleveland, whose call letters were selected to match the founder’s initials, and WCPO in Cincinnati, named for its affiliation with The Cincinnati Post.

Over the years Scripps has branched out into cable networks and new media ventures, but its roots remain focused on local media. In print, over the air and on the internet, Scripps is a premier resource for news and local information that benefit readers, viewers and advertisers. The company strives to make communities stronger and more vibrant by following its long-time vision statement: "Give light and the people will find their own way." The company’s portfolio of locally focused media properties includes: 19 TV stations (10 ABC affiliates, three NBC affiliates, five Azteca America affiliates and one independent); daily and community newspapers in 13 markets, and the Washington, D.C.-based Scripps Media Center, home of the Scripps Howard News Service.

Other IT news about NAB / NAB Show