Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Estimated useful lives of property, plant and equipment

We compute depreciation using the straight-line method over estimated useful lives as follows:

Buildings and improvements	35 to 45 years
Leasehold improvements	Shorter of term of lease or useful life
Printing presses	20 to 30 years
Other newspaper production equipment	5 to 15 years
Television transmission towers and related equipment	15 to 35 years
Other television and program production equipment	3 to 15 years
Computer hardware and software	3 to 5 years
Office and other equipment	3 to 10 years

Property, plant and equipment consisted of the following:

	As of December 31,
(in thousands)	2014		2013
Land and improvements	$	74,510	$	73,980
Buildings and improvements	234,272		231,219
Equipment	482,241		472,407
Computer software	35,961		36,155
Total	826,984		813,761
Accumulated depreciation	483,595		459,964
Net property, plant and equipment	$	343,389	$	353,797

Components of basic and diluted weighted-average shares

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

	For the years ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2014			2013			2012
Numerator (for basic and diluted earnings per share)
Net income (loss) attributable to the shareholders of The E.W. Scripps Company	$	10,529		$	(474	)	$	40,188
Less income allocated to RSUs	(240		)	—			(1,845		)
Numerator for basic and diluted earnings per share	$	10,289		$	(474	)	$	38,343
Denominator
Basic weighted-average shares outstanding	56,342			56,516			54,907
Effect of dilutive securities:
Stock options held by employees and directors	897			—			474
Diluted weighted-average shares outstanding	57,239			56,516			55,381
Anti-dilutive securities(1)	—			4,957			176

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