Streaming service Newsy to launch over-the-air broadcast channel

Streaming channel Newsy will offer over-the-air broadcasts starting Oct. 1, parent company E.W. Scripps announced Tuesday.

Scripps said it expects the broadcasts to reach 80 percent of U.S. households via local TV stations that it owns. The streaming channel is currently carried by cable providers.

Newsy, which uses the tagline “Be Informed. Not Influenced,” is also building out a national news organization that will be led by Kate O’Brian, who joined Scripps in March. O’Brian’s résumé includes stints as president of Al Jazeera America and senior vice president of news at ABC News.

Newsy’s headquarters will move from Columbia, Mo., to Atlanta, Scripps said in Tuesday’s announcement. The company plans to staff at least a dozen news bureaus across the country. Scripps’s Washington bureau and local TV stations will also contribute content to Newsy.

In addition to streaming services like Newsy and cable outlets like CourtTV, Scripps owns 61 local television stations in 41 markets.