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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2003

Commission File Number 0-16914

THE E. W. SCRIPPS COMPANY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (513) 977-3000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Not applicable

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes x No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).

Yes x No ¨

The aggregate market value of Class A Common Shares of the Registrant held by non-affiliates of the Registrant, based on the $88.72 per share closing price for such stock on June 30, 2003, was approximately $3,530,000,000. All Class A Common Shares beneficially held by executives and directors of the registrant and The Edward W. Scripps Trust have been deemed, solely for the purpose of the foregoing calculation, to be held by affiliates of the registrant. There is no active market for our common voting shares.

As of January 31, 2004, there were 62,646,538 of the Registrant’s Class A Common Shares, $.01 par value per share, outstanding and 18,369,113 of the Registrant’s Common Voting Shares, $.01 par value per share, outstanding.

Certain information required for Part III of this report is incorporated herein by reference to the proxy statement for the 2004 annual meeting of shareholders.

INDEX TO THE E. W. SCRIPPS COMPANY

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2003

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As used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the terms “Scripps,” “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.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

You can inspect and copy, at prescribed rates, our annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) at the public reference facilities of the SEC at Room 1024, 450 Fifth Street N.W., Washington D.C., 20549. You can obtain information on the operation of the public reference facilities by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC also maintains an Internet site (www.sec.gov) containing reports, proxy statements and other information. You can also inspect and copy the reports we file at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange, on which our Class A Common Shares are listed, at 20 Broad Street, New York, New York, 10005.

Our Company website is www.scripps.com. Copies of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are available free of charge on this website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file the material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Our website also includes copies of the charters for our Compensation, Nominating & Governance and Audit Committees, our Corporate Governance Principles, our Insider Trading Policy and our Code of Ethics. All of these documents are also available to shareholders in print upon request.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K contains certain forward-looking statements that are based on our current expectations. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed in the forward-looking statements. Such risks, trends and uncertainties, which in most instances are beyond our control, include changes in advertising demand and other economic conditions; consumers’ taste; newsprint prices; program costs; labor relations; technological developments; competitive pressures; interest rates; regulatory rulings; and reliance on third-party vendors for various products and services. The words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements, which are as of the date of this filing, should be evaluated with the understanding of their inherent uncertainty.

PART I

We are a diverse media concern with interests in newspapers, national television networks (“Scripps Networks”), broadcast television and television retailing (“Shop At Home”). We also operate United Media, which is the worldwide licensing and syndication home of “Peanuts” and “Dilbert.”

Financial information for each of our business segments can be found under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” beginning on page F-12 of this Form 10-K and in Note 1 on page F-33 and Note 17 on page F-57 of this Form 10-K.

NEWSPAPERS

We operate 21 daily newspapers in 19 markets in the United States. We solely operate and manage 17 of the newspapers. Each of the other four newspapers is operated pursuant to the terms of a joint operating agreement (“JOA”). We also own and operate the Scripps Howard News Service, a supplemental wire service covering stories in the capital, other parts of the United States and abroad. All of our newspapers subscribe to the wire service.

Newspaper operations are expanded into new markets primarily through the acquisition of daily newspapers. During the five years ended December 31, 2003, we acquired several newspapers, all during 2000. They are as follows:

Our newspapers contributed approximately 37% of our company’s total operating revenues in 2003, down from 49% in 2001.

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Newspapers managed solely by us - Information regarding the markets in which we publish and solely manage daily newspapers and the circulation of our daily newspapers is as follows:

Circulation information for the Sunday edition of our newspapers is as follows:

Each newspaper publishes a daily newspaper, operates an Internet site and distributes a wide range of niche publications. These niche publications include community newspapers, lifestyle magazines and other publications aimed at both younger readers and classified categories such as real estate, employment and autos. In many of our markets we also offer direct marketing, commercial printing and other related products. Our product offerings allow existing advertisers to reach their target audience in multiple ways, while also giving us an attractive portfolio of products with which to acquire new clients, particularly small and mid-sized advertisers. To protect and enhance our market position we must continually launch new products, offer good, relevant local content, ensure quality service, invest in new technology and cross-brand our newspapers, Internet sites and niche publications.

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Advertising provided 78% of newspaper segment operating revenues in 2003. Declines in advertising spending, particularly in recessionary periods, adversely affect our business.

Newspaper advertising includes (“ROP”) advertising, preprinted inserts, advertising on our Internet sites, advertising in niche publications, and direct mail. ROP advertisements, located throughout the newspaper, are classified into one of three categories: local, classified or national. Local ROP refers to any advertising purchased by in-market advertisers that is not included in the paper’s classified section. Classified ROP refers to advertising that is organized by product and service categories within its own self-contained section of the paper. Classified sections are typically found in the back of the paper. While various categories exist within the paper’s classified sections, a substantial amount of classified revenue comes from three categories: real estate, automotive and help wanted. National ROP refers to any advertising purchased by businesses that operate beyond our local market and who typically procure advertising from numerous newspapers by using advertising agency services. Preprint advertisements are generally printed by advertisers and inserted into the newspaper. Internet advertising ranges from simple static banners appearing on a web page to more complex, interactive and animated advertisements.

Advertising is generally sold based upon audience size, demographics, price and effectiveness. Advertising rates and revenues vary among our newspapers depending on circulation, type of advertising, local market conditions and competition. Advertising revenues on a given volume of local and national ROP advertisements are generally greater than the revenues earned on the same volume of preprinted and other advertisements. Typically, because it generates the largest circulation and readership numbers of the week, advertising rates and volume are higher on Sundays. Due to increased demand in the spring and Christmas seasons, the first and third quarters have lower advertising revenues than the second and fourth quarters.

Our newspapers compete for advertising revenues primarily with other local media, including other newspapers, television stations, radio stations, cable television systems, Internet sites and direct mail. In recent years, competition from electronic communication companies, primarily the Internet, has increased in classified categories such as help wanted, real estate and automotive advertising.

Circulation provided approximately 20% of newspaper segment operating revenues in 2003. Circulation revenues are produced from selling home-delivery subscriptions of our newspapers and single-copy sales sold at retail outlets and vending machines. Our newspapers seek to provide quality, relevant local news and information to their readers. Newspapers compete with other news and information sources, such as television stations, radio stations and other print and Internet publications as a source of local news and information. We believe our newspapers are the leading source of local news and information in each of their respective markets. To maintain their competitive position, our newspapers have introduced a number of publications aimed at both younger readers and focused upon the classified advertising categories of real estate, employment and autos.

Labor costs accounted for approximately 54% of our newspapers segment costs and expenses in 2003. A substantial number of our newspaper employees are represented by labor unions. See “Employees.”

We use computer systems to write, edit, compose and produce the papers.

Our newspapers are printed in 50-inch web format using offset and flexographic presses. We consumed approximately 142,000 metric tons of newsprint in 2003. Newsprint is a basic commodity and its price is subject to changes in the balance of world-wide supply and demand. Newsprint market prices published by Resource Information Systems, Inc. (a company that provides economic analysis of the printing and writing paper markets) have ranged from $423 per ton to $740 per ton over the past ten years. Consolidation in the North American newsprint industry has reduced the number of suppliers and led to paper mill closures. Mill closures have decreased overall newsprint capacity and increased the likelihood of price increases in the future.

During 2002 we established Media Procurement Services (“MPS”), a wholly-owned subsidiary company. MPS provides newsprint and other paper procurement services for both our newspapers and other non-affiliated newspapers and printers. By combining the purchasing requirements of several companies for newsprint and other services, MPS is able to negotiate more favorable pricing with newsprint producers. MPS purchases newsprint from various suppliers, many of which are Canadian. Based on our expected newsprint consumption, we believe our supply sources are sufficient.

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Newspapers operated under JOAs - The Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 provides a limited exemption from anti-trust laws, permitting competing newspapers in a market to combine their sales, production and business operations in order to reduce aggregate expenses and take advantage of economies of scale, thereby allowing the continuing operation of both newspapers in that market.

Each newspaper maintains a separate and independent editorial operation.

Information regarding the markets in which we publish a daily newspaper pursuant to the terms of a JOA and the daily circulation of our newspaper are as follows:

Sunday circulation information is as follows:

The table below provides certain information about our JOAs.

The JOAs generally provide for automatic renewals unless an advance termination notice ranging from two to five years is given by either party. Gannett Newspapers has notified us of its intent to terminate the Cincinnati JOA upon its expiration in 2007. We intend to continue publishing the Cincinnati Post and Kentucky Post newspapers for the duration of the agreement.

The combined sales, production and business operations of the newspapers are either jointly managed or are solely managed by one of the newspapers. The combined operations of the Denver newspapers are jointly managed by each of the newspapers. We have no management responsibilities for the combined operations in the other three markets.

The operating profits earned from the combined operations of the two newspapers are distributed to the partners in accordance with the terms of the joint operating agreement. We receive a 50% share of the Denver JOA profits and between 20% and 40% of the profits from the other three JOAs.

Our share of the operating profits of the combined newspaper operations in each market is impacted by similar operational, economic and competitive factors in the discussion of newspapers managed solely by us.

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SCRIPPS NETWORKS

Scripps Networks includes four national television networks: Home & Garden Television (“HGTV”), Food Network, DIY – Do It Yourself Network (“DIY”), and Fine Living. Our networks have been internally developed, with the exception of Food Network. We acquired controlling interest in Food Network in 1997. Scripps Networks produced approximately 29% of our total operating revenues in 2003, up from 24% in 2001.

Scripps Networks also includes our 12% interest in FOX Sports Net South, a regional television network. We own an approximate 70% residual interest in Food Network and an approximate 90% residual interest in Fine Living. The Food Network partnership agreement terminates on December 31, 2012, unless amended or extended prior to that date. Upon termination, the partnership assets are to be liquidated and distributed to the partners in proportion to their partnership interests. The minority owners of Fine Living have the right to require us to repurchase their interests, while we have an option to acquire their interests. The put and call options become exercisable at various dates through 2016. The minority interests will receive fair market value for their interest at the time their option is exercised. Put options on an approximate 6% interest in Fine Living are currently exercisable. The remaining put options become exercisable in 2006.

All of our national television networks are targeted, lifestyle-oriented networks. HGTV began telecasting in 1994 and features programming focused on home repair, remodeling, gardening, decorating and other activities linked with the home. Food Network began telecasting in 1993 and features programming focused on food and entertaining. DIY began telecasting in 1999 and features step-by-step instructions, in-depth demonstrations and tips on various topics associated with home improvement, gardening and crafts. Fine Living, which began telecasting in March 2002, targets an upper demographic audience and advertisers in the luxury consumer goods and services markets.

Our initial focus in launching a network is to gain distribution on cable and satellite television systems. We also create new and original programming and promote the networks’ programming to cable and satellite television subscribers. We expect to incur operating losses until our network distribution and audience size are large enough to attract national advertisers. As the distribution of our networks increases we make additional investments in the quality and variety of programming and in the number of original programming hours offered on the network. Such investments are expected to increase viewership, and consequently yield higher advertising revenues due to improved ratings. Prime time (Monday through Sunday from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.) viewership of HGTV and Food Network has increased more than five-fold in the past five years.

While we have employed similar development strategies with each of our networks, there can be no assurance DIY and Fine Living will achieve distribution levels similar to HGTV and Food Network. There has been considerable consolidation among cable and satellite television operators, with the eight largest providing services to approximately 90% of the homes that receive cable and satellite television programming. At the same time there has been an expansion in the number of programming services seeking distribution on those systems, with the number of networks more than doubling since 1996.

Advertising provided approximately 81% of Scripps Networks segment operating revenues in 2003. Declines in advertising spending, particularly in recessionary periods, adversely affect our business.

Advertising purchased on our networks usually seeks to promote nationally recognized consumer products and brands. We sell advertising time in both the up-front and scatter markets. The mix between the up-front and scatter markets is based upon a number of factors, including the demand for advertising time, economic conditions and pricing. The first and third quarters normally have lower advertising revenues than our second and fourth quarters.

Advertising is sold on the basis of audience size and demographics, price and effectiveness. We compete for advertising revenues with other local and national media, including other television networks, television stations, radio stations, newspapers, Internet sites and direct mail. Audience size and demographics are directly related to the number of homes in which our networks can be viewed and our success in producing and promoting programming that is popular with our target audience. In reaching our target audience, we compete for consumers’ discretionary time with all other information and entertainment media.

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Our networks are distributed by cable and satellite television systems under the terms of long-term distribution contracts. In exchange for the right to distribute our programming, cable and satellite television systems generally pay a per-subscriber fee. Network affiliate fees provided 17% of Scripps Networks segment operating revenues in 2003.

We compete with other national television networks for distribution on cable and satellite televisions. Several of those networks are owned by cable and satellite television system operators. To obtain long-term contracts, we may make cash payments to cable and satellite television systems, provide an initial period in which a system’s affiliate fee payments are waived or do both. Network affiliate fee revenues are reported net of the cost of incentives granted in exchange for long-term distribution contracts.

The four largest cable and satellite television systems provide service to more than 60% of homes receiving HGTV and Food Network, while the eight largest provide service to more than 90% of such homes. The loss of distribution by any of these cable and satellite television systems could adversely affect our business. While no assurance can be given regarding renewal of our distribution contracts, we have historically renewed expiring distribution agreements for HGTV and Food Network.

In a continuing effort to protect and extend our brands, we partnered with Time Warner Cable in November 2001 to launch a joint video-on-demand (“VOD”) trial based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The initial VOD package included a total of 60 hours of programming from HGTV, Food Network and DIY. In October 2002, we announced plans to expand our VOD agreement to cover 30 Time Warner cable television systems across the United States. At December 31, 2003, our programming can be viewed on demand in about 84 markets across the United States.

We both own and license the programming that airs on our networks. Programming accounted for approximately 39% of our networks segment costs and expenses in 2003. We believe there are adequate sources of creative and original programming to meet the needs of our networks.

Our networks require traffic systems to schedule programs and to insert advertisements within programs. We transmit our programming to cable and satellite television systems via satellite. Transponder rights are acquired under the terms of long-term contracts with satellite owners.

Labor costs accounted for approximately 26% of segment costs and expenses in 2003.

BROADCAST TELEVISION

Broadcast television includes 10 television stations. Our broadcast television stations are located in nine of the 60 largest television markets in the United States. Our television stations reach approximately 10% of the nation’s television households, calculated using the multiple ownership rules of the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). Nine of our television stations are affiliated with national broadcast television networks. Six are ABC affiliates and three are NBC affiliates.

We expand our broadcast television operations into new markets primarily through the acquisition of television stations currently in operation. We acquired independent television station KMCI in Lawrence, Kansas, in 2000. We had operated KMCI since 1996 under a Local Marketing Agreement (“LMA”).

Our broadcast television stations provided approximately 16% of our total operating revenues in 2003, down from 20% in 2001.

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Information concerning our broadcast television stations, their network affiliations and the markets in which they operate is as follows:

All market and audience data is based on the November Nielsen survey.

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The sale of local, national and political commercial spots accounted for 95% of broadcast television segment operating revenues in 2003. Advertising is generally sold based upon audience size, demographics, price and effectiveness. Declines in advertising spending, particularly in recessionary periods, adversely affect our business. Automotive advertising accounts for approximately one-fourth of our local and national advertising revenues.

Advertising revenues are also influenced by various cyclical factors, particularly the political cycle. Advertising revenues dramatically increase during even-numbered years, when congressional and presidential elections occur. Advertising revenues also are affected by whether our stations are affiliated with the national networks broadcasting major events, such as the Olympics or the Super Bowl. The first and third quarters of each year generally have lower advertising revenues than the second and fourth quarters.

Our television stations compete for advertising revenues primarily with other local media, including other television stations, radio stations, cable television systems, newspapers, other Internet sites and direct mail. Competition for advertising revenue is based upon market share, audience size, demographics, price and effectiveness. Channel capacities of satellite television and cable television systems have increased as a result of digital technologies, resulting in an increase in the number of available viewing choices. Broadcast television also faces increased competition from Internet services and other electronic entertainment services, resulting in fragmentation of the viewing audience. Audience fragmentation could adversely affect our broadcast television stations.

National television networks offer a variety of programs to affiliated stations, which have a limited right of first refusal before such programming may be offered to other television stations in the same market. Networks sell most of the advertising within the programs and may compensate affiliated stations for carrying network programming. Affiliated television stations may share in the cost of certain network programming, which is deducted from such compensation. In 2001, we renegotiated and extended our NBC network affiliation agreements, originally scheduled to expire in 2004, through 2010. Network compensation was sharply reduced under the renegotiated agreements. Our various ABC affiliation agreements expire between 2004 and 2006. We are currently negotiating renewal of our ABC affiliation agreements. While we expect network compensation will be reduced under the new agreements, we are unable to predict the amount of network compensation we may receive upon renewal of the agreements with ABC.

In addition to network programming, our broadcast television stations produce their own programming and air programming licensed from a number of different independent program producers and syndicators. News is the focus of our locally-produced programming. To differentiate our programming from that of national networks available on cable and satellite television and other entertainment media, our stations have emphasized and increased hours dedicated to local news and entertainment. Advertising aired during our local news programs accounts for approximately 30% of broadcast television segments operating revenues.

The price of syndicated programming is directly correlated to the programming demands of other television stations within our markets. Syndicated programming costs were 21% of total segment costs and expenses in 2003.

Our broadcast television stations require studios to produce local programming and traffic systems to schedule programs and to insert advertisements within programs. Our stations also require towers upon which broadcasting transmitters and antenna equipment are located.

Labor costs accounted for approximately 53% of segment costs and expenses in 2003.

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Federal Regulation of Broadcasting - Broadcast television is subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) pursuant to the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (“Communications Act”). The Communications Act prohibits the operation of broadcast television stations except in accordance with a license issued by the FCC and empowers the FCC to revoke, modify and renew broadcast television licenses, approve the transfer of control of any entity holding such licenses, determine the location of stations, regulate the equipment used by stations and adopt and enforce necessary regulations. The FCC also enforces regulations concerning programming, including children’s and political programming, and it recently adopted new rules affecting stations’ employment practices.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 (the “1996 Act”) significantly relaxed the regulatory environment applicable to broadcasters. Under the 1996 Act, broadcast television licenses may be granted for a term of eight years, rather than five, and they remain renewable upon request. While there can be no assurance regarding the renewal of our broadcast television licenses, we have never had a license revoked, have never been denied a renewal and all previous renewals have been for the maximum term.

FCC regulations govern the multiple ownership of television stations and other media. Under the FCC’s current rule (as recently modified by Congress with respect to national audience reach), a license for a television station will generally not be granted or renewed if the grant of the license would result in (i) the applicant owning more than one television station, or in some markets under certain conditions, more than two television stations in the same market, or (ii) the grant of the license would result in the applicant’s owning, operating, controlling, or having an interest in television stations whose total national audience reach exceeds 39% of all television households. The FCC rules also generally prohibit “cross-ownership” of a television station and a daily newspaper in the same community. Our television station and daily newspaper in Cincinnati were owned by us at the time the cross-ownership rule was enacted and enjoy “grandfathered” status. These properties would become subject to the cross-ownership rule upon their sale. The 1996 Act directed the FCC to review all its media ownership rules biennially. The FCC concluded the 2002 biennial review of its media ownership rules by amending the rules that would generally permit entities to own more television stations in some markets and allow a single entity to own television stations that in the aggregate reach a larger percentage of the total national audience. However, after several parties appealed the FCC’s rule changes, the effectiveness of the new rules has been stayed by a federal court order. It is not possible to predict the timing or outcome of the appeals or their effect on us.

The FCC has adopted a series of orders to implement a transition from the current analog system of broadcast television to a digital transmission system. It granted each television station a second channel on which to begin offering digital service and it set out a timetable for completing the transition by 2006, when it is expected that one of these channels would be returned. Most observers believe that this deadline will be extended.

A substantial number of technical, regulatory and market-related issues remain unresolved regarding the transition to digital television. These issues include uncertainty as to the timing of the transition, what rules the FCC may adopt affecting broadcasters’ use of their spectrum, cable operators’ obligation to carry broadcasters’ digital offerings, equipment manufacturers’ obligation to offer digital tuners on new television receivers, and the level of consumer demand for the new services. We cannot predict the effect of these uncertainties on our offering of digital service or our business.

Under the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992, broadcast television stations gained “must-carry” rights on any cable television system defined as “local” with respect to the station. Stations may waive their must-carry rights and instead negotiate retransmission consent agreements with local cable companies. Our stations have generally elected to negotiate retransmission consent agreements with cable companies. Under the Satellite Home Improvement Act, satellite carriers are permitted to retransmit a local television station’s signal into its local market with the consent of the local television station. Satellite carriers, upon request, are required to carry the signal of all local television stations located in markets in which the satellite carrier retransmits at least one local station. While the FCC has announced that a station’s primary video transmission will enjoy must-carry rights after the transition to digital broadcasting, the FCC has so far declined to require carriage of a digital signal in addition to the station’s analog signal.

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SHOP AT HOME

Shop At Home sells a range of consumer goods directly to television viewers and visitors to its website. We acquired a 70% controlling interest in Shop At Home from Summit America Television, Inc. (“Summit America,” formerly Shop At Home, Inc.) in October 2002. In December 2003, we announced a definitive agreement to acquire Summit America, including its 30% minority interest in Shop At Home and five Shop At Home-affiliated broadcast television stations. The Shop At Home acquisition gives us the ability to quickly gain scale in a growing television retailing industry. It also permits us to sell a video commerce platform to our existing advertisers. We continue to integrate the management of Shop At Home with that of Scripps Networks.

Shop At Home produced approximately 13% of our company’s total operating revenues in 2003.

Shop At Home is distributed by broadcast television and cable and satellite television affiliates, and can be viewed in more than 147 television markets, including 91 of the 100 largest television markets in the United States.

Sales of merchandise to network viewers and website visitors provide substantially all of Shop At Home’s operating revenues. Television retail sales can be adversely affected during recessionary periods and when other television programming events attract large audiences. Sales made in the fourth quarter are typically higher than in other quarters.

We market products for the home, cookware, jewelry, electronics, beauty, fitness, collectibles and other products to consumers. A show-host approach is used with the host conveying information about the products and demonstrating use of the products.

The mix of products offered depends on a variety of factors including price, availability and customer response. We continue to transition the Shop At Home product mix to better match the consumer categories targeted by our lifestyle-oriented national television networks. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2003, we broadcast live for three days from the High Point, North Carolina, furniture show. We introduced new products, experimented with different product demonstrations and promoted the event on our programming networks, our televisions stations and in our newspapers. We are also experimenting with using Scripps Networks talent to anchor broadcasts.

Viewers can order any product offered by us, subject to availability, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, over the Shop At Home website, directly from our telephone representatives or through a toll-free automated touch-tone system. Products are shipped from our warehouse facility or are drop-shipped by selected vendors from their facilities. We offer our customers a full refund for merchandise returned within 30 days of purchase. A majority of customers pay for their purchases by credit card; however, we also accept money orders, checks, debit cards, electronic funds transfers and offer extended credit terms to our customers.

We compete with three other large public companies (QVC, HSN and ShopNBC) and many smaller television retailers. QVC, HSN and ShopNBC are in nearly all of the television markets that our programming is available. QVC and HSN are the revenue leaders in the industry and each reaches a larger percentage of U.S. television households than Shop At Home. We also compete with store, catalog and Internet retailers.

Merchandise and network distribution costs are the primary operating expenses for the segment. We purchase merchandise from numerous vendors and sources. We monitor product sales and revise our product offerings to maintain an attractive merchandising mix while continually evaluating new products and sources to broaden and enhance our product selection. While a variety of sources are available for most products we sell, two vendors in two different product categories supply us with merchandise that accounts for 22% and 13% of total merchandise costs. Our business could be adversely affected if these vendors ceased supplying merchandise.

Programming is distributed on a full or part-time basis under the terms of affiliation agreements with broadcast television stations and cable and satellite television systems. Distribution agreements are typically for one-year terms, with automatic renewal unless either party provides a 30-day notice before the end of the term. Affiliates are generally paid a negotiated fee based on the number of cable and direct broadcast satellite households reached by the affiliate. We constantly evaluate distribution levels and effectiveness. We plan to expand our full-time carriage on cable and satellite television systems, while also eliminating low-yielding homes.

Programming is transmitted to network affiliates via satellite. Satellite transmission is obtained under long-term contracts with satellite owners.

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LICENSING AND OTHER MEDIA

Licensing and other media aggregates operating segments that are too small to report separately, and primarily includes syndication and licensing of news features and comics. Under the trade name United Media, we distribute news columns, comics and other features for the newspaper industry. Newspapers typically pay a weekly fee for their use of the features. Included among these features is “Peanuts,” one of the most successful strips in the history of comic art.

United Media owns and licenses worldwide copyrights relating to “Peanuts,” “Dilbert” and other properties for use on numerous products, including plush toys, greeting cards and apparel, for promotional purposes and for exhibit on television and other media. Charles Schulz, the creator of “Peanuts,” died in February 2000. We continue syndication of previously published “Peanuts” strips, and retain the rights to license the characters. “Peanuts” provides approximately 87% of our licensing revenues. Licensing of comic characters in Japan provides approximately 50% of our international revenues, which are less than $60 million annually.

Merchandise, literary and exhibition licensing revenues are generally a negotiated percentage of the licensee’s sales. We generally negotiate a fixed fee for the use of our copyrighted characters for promotional and advertising purposes. We generally pay a percentage of gross syndication and licensing royalties to the creators of these properties.

We also represent the owners of other copyrights and trademarks, including Raggedy Ann and Precious Moments, in the U.S. and international markets. Services offered include negotiation of licensing agreements, enforcement of licensing agreements and collection of royalties. We typically retain a percentage of the licensing royalties.

EMPLOYEES

As of December 31, 2003, we had approximately 7,800 full-time employees, of whom approximately 4,900 were with newspapers, 800 with Scripps Networks, 1,400 with broadcast television, 500 with Shop At Home and 100 with licensing and other media. Various labor unions represent approximately 1,300 employees, primarily in newspapers. We have not experienced any work stoppages at our current operations since 1985. We consider our relationships with our employees to be generally satisfactory.

We own substantially all of the facilities and equipment used in our newspaper operations. In 2002, we completed construction of a new production facility for our Knoxville newspaper and are currently constructing a new production facility for our Treasure Coast newspapers.

Scripps Networks operates from a production facility in Knoxville and leased facilities in New York and California. Substantially all other facilities and equipment are owned by Scripps Networks.

We own substantially all of the facilities and equipment used by our broadcast television stations. We own, or co-own with other broadcast television stations, the towers used to transmit our television signal. We completed construction of a new facility for our West Palm Beach station in 2001 and began construction of a new facility for our Cincinnati station in 2003.

Shop At Home operates from facilities in Nashville, Tennessee. We own substantially all of the technical and television production facilities, offices and studios used by Shop At Home. Warehouse facilities are generally leased. We expect to expand Shop At Home’s warehouse facilities.

We are involved in litigation arising in the ordinary course of business, such as defamation actions and various governmental and administrative proceedings primarily relating to renewal of broadcast licenses, none of which is expected to result in material loss.

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No matters were submitted to a vote of security holders during the fourth quarter of 2003.

Executive Officers of the Company - Executive officers serve at the pleasure of the Board of Directors.

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PART II

Our Class A Common shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “SSP.” There are approximately 23,000 owners of our Class A Common shares, based on security position listings, and 18 owners of our Common Voting shares (which do not have a public market). We have declared cash dividends in every year since our incorporation in 1922. Future dividends are, however, subject to our earnings, financial condition and capital requirements.

The range of market prices of our Class A Common shares, which represents the high and low sales prices for each full quarterly period, and quarterly cash dividends are as follows:

The Selected Financial Data required by this item is filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page F-1 of this Form 10-K.

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations required by this item is filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page F-1 of this Form 10-K.

The market risk information required by this item is filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page F-1 of this Form 10-K.

The Financial Statements and Supplementary Data required by this item is filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page F-1 of this Form 10-K.

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Not applicable.

The Controls and Procedures required by this item is filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page F-1 of this Form 10-K.

PART III

Information regarding executive officers is included in Part I of this Form 10-K as permitted by General Instruction G(3).

Information required by Item 10 of Form 10-K relating to directors is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Election of Directors” in our definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders (“Proxy Statement”). Information regarding Section 16(a) compliance is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Report on Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Compliance” in the Proxy Statement.

We have adopted a code of ethics that applies to all employees, officers and directors of Scripps. The code of ethics meets the requirements defined by Item 406 of Regulation S-K and the requirement of a code of business conduct and ethics under NYSE listing standards. A copy of our code of ethics is posted on our website at www.scripps.com.

Information regarding our audit committee financial expert is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Report of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors” in the Proxy Statement.

The Proxy Statement will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on or before March 31, 2004.

The information required by Item 11 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Executive Compensation” in the Proxy Statement.

The information required by Item 12 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” in the Proxy Statement.

The information required by Item 13 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Certain Transactions” in the Proxy Statement.

The information required by Item 14 of Form 10-K is incorporated by reference to the material captioned “Report of the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors” in the Proxy Statement.

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PART IV

Financial Statements and Supplemental Schedules

The report of Deloitte & Touche LLP, Independent Auditors, dated March 3, 2004, is filed as part of this Form 10-K. See Index to Consolidated Financial Statement Information at page F-1.

Exhibits

The information required by this item appears at page E-1 of this Form 10-K.

Reports on Form 8-K

A Current Report on Form 8-K reporting the release of information regarding the results of operations for the quarter ended September 30, 2003, was filed on October 14, 2003.

A Current Report on Form 8-K reporting that we had reached a definitive agreement to acquire Summit America Television was filed on December 19, 2003.

A Current Report on Form 8-K reporting the release of information regarding the results of operations for the quarter ended December 31, 2003, was filed on January 22, 2004.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant in the capacities indicated, on March 11, 2004.

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THE E. W. SCRIPPS COMPANY

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENT INFORMATION

F - 1

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

ELEVEN-YEAR FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS