EW Scripps shares fall nearly 10 pct on first day

NEW YORK (Reuters) - EW Scripps Co (SSP.N) shares fell nearly 10 percent on their first day of trading on Tuesday after the company spun off its Internet and cable television properties into Scripps Networks Interactive Inc (SNI.N).

Reflecting investor dissatisfaction with U.S. newspapers that are hemorrhaging advertising revenue, EW Scripps' shares fell 25 cents, or 7.84 percent, to $2.94 on the New York Stock Exchange after hitting a low of $2.88 a share.

EW Scripps also owns local television stations.

Shares of Scripps Networks, which holds cable television networks such as Home & Garden Television, rose 45 cents, or 1.17 percent, to $38.80 in their trading debut.

U.S. newspaper publishers' shares have fallen during the past year, in some cases losing more than 90 percent, as investors flee in the face of declining advertising revenue and circulation.

Publishers' losses outpaced the decline of the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI and The Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX on Tuesday.

Gannett Co Inc (GCI.N) shares fell 3.37 percent, while Lee Enterprises (LEE.N) shares fell 11.03 percent and McClatchy Co (MNI.N) shares were down 7.37 percent on Tuesday.

"The short sellers are just having a field day and whoever owns them is just leaving," said Benchmark Co analyst Edward Atorino.

(Reporting by Robert MacMillan, editing by Maureen Bavdek)