Shares of E.W. Scripps Co. plunged after the newspaper publisher completed the spinoff of its cable networks business, Scripps Networks Interactive, into a separate public company.

Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps owns 10 broadcast stations, newspapers in 15 U.S. markets and other media properties, including the Ventura County Star. 

Shares dropped 18 cents, or 5.6 percent, to close at $3.01 July 1 after reaching a 52-week low of $2.70 earlier in the session.

The July 1 sell-off is likely because holders of the pre-split entity no longer wanted traditional media assets, and index holdings no longer wanted the shares because E.W. Scripps is being replaced by Scripps Networks in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index, Bloomberg News said.