Craig Karmazin’s Good Karma Brands has announced it will acquire News/Talk 620 WTMJ/103.3 W277CV and Country “94.5 KTI Country” WKTI Milwaukee from EW Scripps for $16 million.
Good Karma owns “ESPN 540” WAUK Jackson/Milwaukee as well as ESPN and ESPN Deportes Radio affiliated stations in Cleveland, Madison, and West Palm Beach and two other stations in Beaver Dam WI. The addition of WTMJ adds flagship status for all three of Wisconsin’s professional sports teams to the Good Karma roster as they serve in that role for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks as well as the Green Bay Packers.
Scripps sold its Tulsa cluster to Griffin Communications in June and still intends to find buyers for is clusters in Boise, Knoxville, Omaha, Springfield MO, Tucson, and Wichita.
The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) has reached an agreement to sell its two radio stations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to Good Karma Brands for $16 million.
Wisconsin-based Good Karma Brands is purchasing WTMJ (620 AM and 103.3 FM) and WKTI (94.5 FM). The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
The sale is the second in what Scripps expects to be a series of radio sale transactions. In June, it announced the sale of five radio stations in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Tulsa-based Griffin Communications.
The company announced in January its intent to sell its portfolio of 34 radio stations in eight markets.
“Good Karma Brands’ focus on Milwaukee makes the company an ideal home for these important local radio stations,” said Adam Symson, Scripps president and CEO. “The company’s expertise in connecting audiences and advertisers, particularly with sports marketing, means these stations will be well positioned for the future.
“At Scripps, we are on track for the sale of our entire radio station group as a component of our enterprise-wide strategy to divest of non-core assets and focus on improving our near-term operating performance while fostering the growth ahead.”
Good Karma Brands is a sports marketing company based in Milwaukee. It owns and operates six ESPN-affiliated radio stations, including WAUK (540 AM) in Milwaukee and WTLX (100.5 FM) in Madison, Wisconsin.
Kalil & Co., Inc. is the exclusive broker for this transaction.
