Good Karma Brands has announced that Steve Wexler will step down as Market Manager for their three stations in Milwaukee and transition into a coaching and development role with the company.
Wexler began his career at then Journal Communications owned 620 WTMJ as an intern in 1977. After working his way up to on-air host at the duo, he spent time as a programmer at WISN Milwaukee, KGW Portland, and KING Seattle before returning to WTMJ as Program Director in 1993.He rose to General Manager of Journal Communications properties in Tucson in 1997 and then Omaha in 2001 before coming back to WTMJ/WKTI in 2007 as VP/General Manager. He then rose to overseeing the company’s radio division in 2014 and stayed in that role following the company’s merger with Scripps the following year. When Scripps sold its radio division in 2018, Wexler joined Good Karma to over see WTMJ, Sports “ESPN Milwaukee” 94.5 WKTI, and Black Talk “101.7 The Truth” 1510 WGKB/101.7 W269DL.
Good Karma Executive Vice President Emily Dillinger will take on the role of interim market manager.
Excited to announce my new role at Good Karma Brands, stepping away from broadcast management after 35 years so I can do what I love most: coaching, developing, mentoring people and teams. #gkbisateamsport
— Steve Wexler (@wexlcoach) November 15, 2022
Steve Wexler, vice president and market manager for Good Karma Brands – Milwaukee, will wrap up his 35-year management career and transition into a coaching and development role at the company. The announcement was made today by Craig Karmazin, founder and CEO at Good Karma Brands.
“We are appreciative and grateful Steve “Wex” joined Good Karma to lead the Milwaukee team through a time of significant growth and transition,” said Craig Karmazin. “His passion for local news and his community-focused approach to broadcasting and media led the team through a pandemic, the launch of a new station, and award-winning coverage of so many significant moments of the past several years. We’re looking forward to continuing to learn from his knowledge and leadership expertise as he moves into a coaching role within the GKB Home Office.”
Good Karma Brands Executive Vice President Emily Dillinger will assume the role of interim market manager for GKB’s three stations in Milwaukee: 101.7 The Truth, ESPN Milwaukee, and Newsradio 620 WTMJ.
Steve Wexler said: “I’m looking forward to tapping into my experiences and many lessons learned to help our content, sales and management teammates continue to grow their skills and knowledge,” Wexler said. “I’m very grateful to Craig for the opportunity to do what I do best and what I enjoy most which is spending time coaching and developing our team.”
Wexler led the sale of the 36-station, 8-market Scripps Radio Group in late 2018 to several broadcast companies, including GKB in Milwaukee, where he assumed the role of market manager in 2019. He began his broadcast career at WTMJ in Milwaukee as an intern and has been an on-air personality, program manager, and radio and television general manager before running the radio division for Journal Communications, which merged with Scripps in 2018.
“This is a great fit for me, and I can’t wait to get started,” Wexler added. “We are blessed with an amazing team, and I look forward to contributing to our success”.
