Good Karma Brands will conclude its LMA of Emmis Communications’ “98.7 ESPN” WEPN-FM New York when its contract comes to an end in August 2024.
The programming on the station will relocate back to 1050 WEPN and their digital platforms when the deal comes to an end around August 31, 2024. 1050 WEPN currently airs the national ESPN Radio lineup.
Good Karma owner Craig Karmazin told the New York Post, “We’re committed to serving the New York sports fan and with the combination of our AM signal, the ESPN New York App, podcasts, smart speakers, YES and other additional audio and video distribution, investing in an FM signal was not relevant in the way it was a decade ago.” The Post reports that Emmis is seeking around $50 million for the station.
ESPN Inc. began leasing the former “98.7 Kiss-FM” from Emmis in April 2012 in a deal that started at $8.5 million per year and increased by 3.5% annually. Good Karma took over the operations of the station when it purchased the local radio assets of ESPN in December 2021. The lease of 98.7 to ESPN would lead to CBS Radio acquiring then 101.9 WRXP New York in October 2012 for $75 million to bring Sports 660 WFAN to FM to keep up with WEPN. Outside of brief time when WEPN’s Michael Kay Show would outperform WFAN in afternoons, the battle has been pretty much one-sided in WFAN’s favor due to WEPN’s partial reliance on needing to clear some of the national ESPN Radio lineup.
