Scripps Likes Radio's Ability To Connect With Listeners

Rich Boehne

E.W. Scripps Co. of Cincinnati is returning to the radio business for the first time in more than two decades as part of the company’s takeover of Journal Broadcast Group’s radio and television stations in Milwaukee and elsewhere.

And, although Scripps executives wanted the Journal Broadcast Group deal primarily for TV stations, the Scripps team is intrigued by the radio business and the medium’s ability to connect with consumers — and therefore with advertisers, according to the Milwaukee Business Journal.

“You walk down the streets and you go into these markets and people know these radio personalities,” Scripps president and CEO Rich Boehne told Rich Kirchen. “My favorite is a political talk show host up in Milwaukee named Charlie Sykes. I guess he’s conservative in a somewhat liberal state and everybody dislikes him so much that everybody listens to him. That’s fantastic.”

Boehne said he spent time with Sykes when Scripps executives visited Milwaukee to familiarize themselves with Milwaukee-based Journal Broadcast Group and its outlets, including WTMJ 620 AM, WTMJ-TV4 and WLWK 94.5 FM.