Milwaukee Radio: WTMJ, WKTI Sale Expands Footprint of Good Karma

Last week's announced sale of Scripps station N/T WTMJ 620 AM and Country WKTI 94.5 FM would give buyer Good Karma, led by founder and CEO Craig Karmazin, an even bigger presence in sports radio in Milwaukee, a market with at least four stations focused on sports.

WTMJ, which also broadcasts on a translator signal at 103.3 FM, is the flagship station for Milwaukee Brewers, Milwaukee Bucks and Green Bay Packers broadcasts, and airs a variety of sports call-in shows in its news/talk/sports mix.

According to jsonline.com, Karmazin founded Good Karma in 1997 when he bought three radio stations in Beaver Dam. The company later bought WAUK and WTLX-FM in Madison, WI along with stations in Cleveland and West Palm Beach, Fla.

The deal also would bring WTMJ-AM and WKTI back to local ownership.

WTMJ was launched by the owner of The Milwaukee Journal in 1927 and remained locally owned until Scripps bought Journal Communications, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, in 2015. Scripps spun off the Journal Sentinel to Gannett Co. Inc. a year later.

With the sale of the radio stations, WTMJ-AM and WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) would have separate owners for the first time. The TV station, along with its digital subchannels, would still be owned by Scripps.