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Scripps Getting Out Of Radio


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Very happy with this deal. Local owner with a very good sense of quality, and the only issue is whether they continue to try to take on robo-WMIL in the country race with the live-and-local WKTI, or it becomes "ESPN 94.5” (and hopefully they continue to maintain WTMJ's newsroom and non-sports hosts at the same level). Everyone wins, and WTMJ gets a great association with ESPN Radio now.

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I see this now... WTMJ Sports on 540.

The cost for using the ESPN branding on affiliates makes that almost impossible, but there will definitely be massive synergies between the two stations.

 

Plus the brand recognition of "TMJ4" would make, say, "ESPN 540 TMJ2" a bit confusing.

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That's an out-of-left-field purchase. It seems like this is going to be a pattern where the Scripps Radio properties in the seven remaining markets where it has to sell stations get sold piecemeal to mostly smaller companies with maybe only two or three market clusters going to a mid-size radio station owner. BTW, am I the only one who thinks Good Karma Brands is an odd name for a sports marketing or broadcasting firm?

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Very happy with this deal. Local owner with a very good sense of quality, and the only issue is whether they continue to try to take on robo-WMIL in the country race with the live-and-local WKTI, or it becomes "ESPN 94.5” (and hopefully they continue to maintain WTMJ's newsroom and non-sports hosts at the same level). Everyone wins, and WTMJ gets a great association with ESPN Radio now.

I'm on the fence on this one.

 

I'm focused on WTMJ and it's straight news dayparts. Honest question: How much original reporting did WTMJ do, and how much of it was as a result of being a shared operation with WTMJ-TV? If the radio reporting was fairly separate from the TV operations, does Good Karma have any experience running a newsroom and experience gathering actual news stories? And if it is shared, will they continue to have an agreement to share resources with WTMJ-TV?

 

Have they confirmed that they'll remain in Radio City?

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I'm on the fence on this one.

 

I'm focused on WTMJ and it's straight news dayparts. Honest question: How much original reporting did WTMJ do, and how much of it was as a result of being a shared operation with WTMJ-TV? If the radio reporting was fairly separate from the TV operations, does Good Karma have any experience running a newsroom and experience gathering actual news stories? And if it is shared, will they continue to have an agreement to share resources with WTMJ-TV?

 

Have they confirmed that they'll remain in Radio City?

Scripps had made deep cuts to the radio group including WTMJ’s radio newsroom so they share a lot with WTMJ TV. It’s quite likely there is going to be an agreement to share resources. Good Karma owns a full service station and a country station in Beaver Dam WI that have a lot news, I believe it was the company’s first radio stations.

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That's an out-of-left-field purchase. It seems like this is going to be a pattern where the Scripps Radio properties in the seven remaining markets where it has to sell stations get sold piecemeal to mostly smaller companies with maybe only two or three market clusters going to a mid-size radio station owner. BTW, am I the only one who thinks Good Karma Brands is an odd name for a sports marketing or broadcasting firm?

Yeah, Good Karma is an odd name-- sounds more like a hipster-oriented business or a Silicon Valley startup, not a fledgling radio company.

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The purchase price seems like it quite low for WTMJ and WKTI but I haven’t seen what the stations bill in the last couple of years. 5 or 10 years ago if someone offered 16 million for those two stations they would be laughed out of the room. I know the stations have struggled under Scripps ownership but the whole industry has stuggled too.

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I'm on the fence on this one.

 

I'm focused on WTMJ and it's straight news dayparts. Honest question: How much original reporting did WTMJ do, and how much of it was as a result of being a shared operation with WTMJ-TV? If the radio reporting was fairly separate from the TV operations, does Good Karma have any experience running a newsroom and experience gathering actual news stories? And if it is shared, will they continue to have an agreement to share resources with WTMJ-TV?

 

That's my one big question about this; will they still commit to having a 24-hour newsroom, especially as you hear more markets basically becoming 'wire regurgitation' or in the MKE iHeart case, have stories reported from Cleveland? I think we'll see some kind of continuation of a news share, but it'll definitely be reduced in any case where you won't have WTMJ there like you do WUWM and WHAD like they have been in the past on the radio side.

 

But the other thing; their agreement with the Browns in Cleveland to carry games on WKNR is odd, as it's split with Entercom's WNCX (and I think the situation with that mess of a hot talk/sports radio station in San Diego scared Scripps off from Entercom here) and they don't control that radio network. Now they have three in the Brewers, Bucks and Packers. We'll see how a pure sports company will now run those networks, and if they can retain them in the long-term.

 

BTW, am I the only one who thinks Good Karma Brands is an odd name for a sports marketing or broadcasting firm?

 

It's a pun on Craig Karmazin (son of Mel)'s name; a bad pun, but there are much worse radio broadcast company names out there for sure.

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The cost for using the ESPN branding on affiliates makes that almost impossible, but there will definitely be massive synergies between the two stations.

 

Plus the brand recognition of "TMJ4" would make, say, "ESPN 540 TMJ2" a bit confusing.

 

Or it could be "ESPN 540 'TMJ Sports"

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Tulsa’s stations are now officially under Griffin Communications as Griffin Radio and sometime within a year all the radio stations will move from their current building at 31st and Yale to Downtown Tulsa to KOTV’s Griffin Communications Media Center.

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Tulsa’s stations are now officially under Griffin Communications as Griffin Radio and sometime within a year all the radio stations will move from their current building at 31st and Yale to Downtown Tulsa to KOTV’s Griffin Communications Media Center.

Now, with the new ownership, we've gotten to the point that the stations are now associated with KOTV instead of KJRH.

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Now, with the new ownership, we've gotten to the point that the stations are now associated with KOTV instead of KJRH.

They are they have been airing the weather updates on the radio stations from the News on 6’s Oklahoma Weather Experts for a few weeks now and promoting the stations on kotv’s website and on 6OUTDOOR billboards that Griffin owns.

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Scripps is selling its Boise and Tuscon radio stations to Lotus Communications.

 

https://radioinsight.com/headlines/169854/lotus-acquires-scripps-stations-in-boise-tucson/

Here is when Boise and Tucson start getting Spanish radio stations.

 

EDIT: More info: Lotus will divest KQTH and KTGV in Tucson in order to meet FCC standards.

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Is the Radio Networks for both the Green Bay Packers and the Milwaukee Brewers included in the sale, since how Scripps acquired it in the merger with Journal?

 

More than likely, yes. The Packers TV deal on WTMJ-TV is a different deal than the radio networks, but as I understand it, the radio networks fall under the radio division.

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Here is when Boise and Tucson start getting Spanish radio stations.

 

EDIT: More info: Lotus will divest KQTH and KTGV in Tucson in order to meet FCC standards.

 

Lotus already operates two Hispanic stations in Tucson (KCMT 92.1 and KTKT 990 + 94.3 FM xltr).

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Have we learned where WKTI and WTMJ are planning on living? Is Good Karma planning on leasing space from Scripps at Radio City, are they going to try and find space at 310 W Wisconsin, or find a totally new space somewhere?

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Have we learned where WKTI and WTMJ are planning on living? Is Good Karma planning on leasing space from Scripps at Radio City, are they going to try and find space at 310 W Wisconsin, or find a totally new space somewhere?

 

WTMJ and KTI is staying put and WAUK is moving in with them.

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I Wonder if Tegna would try to grab more radio stations now that they own KFMB-FM & KFMB-AM?

 

I highly doubt it. Tegna is probably trying to get rid of the stations as quickly as they can. They have zero interest in running radio stations, and only have KFMB-AM/FM because it was the only way they could buy the TV side.

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I highly doubt it. Tegna is probably trying to get rid of the stations as quickly as they can. They have zero interest in running radio stations, and only have KFMB-AM/FM because it was the only way they could buy the TV side.

 

They'll end up selling it to Entercom.

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They'll end up selling it to Entercom.

 

I'm not sure if they'll sell it to Entercom, as Entercom has already spent too much money playing radio station shuffle in San Diego with their 5 stations. The KFMB AM/FM Combo would be a great fit with Local Media San Diego.

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