MILWAUKEE — As announced on Monday morning, Good Karma Brands — WTMJ’s Milwaukee-based parent company — has reached an agreement to manage the sales and sales operations of the ESPN Radio Network & ESPN Podcasts.
President & CEO Craig Karmazin joined Wisconsin’s Afternoon News to discuss the agreement, what it means for the company and a few more local sports topics including the Milwaukee Bucks’ offseason and Jordan Love’s first full season under center.
“All the advertising sales that is being done for [the ESPN Radio Network & ESPN Podcasts] is going to now be done by our Good Karma teammates around the country, which is a pretty incredible thing,” Karmazin said. “We started as a small affiliate of ESPN, and now we’re going to be managing all of their advertising sales around the country for them.”
Karmazin told WTMJ’s Greg Matzek that Good Karma Brands has always expressed its interest in scaling the ESPN Audio business on a national scale. Good Karma Brands’ focus has always been on engaging with local communities and advertisers using world-class brands.
Wisconsin’s Afternoon News host John Mercure asked Karmazin whether this responsibility is at all daunting for him or the company. Karmazin, who founded the company by purchasing stations in Beaver Dam, WI in 1997, quickly made it clear that he was not intimidated by the task ahead.
“We didn’t get into this thing not to keep growing, and not to keep growing the careers for our teammates,” Karmazin said. “We need to lead by listening so that we can learn enough to know what things we do want to do differently.”
Good Karma Brands owns and operates ESPN Radio stations in Milwaukee, Madison, Beaver Dam, New York City, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Chicago and West Palm Beach Florida. GKB’s home base is at the 3rd St. Market Hall in Downtown Milwaukee, where WTMJ, ESPN Milwaukee & 101.7 The Truth broadcast each day.
Karmazin, while proud of the company’s progress to this point, feels this move better positions his team to continue evolving.
“We’re doing great things, we have a great team, but this should be the baseline of where we’re starting from,” Karmazin said. “It’s kind of like you celebrate for that one night after you win the game, then you get to work at growing so you’re ready whenever the next opportunity comes along.”
Click here to visit our YouTube channel for the full interview.
TOP HEADLINES FROM THE WTMJ NEWS TEAM:
- Ridership for “The Hop” Streetcar hits 50,000+ in June
- Drake & 21 Savage concert at Fiserv Forum unexpectedly pushed to Friday
- HAVE YOU SEEN HIM? Man wanted after setting girlfriend on fire in Kenosha County
- Northridge Mall sale falls apart as Milwaukee leaders push back on tax & fee forgiveness
- Violence at Sherman Park forces Milwaukee mothers, leaders to call for help from other parents
READ: Who’s in, who’s out — A look at which candidates will be part
