When Good Karma Brands reached an agreement with The Walt Disney Company to acquire and operate three ESPN-affiliated radio stations on the AM band in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, it represented the expansion of the relationship between the two parties. Good Karma Brands had purchased ESPN Milwaukee from The E.W. Scripps Company in a separate transaction in 2018, and it had also worked with Disney under a digital sales agreement. This past July, the enterprise reached a deal to manage the sales operations for ESPN Radio and its podcasts, affirming the trust and reputation that had been built between the two companies over the years.
ESPN affirms that audio remains critical within its sports media portfolio, and while it still has control over the content, distribution and marketing aspects of the business, there are many new sectors in the purview of Good Karma Brands. As a result, Steve Politziner, president of Good Karma Brands, worked with his organizational development team to implement a new training mechanism to ensure widespread proficiency.
The company distributes a daily quiz, usually consisting of five to six questions, that incorporates information from ESPN hosts, programs, product offerings and best practices. A wide swath of the 300-plus employees who work for the brand are required to complete the exam by the close of business, granting leadership an opportunity to measure awareness and expertise.
“It’s basically, ‘Hey, every day, you have an open book test,’ and it forces people to go in,” Politziner said. “If they don’t know the answers, talk to a teammate; research them on Google. We don’t mind if they do that – we just want to make sure they’re putting a commitment into being an expert in understanding what they’re representing and understanding the company.”
Politziner, along with company founder and chief executive officer Craig Karmazin, have worked to institute a professional culture at the entity. The business partners were childhood friends and classmates, both of whom were infatuated by sports and surrounding media coverage. Moreover, they both had early exposure to the business world – Politziner’s father, Phil, started an accounting firm; while Karmazin’s father, Mel, managed several national broadcast entities – and possessed legitimate interest in progress and innovation.
After working as a financial analyst for nearly a year following graduation from Lehigh University, Politziner was approached by Karmazin to form a business partnership. Karmazin had recently purchased three radio stations in the Madison, Wisc. metropolitan area, and he needed assistance in managing the day-to-day operations and growing the brand. Upon their agreement, Politziner became the company’s vice president and assumed day-to-day business responsibilities while hosting a three-hour radio show with Karmazin in the afternoons.
“It put us on the road, attending some of the biggest national events, whether it was through covering the [Wisconsin] Badgers or taking the show on the road to Radio Row and Final Fours and so many sporting events,” Politziner explained. “[That] is where we forged a lot of early relationships with people in the industry, ESPN and the like.”
A few years after launching the Wisconsin stations, Good Karma Brands began a lease of 760 AM in West Palm Beach, Fla., which it converted to an ESPN Radio affiliate. Employees continued to execute multiple roles, with Politziner and Karmazin moving their radio program to the outlet to aid in creating a compelling and entertaining on-air product.
“Being on the air gave [us] a great chance to have kind of a never-ending focus group about what really motivates fans – what motivates them to patronize an advertising partner; what motivates them to call or engage or champion you in the community,” Politziner said. “It’s sort of never-ending case studies that went on in those years in Madison and West Palm.”
Through interactions with businesspeople and consumers, Politziner was able to gain a more comprehensive understanding about what appealed to those within each marketplace. Rather than conflating distinct marketplaces to fit one programming approach, the company created and polished different ways of doing business in each locale. When he joined the brand, Politziner knew that he could trust Karmazin, who he affirms has always retained advanced intellect and shrewd foresight.
“If he were an attorney, he would be the attorney I would want to hire,” Politziner said of Karmazin. “….If he were a promotions director at a radio station, he would be the promotions director I would want. He has a real combination of a strategic mind, a creative mind and a business mind.”
The localization of the company in Madison and West Palm Beach granted Politziner invaluable chances to build his network of contacts and assume accountability. It also provided him an opportunity to sharpen his skills as a leader and media executive.
Politziner recently divulged his process when Sam Pines, senior vice president and partner at the company, requested him to release a guest piece for his newsletter, “Time to Win.” Known as “The Politziner P’s,” the principles are intended to provide a roadmap for employees to master the craft of networking in a public forum.
“Effectively, these are just the behaviors that I have practiced and exercised for years and years when I’ve been out and about,” Politziner said. “At the end of the day, all we have is our time, so I’m truly about, ‘What is the best way to maximize it?’”
In reviewing the roots of Good Karma Brands, terrestrial radio has been critical in growth and acquisitions. The company remains bullish on the future of the medium; however, the path forward in New York City will look and sound different in 2024, and produce ample amounts of chatter across the market and the broadcasting industry.
According to Good Karma’s internal data, 60% of ESPN New York’s listenership takes place outside of terrestrial radio. That was a key factor in the company’s recent decision to forsake the existing 98.7 WEPN-FM signal. The change will become official at the end of August 2024, positioning the New York metropolitan area as a metropolis with only one sports talk radio station on the FM dial.
The ESPN affiliate first took the air on the signal when The Walt Disney Company and Emmis Communications agreed to terms on a 12-year deal to lease 98.7 FM, initially worth about $8.5 million annually with a 3.5% rate appreciation. Good Karma Brands, which assumed control of station operations in 2021 through a local marketing agreement (LMA), believes it can continue to maintain its signature programming and brand affinity within the marketplace despite the impending absence of ESPN New York content on the FM dial.
“We’re distributed through so many different vehicles, most notably the successful growth of our ESPN [New York] app and the ability to stream so [much] of our programming and our play-by-play via that mechanism,” Politziner said. “We really feel that in today’s world – doing anything that might create financial challenges where we feel so good about the way that we’re distributing ourselves and that audiences are finding [us] – we just felt that was the most fiscally responsible decision to our markets and to our team.”
Although the lease has yet to expire, Good Karma Brands is standing firm on its decision and made the announcement to give proper notice to all parties impacted. ESPN New York is the radio broadcast home of the New York Jets and airs New York Islanders games, most of which are moved to the AM signal when there are other broadcasting conflicts.
“We know that our advertising partners are going into annual commitments or annual investment [and] our play-by-play partners are making their plans,” Politziner said. “We just feel like in the spirit of transparency, we wanted to make sure that that was out there.”
The outlet also produces and disseminates the MSG Radio Network, which consists of the New York Knicks and New York Rangers. Both teams will remain on ESPN New York without the FM signal and affirmed they are “all in,” a sentiment Politziner feels is a validation of the decision. Moreover, Good Karma Brands has received various inquiries from other professional sports teams over the last several weeks, which could presumably lead to the expansion of its broadcast offerings.
“The distribution mechanisms have evolved,” Politziner explained, “and what might have been crucial as far as a particular medium some years ago is no longer the case with the advent of digital streaming and other options.”
Good Karma Brands is investing in a promotional campaign with the intent to direct listeners to the ESPN New York app and 1050 AM, some of which will likely occur by presence of live game broadcasts. Fans of the local teams are accustomed to listening to the game on different platforms, but a challenge lies in bringing users to the weekday programming lineup, which was recently revamped at the local and national levels. Evidently so, ESPN New York exists beyond terrestrial radio, and its digital expansion is a particular point of emphasis as this future approaches closer to fruition.
“ESPN recognizes that Good Karma has been a best-in-class operator and affiliate at the local level, and our nimbleness allows us to do a really good job on their behalf,” Politziner said. “The other thing I’ll say is that radio is so meaningful to the way people feel about ESPN [through] that emotional connection, as well as an awesome promotional vehicle for all other things ESPN that can drive back to ESPN.com [and] drive back to the TV network.”
ESPN New York has a lineup of experienced and adept personalities throughout the lineup, including The Michael Kay Show, Rick DiPietro and Dave Rothenberg, and Bart Scott and Alan Hahn. These dayparts provide consumers with conversations about pertinent sports topics, and their exclusivity, allure and stability adds value amid a seismic change.
“You can’t get them anywhere else outside of ESPN New York doing their talk shows,” Politziner said. “They’re going to find us, so I think people really know that we have the pulse of the fans in New York. Our team does an excellent job, and play-by-play partners know that’s a great alignment.”
No matter how listeners might access the content, authenticity and connectivity remain at the core of sports media. The industry ultimately serves as a conduit between fans and the players, teams and leagues they have come to love, with commentators and insiders precipitating understanding and encouraging friendly conjecture through reporting and opinions.
Radio has always provided listeners with genuine, real-time reactions and the ability to add to the conversation. There are advantages and disadvantages to every medium, and the nuanced permutations accentuate the distinct qualities that make them appealing. Politziner and Good Karma Brands seek to position themselves to be able to over-deliver and prove they are worth doing business with day in and day out.
“There’s no cookie-cutter formula, but what’s most important is a relatability for your audience and an appreciation that, every day, people have a choice to make on where they spend their time,” Politziner said. “If you always keep in the back of your mind that every single day, you are re-earning your audience and re-earning your fans, having that mentality, I think, goes a long way towards success.”
