Packers switching Milwaukee radio stations for first time in nearly a century, from WTMJ to 97.3 The Game
Milwaukee-area Green Bay Packers fans will have to get used to a new radio station in 2022, but not new announcers.
The Packers said Wednesday their games will move to iHeartMedia's WRNW 97.3 FM for the 2022 season, leaving WTMJ, 620 AM, which has been their Milwaukee broadcast partner since 1929.
Because the Packers took programming and production in-house in 2018, elements of the broadcasts will not change, including the announcers. Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren will remain on the call. Nonetheless, it's a big move from what has always been regarded as the "flagship" of Packers broadcasts.
“We are excited to welcome a new station to the Packers Radio Network in the Milwaukee area beginning in 2022,” said Craig Benzel, Packers vice president of sales and business development. “iHeartMedia enthusiastically pursued the opportunity that being a part of the network creates, and we are looking forward to how their innovative approach will appeal to Packers fans in southeastern Wisconsin.
“The Packers have greatly appreciated the partnership with WTMJ over the years and will always respect the history they have with the franchise.”
The Packers are already carried by iHeartRadio affiliates in Madison, Eau Claire and Moline, Illinois.
Larrivee and McCarren have called Packers broadcasts since 1999. WTMJ continues to carry Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Brewers games, as the station has done for most of the franchises' existence.
In 2018, WTMJ was purchased by Good Karma Brands, a Milwaukee-based radio company founded in 1997 by Craig Karmazin, that already owned six ESPN radio affiliates, including one in Milwaukee. That brought the station back under local ownership for the first time since 2015, when E.W. Scripps Co. picked up WTMJ as part of its acquisition of Journal Communications, including the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Scripps announced shortly thereafter that it was putting its radio properties up for sale and spun off the Journal Sentinel to Gannett Co. Inc. a year later.
WTMJ was launched by the owner of The Milwaukee Journal in 1927 and remained locally owned until the Scripps purchase. This is not to be confused with the WTMJ-TV channel 4, which remains under Scripps ownership.
“While we’re disappointed in the Packers’ decision, we are grateful for our partnership over the years with the team,” Steve Wexler, vice president and market manager of Good Karma Brands, in a release.
“It’s been an honor to be steward of the Packers brand and we’re looking forward to continuing to serve sports fans and our marketing partners with a new era of football content. We’ll continue to cheer on the Packers for years to come.”
The Game, meanwhile, is relatively new on the Milwaukee scene, joining the fray in 2018 when WRNW switched from a contemporary-music format.
Former Packers fullback John Kuhn, host of the "Nine 2 Noon" show on the station since 2020, has contributed in various capacities to Packers game broadcasts in recent years on both TV and radio.
A full list of affiliates around the state can be found here.