Widely respected and accomplished radio executive Pat Paxton is exiting Saga Communications as the company’s Senior VP of Content. The announcement was made internally today at Saga Communications. Paxton joined Saga in June 2023 following a brief break after a 22-year run with Entercom/Audacy. His career stops include time spent in Boston, MA, Houston, TX, Orlando, FL, La Crosse, WI, Sioux Falls, IA, Hungtington, WV and Yankton, SD.
What We Know: CEO Chris Forgy shared the news with company employees via email on Friday. Paxton followed up with a note of his own to thank everyone for their collaboration and hard work. Forgy revealed that Ocala, FL OM Scott Chase, and Clarksville, TN OM Ryan Ploeckelman will co-chair the department moving forward, earning the titles of Group Program Director. Paxton will stay on through Friday, August 28th to help ease the transition process.
What They Said: Pat Paxton, SVP of Content (via an internal note to Saga employees):
Chris was gracious enough to allow me to reach out to you all to say a personal goodbye. I’ve had a long successful career in this business and I’ve loved every second of it. But I’m not as young as I used to be. I’ve been considering this for a few months and given the challenges Chris mentioned in his email, stepping away now makes perfect sense. Scott and Ryan are two of the smartest programming minds out there, so I am 100% certain the transition will be smooth and easy.
Five years ago, after running programming for Audacy for 22 years, I retired for the first time. I intended to stay retired, or at least semi-retired. Then in 2023 I met with Chris, Wayne, and Sam at the Embassy Suites in Detroit. I came out of that meeting thinking I might want to do this again. So I did, and it’s been a pleasure every step of the way. You will not find three more dedicated, compassionate, and insightful people anywhere else in this business.
To our Content Directors. You are the best. No one works harder than you. No one wears more hats than you. And you do it all with energy and passion. I feel blessed that I had the chance to work with and get to know you.
I will miss you all but feel like I’m a better person having worked with each of you.
What Remains Unclear: Paxton didn’t say if he was retiring but after entering the industry in the 1980’s, he has little left to prove. Saga hasn’t shared specifics of how Chase and Ploeckelman will operate moving forward or if their appointments include additional contractual adjustments. Forgy acknowledged in his internal note that the radio industry’s challenges were affecting Saga as well. Whether that will result in additional changes in the future is to be determined.
What It Means: Saga is losing a key programming executive with a strong reputation, a track record of success, and deep knowledge and skill. Chase and Ploeckelman will have big shoes to fill in helping steer the programming department forward through challenging times. For Paxton, is this it? If so, is he ready to turn the page on what has been a tremendous career? Pat’s views on the industry can be better absorbed in this excellent piece written previously by Keith Cunningham.
We wish Pat nothing but the best moving forward and offer our congratulations to Scott and Ryan as they step into their new roles at Saga.
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Jason Barrett is the Founder and CEO of Barrett Media. The company launched in September 2015 and has provided consulting services to America’s top audio and video brands, while simultaneously covering the media industry at BarrettMedia.com, becoming a daily destination for media professionals. Prior to Barrett Media, Jason built and programmed 95.7 The Game in San Francisco, and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He was also the first sports programmer for SportsTalk 950 in Philadelphia, which later became 97.5 The Fanatic. Barrett also led 590 The Fan KFNS in St. Louis, and ESPN 1340/1390 in Poughkeepsie, NY, and worked on-air and behind the scenes at 101.5 WPDH, WTBQ 1110AM, and WPYX 106.5. He also spent two years at ESPN Radio in Bristol, CT producing ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ and ‘GameNight’. JB can be reached on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or by email at Jason@BarrettMedia.com.