Saga Communications Senior VP of Content Pat Paxton is expected to leave the company at the end of August, with Ocala, FL OM Scott Chase and Clarksville, TN OM Ryan Ploeckelman taking over as co-chairs of the programming department under the new titles of Group Program Director.
Paxton remains with Saga through Friday, August 28, to assist with the transition.
CEO Chris Forgy announced the departure internally on Friday. Paxton then emailed employees that he had been considering stepping away for several months. “I’ve had a long successful career in this business and I’ve loved every second of it,” Paxton wrote. “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.”
 |
| Pat Paxton |
He had stepped away from full-time radio after leaving Audacy before being recruited by Saga. “Five years ago, after running programming for Audacy for 22 years, I retired for the first time,” Paxton said. “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.”
His radio career, which began in the 1980s, includes stops in Boston, Houston, Orlando, La Crosse, Sioux Falls, Huntington and Yankton. In his farewell message, Paxton also praised Saga’s Content Directors: “No one works harder than you. No one wears more hats than you. And you do it all with energy and passion.”