WAY Media Appoints John Scaggs as CEO

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, August 16, 2017

John Scaggs

WAY Media appoints John Scaggs as its new President & Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Bob Augsburg, who founded the organization 30 years ago with his wife, Felice. Augsburg is retiring from his day-to-day role to take the position of Founder/President Emeritus. Previosuly, Scaggs has held various roles in leadership, including Administrative VP/Engineering at Morningstar Radio Network (which became Salem Music Networks), and various technical sales roles for Wegener, Wide Orbit, Dalet, Harmonic, and most recently, as a Vice President at Encoding.com.

Scaggs commented, "Years ago, the board and the Augsburgs together mapped out a succession timeline and began praying about the successor. This included Bob and Felice, as the ministry founders, changing roles and moving back to Nashville to be close to family. We were blessed with a number of strong candidates to consider, and are thrilled to bring aboard a new leader with such a rich history both in the field of media and technology and with the organization."

WAY Media board member since 2012 and chair of the search committee Andy Burdsall said, "I've known John since stepping onto the board. Over an 18-month period, we formed criteria, hired Slingshot Group as the search firm to lead us through our process, and interviewed many excellent candidates. John's passion and background clearly distanced himself from the field, and we couldn't be happier about him accepting this role."

Augsburg stated, "John is perfectly suited to take over the reins of WAY Media. He has served the Ministry so well over many years as a board member as well as a strategic sounding board and prayer support to me. I couldn't be happier with this decision. I look forward to continuing my involvement on the Board as well as other areas where I am needed."

Scaggs commented further, "Since hearing about a cutting-edge experiment in Fort Myers, FL in 1987, I have been fascinated with WAY Media. As a young man still in college, I flew down over a weekend to see WAY-FM's operation firsthand. Serving as a board member since 1998 is the longest unexpected job interview I've ever heard of. I have continued to play my part, never expecting to actually move from avocation to vocation for the ministry."

He began his career as a station manager at KGNZ in Abilene, TX, while obtaining a BA from Abilene Christian University in Journalism.