Pat Paxton to Exit Saga Communications as SVP/Content

RADIO ONLINE | Friday, August 21, 2026 | 7:58pm CT

Pat Paxton

Saga Communications Senior VP of Content Pat Paxton will exit the company at the end of August, with two of the broadcaster's local programming executives set to take over his responsibilities. Paxton will remain with Saga through Friday, August 28 to assist with the transition. Ocala, FL OM Scott Chase and Clarksville, TN OM Ryan Ploeckelman will co-chair the company's programming department with the new titles of Group Program Director.

Saga CEO Chris Forgy announced Paxton's departure internally on Friday. Paxton subsequently sent a note to employees saying 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."

Paxton expressed confidence in his successors, calling Chase and Ploeckelman "two of the smartest programming minds out there" and saying he expects the transition to be smooth.

Paxton joined Saga in June 2023 after previously spending 22 years overseeing programming for Entercom/Audacy. He had initially stepped away from full-time radio following his departure from Audacy before being recruited to 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."

Paxton's radio career dates to the 1980s and has included stops in Boston, Houston, Orlando, La Crosse, Sioux Falls, Huntington and Yankton.

In his farewell message, Paxton also praised Saga's Content Directors for their work, saying, "No one works harder than you. No one wears more hats than you. And you do it all with energy and passion."