Tom Oakes Prepares To Unplug
• Sending best wishes to our friend Tom Oakes, Operations Manager for SummitMedia’s Springfield, MO group, who announced his impending retirement, effective at the end of the year, capping off a successful 49-year broadcasting career. He shared his news in a lengthy Facebook post.
Oakes, who also serves as PD and afternoon talent for Country KTTS, originally joined the cluster in August 2018 as interim OM/PD (a program Oakes playfully dubbed “Rent-An OM/PD”) under former owner Scripps, following the death of Mark Grantin. In March 2019 Oakes transferred to SummitMedia Country sister WCYQ/Knoxville, TN as interim PD; two months later he arrived in Omaha as interim OM, succeeding Mark Todd. Oakes returned to Knoxville in September 2019 for interim PD duties and shifted over to Springfield at the end of October 2019 and was upped to permanent status in July 2020.
Oakes earlier spent 12 years in Anchorage radio, rising to VP/GM & Operations Manager of Ohana Media Group’s Anchorage cluster. Before that he was VP of Programming for Ohana’s 11 stations in Alaska and Oregon. From 2005-2011 Oakes worked for New Northwest Broadcasters as GM, VP of Programming & OM for their seven markets across Alaska, Montana, Oregon & Washington, and from 1988-2005 Oakes plied his trade in South Bend, IN, Omaha, NE and Madison, WI, having started his hometown area of Duluth, MN.
Looking ahead, Oakes plans to return to the Upper Midwest to be closer to family. In the meantime, feel free to share your good thoughts with Tom at commandertom@gmail.com.
