Joel Oxley is closing out a 35-year run with WTOP News (WTOP-AM) by stepping away from the station he has led for nearly three decades. Oxley announced his impending retirement as General Manager of Hubbard Broadcasting in Washington, DC, to station staff.
During Oxley’s tenure, WTOP was consistently the top-billing radio station in America, accumulating multiple Marconi and Murrow awards. He made clear in his message that the timing was a choice made from a position of strength rather than necessity.
“The best time to make changes is when you are doing well,” he said. “And because I’m flipping 65, I’ve decided it’s time for me to hang up my cleats and retire and move on to the next thing, next chapter of my life.”
Oxley said the decision was entirely his own, one he had been weighing for some time. He credited the station’s people as the force that kept him in place so long.
“I look back, and I say, what has kept me here so long? I’m looking at it — it’s the people,” he said. “Of course, I love news. I’ve loved news since I was in college. That’s been the common thread of my career.”
Oxley added, “I feel just incredibly blessed to have worked with all of you and all of the other great people over the years.”
No successor has been announced.
