Many years ago, when John Higgs began his media career in the newspaper business, he had no idea that he would end up owning of one of Coffee County’s top small businesses – as a radio station owner. Yet that is exactly the position he found himself in Thursday night as he accepted the Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year Award at the annual Chamber event.
A native of Axson, Higgs started out as the editor of the Coffee County Progress. From there, his career took him to WDMG, where he learned the radio business under the tutelage of the late Roy Jones. Higgs started out as a disc jockey then became station manager and eventually, station owner.
In 2006, he began Broadcast South with several partners: Brian and Cindy Vaughn, Kerry Van Moore, and Gene Waldron. Five stations made up the original Broadcast South lineup. Today, Higgs is the sole owner and there are nine stations in the Broadcast South family, four of which are located in Douglas. WDMG, the flagship station, started broadcasting in 1946 and is one of the oldest businesses in Coffee County. In addition to the nine radio stations, DouglasNow.com also falls under the Broadcast South umbrella.
“When I was a kid, I used to sit under an oak tree at night and listen to the Braves games on WDMG back in Axson. The games came alive to me. That’s called the theater of the mind and that’s what radio does. Radio serves its listeners and that’s what we enjoy doing,” he said.