The thoughts of a typically male teenager can be put into one of very few categories. Unlike other boys his age however, Scott Alexander was also thinking about the future. In fact, he was making it happen.

In 1973, sixteen-year-old Alexander was helping his parents with the construction of the family’s first radio station, WALX in Selma. Now, the owner of ten stations (and counting), Alexander is one of the most successful and respected of broadcasters, not only in Alabama, but also throughout the country. The Alabama Broadcasters Association is honored to present the ABA’s Broadcaster of the Year Award to Scott Communications CEO, Scott Alexander.

Tom did the news and Betty hosted a weekly classical music show on WALX, a 3,000 watt FM station with greater coverage than any other in the market. The Alexanders were household names in Selma by the time their son Scott built his very own station, WJAM in 1994. As their family grew, so did their station acquisitions.

The Alexanders were dedicated to each other and to their stations. Tom “pushed the button” to increase WALX from 3,000 to 50,000 watts shortly before his death in 1989, making it the first 50,000 watt station in Alabama. Betty was still hosting her program until just weeks before she passed away. It’s no wonder Alexander has carried on his parents’ heritage – as a broadcaster and as a man who values family.

Alexander not only helped manage the business aspects of the plan that created Alabama’s first 50,000-watt station, he also built the transmission facility. “Engineering is probably where Dad excels the most,” says Scott’s son, Paul. “Let’s just say that I bet we’re the only radio station that has never gotten an invoice from an engineering company!”

“When you work for my dad, it’s more than business,” says Paul, who also works in the business as president of Scott Communications/Alexander Broadcasting. “Dad tells every person we hire, ‘You are now part of the family because our name is in those call letters’. And that’s how he treats every person on our staff.”

“This is going to be a bold statement,” Paul continues. “I can’t think of anybody I respect more than my dad. When you think about what makes a great person as well as a great businessman, you think honesty, integrity, being humble and always telling it like it is. Dad has all of those qualities. And he’s a great teacher. People just gravitate to him.”

Alexander’s list of accomplishments is long … too long to enumerate here. But Paul says his father is especially proud of three achievements.

“In order of time, the first would be building WJAM all on his own, and then the second would be in 2001 when he and David Dubose, currently market president of Townsquare Media in Tuscaloosa, took advantage of new FCC rulings that allowed 97.3 in Birmingham to go from 6,000 to 50,000 watts. It was a big deal at that time,” says Paul.

Paul says his father’s third and probably most significant success took place in 2009 when Alexander moved 107.9 in Orville to Shorter…essentially moving from Selma to Montgomery. Paul explained, “There were a lot of moving parts … a lot of business dealings that had to take place to make that work. That one is his gem.”

Even after 45 years in broadcasting, Alexander continues to grow Scott Communications; two more stations were added to the company’s roster of properties earlier this summer and Paul says he doesn’t see his father slowing down anytime soon.

“He is not putting on the brakes – he’s still got the pedal to the metal,” Paul smiles proudly. “In fact, make sure getting this award doesn’t sound like he’s going to retire! If there’s even a hint of retirement … he just won’t accept it!”