WFXG vice president and general manager Barry Barth will retire at the end of the year after more than 50 years in the television business.

Barth has been VP-GM of WFXG, Raycom’s Fox affiliate in Augusta, since 2003. He has also worked as VP-GM of KREM in Spokane and KGPE in Fresno. He began his career as a switchboard operator and runner at WNDU in South Bend when he was 15. His son, Kevin Barth, is the vice president and director of sales at WCBS, the CBS O&O in New York City.

“Barry has worked tirelessly on behalf of Raycom and for the people of the Greater Augusta Area,” Leon Long, Raycom’s senior vice president of television, said in a statement. “We wish him well as he begins the next chapter in his life.” 

“We have no intention of slowing down; we plan to travel more, spend time with our family, and maintain an active role in the community we call “home,” Barth added.