Ep. 60 Steve Jones

EPISODE SUMMARY: Steve Jones is the multi-award-winning President and CEO of Skyview Media. He shares his lifelong passion for news and his journey to become a Giant of Broadcasting.

Jones will be among those honored this fall as Giants of Broadcasting by the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation at the 2024 Giants of Broadcasting & Electronic Arts luncheon and awards ceremony on November 12th at Gotham Hall in New York City.

On this episode of Chachi Loves Everybody, Chachi talks to Steve Jones about:

1. Growing up in Flushing, Queens, and getting involved in journalism and true crime at a young age while listening to police scanners
2. Calling nightclubs as an intern at WPIX and doing mornings at WLIR after several station flips
3. Joining ABC radio, the challenges of working at a national news network, and the acquisition of ABC by Disney
4. The transition from ABC News to Skyview Networks
5. Navigating the changing news industry
6. The importance of supporting independent content creators
7. The Impact of journalism in today's media landscape
8. The value of mentors and the life-changing work of the Broadcasters Foundation of America

ABOUT THIS EPISODE'S GUEST: As President and Chief Executive Officer of Skyview Networks, Steve Jones is responsible with leading Skyview’s growth as a sales and technology company serving the broadcast radio and digital audio industries. Since joining Skyview Networks in April 2019.  Jones has led Skyview’s expansion from 5,000 radio station relationships to more than 12,500.  These new business relationships range across news, weather, sports and music programming heard by millions of listeners who are prized by America’s top advertisers.

Previously, at The Walt Disney Company, Jones served as Vice President and General Manager for ABC Radio leading strategic planning, business development, programming and operations for ABC-branded audio content—covering news, entertainment, lifestyle and sports. During this period, ABC News Radio received dozens of awards for excellence in journalism and was the most listened to commercial radio service in America. With Jones in this role, Disney/ABC entered into a partnership with Skyview Networks in 2014 to create a stand-alone audio business for ABC News.

Jones first joined ABC News as a writer in 1986 and was an early digital leader as Vice President of Programming and Operations for ABCNEWS.com, where he oversaw all content and production. During this time, Jones launched the first regularly scheduled webcast by a network, oversaw the launch of interactive web programming and co-produced ABC’s online millennium coverage along with other special event programming. Under Jones’ leadership, the ABCNEWS.com team won multiple awards including an Edward R. Murrow Award for “Best Network News” website and a Peabody Award for ABCNEWS.com’s coverage of the 2001 terror attacks. Before his many roles inside ABC, Jones also worked as a radio newscaster, disc jockey, and television reporter.

Throughout his career, Jones has been honored with multiple awards and recognized for his accomplishments. As a writer and producer for ABC News, his work won two Writers Guild of America (WGA) Awards and an Overseas Press Club Award. Additionally, he has been included on Radio Ink’s annual “40 Most Powerful” broadcast executives list (2017, 2018, 2023), named “News Executive of the Year” twice by Radio & Records (2005, 2007), received the Ward L. Quaal Leadership Award from the Broadcasters Foundation of America (2017) and the First Amendment Service Award from the Radio Television News Directors Foundation (2017).

Jones is a 2010 Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Fellow in the Sulzberger Executive Leadership Program and often speaks about media strategy for the audio business. He is on the Board of Directors for the Broadc