Steve Jones Named Pres./COO Of Skyview Networks

Jones

Longtime ABC RADIO VP/GM STEVE JONES is joining SKYVIEW NETWORKS as Pres./COO, reporting to Co-Founder/CEO KEN THIELE.  JONES, who will start at SKYVIEW on APRIL 9th and will split time between SKYVIEW's NEW YORK office and its corporate office in SCOTTSDALE, AZ, will help SKYVIEW develop its content creation and syndication business as well as its sports play-by-play, network sales, audio distribution, and technology.

THIELE said, “STEVE is a highly respected leader in the audio industry and his addition to SKYVIEW will accelerate what already has been a period of explosive growth.  Since SKYVIEW NETWORKS and ABC NEWS partnered in 2014, STEVE and I have worked side-by-side in developing new business that has resulted in great success for both companies.”

THIELE added, “During more than 30 years at DISNEY/ABC, STEVE received dozens of awards recognizing his role as a business leader, innovator and content creator. He now brings his experience and expertise to SKYVIEW to help prepare us for our next phase of aggressive growth.”

“I am thrilled to be joining SKYVIEW to help grow what already is an outstanding company and to build upon SKYVIEW’s success with ABC, CBS and its sports play-by-play business," said JONES. "SKYVIEW has built a world-class sales organization led by JEANNE-MARIE CONDO, and together, we will create and bring new power, reach and scale to the marketplace.”

“We are excited to welcome STEVE to the company and the SKYVIEW leadership team,” said CONDO, EVP/GM of SKYVIEW. “He has an extraordinary vision for how we can organically expand our footprint and bring new innovation to our partners and our clients.”

Jones and Thiele Speak to All Access

ALL ACCESS spoke to JONES about his new post and THEILE about the future of SKYVIEW in an exclusive interview.

When asked about his optimism for radio and confidence in the medium, JONES said, "I've always been very optimistic about the future. Many of us who have been in this industry for decades see it's still an amazing and exciting time. Audio has never been more popular -- and the growth in consumption and audience engagement across all platforms shows incredible demand at the consumer level. We have the expertise and understanding of what consumers want and that translates to agency demand. We believe we have a clear advantage with our experience and know how.

JONES went on to explain the vision of significant growth initiatives in SKYVIEW's audio, sales and technology portfolios. "As a content creator so far, SKYVIEW has been limited to Sports & Talk.  ABC and CBS will focus on News and we will create content for personality radio including broadcast and digital clients and determine what we can creatively offer agencies looking to support our product with creative brands.

"We will be operating from a very strong creative, business and financial foundation.  With the uncertainty in the business in regards to other networks, we've been approached by a number of significant opportunities from existing brands and as well as new creative concepts."

THEILE remarked about SKYVIEW's growth that's lead to bringing STEVE into the company: "Over the last five years we've been able to on board CBS and ABC.  Folks like LRN and ALPHA are asking us to help with their sales and distribution solutions. So there are many opportunities to be a partner with us in network audio sales. With STEVE's experience in the industry, this sets the table that SKYVIEW is fully committed to the growth of audio - and STEVE will be a huge part of that growth.

"For the past 30 years we have watched radio successfully address so many challenges, and SKYVIEW has been there not just with audio content but technical support as well as sales expertise.  We are like that Swiss Army Knife. This was a natural progression for us to become a content creator with the properties already out there and bundling that with what we can we do for network groups looking for sales assistance, as well."

In expanding SKYVIEW’s content and syndication business, what do you see in radio that gives you confidence that you’ll see strong growth? JONES told ALL ACCESS, "There is no other company I'd leave ABC for and to build upon what we have started in our five years working together is fantastic. SKYVIEW has had strong growth already. We have proof of performance in play by play in sports, traffic and with ABC -- and now with CBS and LRN. So, these facts helped us make an informed decision to move forward with an abundance of opportunity."

THIELE responded to the question of expanding into station ownership as other networks have done.  KEN remarked, "There was speculation as this announcement was coming to fruition about what we were up to and some had speculated we were going to move in that direction. I know my lane and having never owned stations before I'd call on a lot of help to assess the situation before making such a move.  I'm pretty thrilled taking our present steps with STEVE."

And asked about the company's plans for digital expansion, JONES noted that "SKYVIEW already is the audio sales provider for ABC RADIO podcasts including THE DROPOUT, START HERE, 10% HAPPIER, and other hit programs, so, yes, we expect to grow this sales representation and expand our digital audio business."

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