When Steve Jones looks at Skyview Networks, he doesn’t see a transaction. He sees a career-defining commitment to an industry he’s loved since he was a teenager interning at a radio station. Jones recently completed his acquisition of Skyview Networks. And his reasoning cuts straight to the heart of what he believes audio can still deliver. For advertisers, for talent, and for the business partners who depend on the company every day.
Jones didn’t arrive at this moment by accident. He joined Skyview seven years ago after a long career at Disney ABC, and the seeds of this acquisition grew from conversations he had with the company’s shareholders over time.
“I joined Skyview seven years ago after a long career at Disney ABC, and I joined the company because of its culture, its values, its technology, and what I saw as real opportunities for growth,” Jones said. “That continued through my tenure there, and in discussions with the shareholders of the company, I saw an opportunity to further lean in and create this acquisition. So I did this not as a transaction intended to flip the company. This is about me believing in both Skyview and the industry. And really wanting to create the greatest opportunity that I can for my employees and also my business partners.”
A Business Built on Four Pillars
Skyview isn’t simply a sales house anymore, and Jones was quick to make that point. The company has evolved into a multi-revenue operation, and understanding what drives the business is essential to understanding why Jones wanted to own it.
“The primary revenue generator for the company is in network audio sales,” said Jones. “That’s about a billion-dollar revenue marketplace inside a much larger broadcast ecosystem. That has continued to be a place where Skyview has excelled, but it’s not without pressures.”
Jones laid out the four pillars that define Skyview’s business today. The first involves relationships with radio ownership groups that provide inventory Skyview monetizes in the network space. The second covers services and publishers, including The Weather Channel and the Associated Press. Which offer imaging, production, and other content in exchange for barter inventory Skyview then sells. The third pillar centers on syndicated talent.
“We also have many influencers, including The Dana Cortez Show, Bob and Sheri, Tony Lorino, Erik Zachary, and B-Dub, among others. All independent talents who are completely committed to engaging with their audiences and providing real value at the local level,” the Skyview Networks President, CEO, and Chairman shared. “Even though they’re syndicated shows, they’re the differentiators for these radio stations. For the listeners who engage with these shows and talents, it all feels and sounds like it’s a local friend on the radio. And we’re operating at the intersection to create the revenue for this talent that allows them to do what they do.”
Sports rounds out the fourth pillar. Skyview provides play-by-play technology, distribution, production, and ad insertion for major national leagues and teams — often without the listener ever knowing Skyview is behind it.
Technology, AI, and the Path Forward
Jones didn’t just acquire Skyview to preserve what it already does well. He also sees a technology story unfolding that could reshape the company’s future — and he’s already acting on it.
At the NAB Show, Skyview introduced Cirocast, a cloud-based, IP-delivered audio distribution product the company spent years developing. The product earned NAB’s Product of the Year recognition. It also solves a real and looming problem: in July 2027, the FCC has mandated that C-band satellite spectrum will be auctioned off. Which threatens to reduce the bandwidth that satellite distributors rely on to move content.
“Cirocast is IP-delivered and cloud-based, so the audio can be delivered through the cloud,” the longtime radio executive stated. “It can operate in a virtual environment or a hardware environment. It’s agnostic to the different types of technologies that are out there, and it provides reliability and durability. As a broadcast company, Skyview understands the importance of making sure the audio gets to the radio station with low latency. And that commercials reach the right listener, right station, at the right time.”
Beyond Cirocast, Jones sees artificial intelligence as something far more significant than a productivity tool. He views it as an organizational transformation.
“At Skyview, we view AI less as tooling and more as transformation,” shared the new Skyview Networks owner. “We’ve engaged in a very directed and thoughtful approach to integrate AI technology into the fabric of the company so that it is present across everything we do. It’s intended to create optimized performance and more efficiency. As we gain efficiencies, that allows Skyview to take that excess capacity and reallocate it into new opportunities and initiatives.”
Jones also pushed back on the narrative that radio’s audience measurement challenges represent a fundamental weakness. He pointed to data presented at the NAB Show — including Xperi DTS findings showing more than 100 vehicles engaging with broadcast radio in markets that national measurement had logged at zero AQH — as proof that the industry has consistently undercounted its own reach.
“There is audience that we are not measuring that engages with us every day, hears our advertisers’ messages. And we don’t get credit for that,” Jones said. “Skyview has 100% reach in the United States. There’s no geographic portion we can’t reach. We have over half of all adults accessible to us through the radio station content and barter that we provide.”
For Jones, the acquisition ultimately reflects something personal — a lifelong relationship with a medium he’s never stopped believing in.
“I have incredible passion for this business,” the Skyview Networks President, CEO, and Chairman shared. “I love it. It’s a seven-day-a-week habit for me. Anyone who is committed to succeeding, puts in the time and effort, builds the right team, and has the kind of people that I have at Skyview — people who are equally committed to success every day — is going to find there are great opportunities in front of us.”
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
