CEO Steven A. Williams Leads WBGO’s 45th Anniversary of Jazz

Fern Gillespie
“At WBGO, you have a fiercely loyal group of listeners. It’s been that way for a long time,” Williams, a former Bed Stuy resident, told Our Time Press. “WBGO is fully independent. It’s a public radio station and doesn’t really have any corporate obligations.

Every year, listeners give about $2 million to support this radio station. That’s about half of our total revenue. If you think that over time, tens of thousands of people have given money to keep this radio station on the air. They have a vested interest in its survival.” In addition, the station is supported by government grants, corporate sponsors, and philanthropic foundations.

Music is part of the family legacy of Steven A. Williams, President and CEO of WBGO “Jazz 88.” Growing up in Cincinnati as a teen in the 1970s, he was surrounded by his father, grandfather, and cousins, who all worked as singers or managers in R&B. By age 15, Williams entered a radio production program. As fast as you can say the 1970s radio sitcom hit “Cincinnati WKRP,” he became hooked on a radio career that remains almost 50 years later.

Williams’ radio career has spanned over 20 jobs, including WBGO Director of Programming, WAMU Managing Producer, CBS radio producer, Michael, Eric Dyson Senior Producer, Sirius XM Jazz Manager, and New York’s CD-101 Program Director. He’s worked in Detroit, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco, New York City and Seattle. For the last four years, he’s been heading WBGO in Newark, where the station is a cultural fixture and celebrating its 45th Anniversary as Jazz 88.

WBGO has over 300,000 listeners in the New York metropolitan area and between 50,000 and 100,000 listeners globally online. As a content provider to NPR, WBGO reaches millions of listeners nationwide. The station hosts award-winning concerts, education, and news programming. It produces popular programs such as Felix Hernández’s Rhythm Revue, Jazz Night in America, produced in partnership with NPR, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Pat Prescott’s Favorite Things.

Even though WBGO has a racially diverse constituency, Williams pointed out that the core of its audience is Black listeners. “It’s the segment of our audience that drives the station’s longevity and popularity.

“And, of course, we play music that is derived from the Black American experience,” he explained. “Another remarkable story in broadcasting is WBLS. It is a legacy station, just like WBGO. It’s been formatted for Black people for its entire existence, and that’s part of its success. It’s astonishing in a city of 10 million people – three million of those people are people of color — Black folks — there are only three Black radio stations amongst 60 or so signals that serve Black folks. It’s WBGO, the new station called the Block and WBLS.”

While New Orleans is the first city for jazz, New York is the second largest city for jazz aficionados. Still, there’s historically been an argument about the state and survival of jazz music. “Jazz has been amongst us and played listen to for over 100 years. Nothing stays around for 100 years that’s not valid and doesn’t mean anything to the world,” said Williams, a nationally recognized expert in jazz programming.

“There’s more commerciality that exists with jazz than any other form of music in this world. There are very strong, foundational artistic ideals that jazz represents. They are social and even political ideals that jazz represents. For anyone that says that jazz is dead or jazz is not valid, I have to disagree. Jazz is very much alive.”

At WBGO, there is a link to the next generation of jazz artists and listeners, from Millennials to Gen Z. This is especially true for young musicians who are in high school and college. “The secret of longevity is the tap into what I call the youthful vigor of this music and institutions,” said Williams. “WBGO celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month and invites student musicians to come in and then they play the music on the WBGO airwaves.”

Another young jazz marketing tool is the WBGO podcasts. “Podcasts have been a marvelous vehicle for reaching younger audiences. They don’t necessarily listen to radio the way that previous generations listened to radio,” he said.

Through podcasts and radio streaming, WBGO is an international site for jazz. “WBGO has more listeners around the world than any other jazz radio station on the planet,” he said. “There’s every single continent across the globe. I recently got a letter from a listener in Antarctica. I have a map that monitors real-time, listening and streaming across the globe.”
The WBGO 45th Anniversary celebrations have already happened in Newark and Brooklyn, and upcoming events are scheduled throughout the year. “WBGO has been one of the most rewarding career and personal experiences in my 60-plus years on this planet,” said Williams. “WBGO is something special. I feel honored.”