Bob O’Connor Service To Be Private

O’Connor, who recently passed away from cancer at the age of 61, was VP of Programming at KIFM San Diego for more than a decade, establishing KIFM as the first Smooth Jazz-formatted station. At WNUA in Chicago, during the 1990s, as VP Programming with John Gehron, he helped turn WNUA into a top 5 station. When Bob joined forces with Courtney Thompson and Rich McMillan in 1996 at OpTiMum Broadcast Consulting & Research, he helped create a new genre of C-Jazz radio around the USA, in England, Germany, Tokyo, and Australia. Here’s what some of O’Connor’s close friends shared with Radio Ink.

“Bob was an amazing person. Creative. Analytical. Precise. He was a phenomenal business partner. Just as birds know how to fly and fish know how to swim so innately and instinctively, Bob O’Connor knew how to program the right music for the right audience. He was truly the founder of the Smooth Jazz and Today’s Jazz format. Musical artists would call on him regularly to seek advice on creating future, new releases that would play to the audiences he knew so well. In fact, there’s a long string of musicians and vocal artists that would attest to his making a difference in their careers. From Northern and Southern California to New York, London to Tokyo, Bob made a significant contribution and difference wherever he worked.
Courtney R. Thompson
Founder & CEO OpTiMum
CEO Broadcast Direct Marketing

“Bob was a pioneer in the Smooth Jazz format and we were so fortunate to have him at WNUA, Chicago. Bob’s passion for the music kept many of us going forward as we figured out how to make the format work. We will miss Bob deeply.”
John Gehron
EVP Accuradio
Former GM/Market Manager WNUA CLEAR CHANNEL Chicago

“I was privileged to be his partner at OpTiMum Broadcast Consulting & Research. He was a brilliant radio programmer. Bobby could hear hits and musical trends a mile away.”
Rich McMillan
Senior VP Programming
iHeart Media
Virginia/North Carolina Region

“Bob O’Connor was all about the music. Music is considered by the wise to be Sacred Art, the universal language. It is said that Moses gave tone and rhythm a name, Musik. Bob has been a great friend to music, spreading joy to countless-people, enriching their lives forever, and setting infinite vibrations in motion. It is what Jewish people call a Great Mitzvah, a legacy any man would be lucky to have. Our world is better for Bob having walked through it, as my life is for knowing you. God Bless Him and I will never forget him.”
Ricky Schultz
Former President Warner Jazz & MCA Jazz labels

O’Connor also worked at KKSF San Francisco with Steve Feinstein and Dave Kendrick, at WQCD New York with Tribune, as well as JAZZ FM in London and Manchester, England. He is survived by his mother Joan, brother George, daughter Jenna, his significant other Rebecca Alfaro, and a litany of musical friends and artists spanning the globe.