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Jon Miller (television executive)

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Jon Miller (born November 14, 1956) is an American television executive for NBC Sports, a division of NBCUniversal. He joined NBC in 1978, and was named President of Sports Programming in 2011.[1] He is responsible for the creation of the NHL Winter Classic and The National Dog Show among other events. During his tenure, he has worked with every major sports league in the US.[2]

Jon Miller
Born
Jonathan Miller

(1956-11-14) November 14, 1956 (age 67)
Washington DC, United States
OccupationAmerican television executive NBC
SpouseJan Miller
Children2

Early life

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Miller was born in Washington DC, but grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. He attended Walt Whitman High School and subsequently earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.[3]

Career

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Early days

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Miller started worked as an account executive for WRC-TV in Washington DC in October 1978.[4] While at WRC, he created the George Michael Sports Final, the precursor to the George Michael Sports Machine, which was the first nationally distributed sports highlight show in television. After moving to New York to sell national advertising for the NBC Stations Group, he joined the NBC Sports & Olympics Sales department. In 1988, he was promoted to Vice President of Programming, Planning & Development for NBC Sports.[5]

Programming

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Miller worked under the leadership of Dick Ebersol. Shortly after joining the programming team, NBC lost the rights to Major League Baseball for the first time in 40 years.[6] To help fill the void, Miller created the NBC Sports Ventures unit which aimed to create events that NBC use to generate non-traditional streams of income.[7] Events he has created include:

In his time at NBC Sports, Miller has been involved in acquiring and programming sports properties including the NHL, Notre Dame Football, the French Open, horse racing's Triple Crown, the Breeders' Cup, NFL on NBC, MLB, Wimbledon, Premier League, Formula One, NASCAR, The Indianapolis 500, Tour de France, NBA, US Open Golf, PGA Tour, Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Rugby World Cup and America's Cup.[16] In 2020, Miller led the team that brought the US Open back to NBC after five years on Fox.[17][18][19] In November 2021, Miller led the team that renewed the Premier League rights for another six years through the year 2028 for more than $2.7B. [20][21] Following that, in August 2022, Miller agreed to a rights deal with the Big Ten Conference that runs from 2023 to 2030 and will launch a new football brand for the league. Big Ten Saturday Night is planned to air every Saturday night on NBC starting with the 2023 Football Season. This deal worth $2.45B ended the Big Ten/ABC relationship that dated back to 1966. [22][23]

In September 2024, following NBC Sports' acquisition of an 11 year deal for the NBA and WNBA, Miller participated as a panelist at the IMG-RedBird Summit. His longevity, expertise and success in the television industry was key amidst the panels discussion of the future of linear television within its ever evolving industry. [24]

Personal Life

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In November 2022, Miller was inducted into the SportPro Hall of Fame, an award that recognizes the body of work of an individual within the sports broadcast and OTT industry[25]

References

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  1. ^ Vanderberg, Marcus (2 February 2011). "SPORTSNEWSER NBC Sports Announces New Executive Leadership Team". Ad Week. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  2. ^ "Jon Miller". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  3. ^ Steinberg, Dan. "Jon Miller went from Whitman High to the top of NBC Sports". DC Sports Bog. Washington Post.
  4. ^ "Executive Bio - Jon Miller". NBCUMV.
  5. ^ "Jon Miller Bio". NBC Sports Pressbox. NBC Sports. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
  6. ^ Kiesewetter, John. "Stay Tuned". Miamian Magazine: Summer 2007. Miami University.
  7. ^ "Executive Bio". nds.nationaldogshow.com. Kennel Club of Philadelphia. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  8. ^ Donnellon, Sam (June 2024). "Winter Classic: 'Truly a hockey holiday'". Philly.com. Daily News.
  9. ^ Baysinger, Tim (14 July 2014). "NBC Sports' Veteran Programmer is a Classic". Broadcasting & Cable. 144 (25): 26. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  10. ^ Fitzpatrick, Frank (21 February 2019). "Flyers and Penguins' Stadium Series game continues NHL's outdoor success story". Philly.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  11. ^ Adler, Max. "What We Can Learn When Celebrities & Athletes Go Head-To-Head At Lake Tahoe". golfdigest.com. Conde Nast.
  12. ^ Colgan, James (2023-09-27). "How a media rights gaffe, the Gulf War and NBC changed the Ryder Cup forever". Golf. Retrieved 2024-09-20.
  13. ^ Benston, Liz. "NBC Spot in the Cards for Poker Tourney". CasinoCityTimes.com. CasinoCity. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  14. ^ Ruland, Sam (2018-11-11). "How the National Dog Show Won Thanksgiving". Philadelphia Magazine. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  15. ^ Belzer, Jason. "Growth of Collegiate Rugby Championship Evidence of Sport's Rising Popularity". Forbes. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  16. ^ Klapisch, Bob (August 2011). "Miller Time". (201) Magazine. 8 (8): 54. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  17. ^ Ourand, John. "SBJ Media: Takeaways From U.S. Open's Return To NBC". Sports Business Journal. Street & Smith's. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  18. ^ Shedloski, Dave. "U.S. Open 2020: Behind the scenes of one of the most complicated TV deals in golf history". Golf World. Discovery Gold Inc. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  19. ^ Miceli, Alex (16 June 2021). "Meet the Man Who Brought the U.S. Open Back to NBC". si.com. Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  20. ^ "NBC keeps Premier League U.S. broadcast rights in 6 year, $2.7 billion deal, source says". CNBC. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  21. ^ Slater, Matt; Cardenas, Felipe. "Premier League agrees new six-year US TV deal worth more than £2 billion". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  22. ^ Ourand, John (9 August 2022). "ESPN out of Big Ten media rights talks; CBS, NBC set to join Fox". Sports Business Journal. Leaders Croup. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  23. ^ Staff, SVG (18 August 2022). "Big Ten Conference Officially Inks New Seven-Year Rights Deals With CBS, Fox, and NBC". Sports Video Group. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  24. ^ Whittock, Jesse (2024-09-13). "Paramount & NBC Bosses On Venu Sports: "We Weren't Hurt By Not Being Invited" — IMG-RedBird Summit". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
  25. ^ "Hall of Fame 2022". SportsPro OTT Summit Awards. Retrieved 2024-10-04.
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