Jon Miller (television executive) explained

Birth Name:Jonathan Miller
Birth Date:14 November 1956
Birth Place:Washington DC, United States
Occupation:American television executive NBC
Spouse:Jan Miller
Children:2

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 many other events. During his tenure, he has worked with every major sports league in the US.

Early life

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.[2]

Career

Early days

Miller started worked as an account executive for WRC-TV in Washington DC in October 1978.[3] While at WRC, he created the George Michael Sports Final, the precursor to the legendary George Michael Sports Machine. After moving to New York to sell national advertising for the NBC Stations Group, he soon joined the NBC Sports & Olympics Sales department. In 1988, he was promoted to Vice President of Programming, Planning & Development for NBC Sports.[4]

Programming

Miller worked for many years 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.[5] 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.[6] Events he has created include:

In his time at NBC Sports, Miller has been instrumental in acquiring and programming some of the world's top sports properties including the NHL, Notre Dame Football, the French Open, horse racing's Triple Crown, 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.[13] In 2020, Miller led the team that brought the US Open back to NBC after five years on Fox.[14] [15] [16] Starting in 2021, Miller played in integral role in two important NBC Sports rights deals that combined for $5.15B in just under a year. First, in November 2021, he led the team that renewed the Premier League rights for another six years through the year 2028 for more than $2.7B. [17] [18] 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. [19] [20]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Vanderberg. Marcus. SPORTSNEWSER NBC Sports Announces New Executive Leadership Team. Ad Week. 2 February 2011 . 2 February 2011.
  2. Web site: Steinberg. Dan. Jon Miller went from Whitman High to the top of NBC Sports. DC Sports Bog. Washington Post.
  3. Web site: Executive Bio - Jon Miller. NBCUMV.
  4. Web site: Jon Miller Bio . NBC Sports Pressbox . NBC Sports . 9 September 2020.
  5. Web site: Kiesewetter. John. Stay Tuned. Miamian Magazine: Summer 2007. Miami University.
  6. Web site: Executive Bio . nds.nationaldogshow.com . Kennel Club of Philadelphia . 26 September 2022.
  7. Web site: Donnellon. Sam. Winter Classic: 'Truly a hockey holiday'. Philly.com. June 2024 . Daily News.
  8. Baysinger. Tim. NBC Sports' Veteran Programmer is a Classic. Broadcasting & Cable. 14 July 2014. 144. 25. 26. 8 March 2017.
  9. Web site: Fitzpatrick . Frank . Flyers and Penguins' Stadium Series game continues NHL's outdoor success story . Philly.com . 21 February 2019 . 21 February 2019.
  10. Web site: Adler. Max. What We Can Learn When Celebrities & Athletes Go Head-To-Head At Lake Tahoe. golfdigest.com. Conde Nast.
  11. Web site: Benston. Liz. NBC Spot in the Cards for Poker Tourney. CasinoCityTimes.com. CasinoCity. 23 January 2017.
  12. Web site: Belzer. Jason. Growth of Collegiate Rugby Championship Evidence of Sport's Rising Popularity. Forbes. 23 January 2017.
  13. Klapisch. Bob. Miller Time. (201) Magazine. August 2011. 8. 8. 54. 8 March 2017.
  14. Web site: Ourand . John . SBJ Media: Takeaways From U.S. Open's Return To NBC . Sports Business Journal . Street & Smith's . 2 September 2020.
  15. Web site: 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 . 16 September 2020.
  16. Web site: Miceli . Alex . Meet the Man Who Brought the U.S. Open Back to NBC . si.com . 16 June 2021 . Sports Illustrated . 16 June 2021.
  17. Web site: NBC keeps Premier League U.S. broadcast rights in 6 year, $2.7 billion deal, source says . CNBC . 18 November 2021 . 27 September 2022.
  18. News: Slater . Matt . Cardenas . Felipe . Premier League agrees new six-year US TV deal worth more than £2 billion . The New York Times . 27 September 2022.
  19. Web site: Ourand . John . ESPN out of Big Ten media rights talks; CBS, NBC set to join Fox . Sports Business Journal . 9 August 2022 . Leaders Croup . 27 September 2022.
  20. Web site: Staff . SVG . Big Ten Conference Officially Inks New Seven-Year Rights Deals With CBS, Fox, and NBC . Sports Video Group . 18 August 2022 . 27 September 2022.