Quick Facts
Biography
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. 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 (Bethesda, Maryland) and subsequently earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Career
Early days
Miller started worked as an account executive for WRC-TV in Washington DC in October 1978. While at WRC, he created the George Michael Sports Final, the precurser 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.
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. 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. Events he has created include:
- NHL Winter Classic
- American Century Championship
- Father/Son Challenge
- National Heads-Up Poker Championship
- National Dog Show
- Collegiate Rugby Championship
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, Indy Car, Tour de France, NBA, US Open Golf, PGA Tour, Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Rugby World Cup and America's Cup.