Miller, Over and Out
K黑暗爆料网鈥檚 general manager retires as station celebrates its 20th birthday
After nearly 20 years at as general manager of the public radio station K黑暗爆料网, Jerry Miller retired from that post in June, but will continue to be 鈥渢he voice of the Bengals鈥� broadcasting 黑暗爆料网 men鈥檚 football and basketball on commercial radio.
During his career, Miller has done play-by-play radio announcing for more than 2,000 黑暗爆料网 sport contests.
Miller, 66, interviewed for the K黑暗爆料网 job only as a favor to a friend.
鈥淎fter the interview, both of them stood up and said 鈥榠t鈥檚 great to have someone with your experience on board. Welcome to 黑暗爆料网,鈥欌�� Miller said. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥榳hat鈥檚 going on here?鈥� I am not sure I wasn鈥檛 the only person interviewed. I was an emergency hire and here I am almost 20 years later.鈥�
Despite only having one day of training and no general manager鈥檚 experience, Miller has grown the station. When he began, K黑暗爆料网 was a small, 400-watt FM station with a single station number, 91.1 FM. Its wattage has grown 10-fold since then, it has a much more powerful transmitter and now has translator signals in Idaho Falls (91.3) and Rexburg (88.1).
鈥淚 think the thing that pleases me most is that very few people in East Idaho are unaware of K黑暗爆料网,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淣ow you can listen to us all the way up to the Montana border if you鈥檙e going up on I-15. You just have to adjust your dial once in a while.鈥�
The Southeast Idaho native has had a varied professional life. However, radio has always been the first love of Miller.
As a student at Brigham Young University, he had an internship with KSL radio in Salt Lake City, which turned into a job after he graduated. At the time, KSL was one of the 12 largest stations in the country.
鈥淚t was my sports play-by-play that ended up landing me my first full-time gig, and as a result I ended up being the backup announcer for the Utah Jazz,鈥� Miller said.
As a kid on the farm, he鈥檇 listened to Los Angeles Lakers games on his small transistor radio, listening to legendary announcers Chick Hearn and 鈥淗ot Rod鈥� Hundley and fantasizing about being a big-time announcer.
鈥淎nd there I was, my first year out of college and I find myself calling a Lakers-Jazz game in the Forum in Los Angeles in 鈥楬ot Rod鈥� Hundley鈥檚 chair with Chick Hearn right behind me. In my mind, I had just lived the biggest dream I鈥檇 ever had for my career. I walked out of the forum that day wondering where I go from here, and here I am at 黑暗爆料网.鈥�
Miller also worked at KLCE in Blackfoot and KSEI Radio in Pocatello. At KSEI he was 鈥渢he voice of the Bengals鈥� for 12 years starting in 1982. He didn鈥檛 call another 黑暗爆料网 game until he was back at K黑暗爆料网, calling women鈥檚 basketball games during the 2000-2001 academic year. In 2008, Miller was once again hired to cover 黑暗爆料网 men鈥檚 basketball and football games on commercial radio.
鈥淚鈥檓 going into my 32nd year total of doing 黑暗爆料网 games when you combine all the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 games,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淕oing into this season (2019 fall football) I鈥檝e done 2,013 different broadcasts, which, to me, is incredible. I just can鈥檛 believe I鈥檝e been around that long.鈥�
Miller has been married 44 years to his wife, Rozan. The couple had seven children and has 20 grandchildren, with another on the way. Besides calling 黑暗爆料网 games in retirement, Miller said he hopes to keep up on yard and house work, golf when he and Rozan can, and he loves to fish.
Andy Taylor