John Miller — The Man Behind The Scenes

The WPKY Staff is serving as Grand Marshal for the Black Patch Parade this year and one important part of the team is John Miller.
Miller is the man behind the scenes that helps make what you hear every day possible. He serves as the technology, computer and equipment coordinator at the local station. This position is a natural fit as he has always been fascinated with electronics.
Growing up in Maumee, Ohio Miller’s dad had a shop in the backyard where he worked on various electronics. He would regularly join his Dad and enjoyed taking things apart and putting them back together even in some cases when they didn’t need it, he was just curious about how they worked and fit together. Miller said these were his toys instead of the regular things other kids played with.
The Millers went to a large Ham Radio Festival where an expensive electronic board caught his eye and John bought it even though he didn’t have a computer to place it in. His dad said he had one for him but when they got home his Dad showed him a pile of used parts and told him that was his computer and to get busy and put it together. This was the first of many projects for him to accomplish.
Miller worked for an equipment rental company and then went to another company in sales. While working at these places his knowledge of computers was recognized and quickly became part of his job responsibilities.
Miller acknowledges during this time he was guilty of making some bad decisions that lead to him having a motorcycle accident. These decisions caused him major issues and resulted in him losing everything and the decision to relocate. His parents were from around this area and bought a home in Fredonia and John decided to relocate there and has been there since that time. He is proud to say that for 13 plus years now he has been sober and life is good.
When moving to Fredonia he didn’t know many people but had his Amateur Radio License and that allowed him to meet local people. Those contacts lead him to WPKY.

click to download audioMiller was offered a part-time job working at WPKY but when Beth Mann bought the station he was given a full-time position which he holds today. His daily responsibilities include scheduling and producing commercials, recording many commercials in the studio, overseeing local technology, providing live videos for local sports, checking and updating daily commercial and programming logs, and figuring out and correcting any issues associated with them. He arrives around 9:00 am and works until all the work is completed. Miller works mainly in the WPKY station but does regularly make the trip to Cadiz at WKDZ to help out when needed.
Miller shared there are many parts to fit together to make the programs work.