Rob Miller: The Ross On Radio Interview

After struggling to find a lane, Audacy’s WNEW New York has become a market force in recent years as “New 102.7,” emphasizing “upbeat variety” and playing a heavily library-based version of Hot AC (although the format overall has largely followed its lead in recent years). In February, it was at a 4.3 share 6-plus, ahead of iHeart rival WKTU’s 3.7 share.

WKTU’s current rhythmic-based Hot AC coalesced more than 15 years ago under PD Rob Miller. Five years ago, Miller became iHeart’s senior VP of programming for South Florida (as well as Executive VP of Hot AC national programming), including the launch of bilingual AC WMIA (Magic 93.9), one of AC’s biggest recent success stories.

A year ago, Miller left the Miami cluster but retained some of his other iHR duties. Three weeks ago, he was announced as WNEW Brand Manager, succeeding longtime Audacy SVP Jim Ryan, who is leaving to focus on his consultancy, and who helped recruit his replacement.

Miller is walking into a successful station–New 102.7, he notes, was recently cited by Inside Radio as the top-cuming station in Hot AC with more than 2.2 million listeners. And a career spent entirely with iHR stations means that Audacy is now “my second employer in life.” Here’s the Ross on Radio interview with Miller, conducted shortly before he began his new duties on April 7.

ROR: What were you doing during the interim and how did the WNEW discussion start?

MILLER: I only did projects for iHeart during that time. Late last year was when Jim Ryan reached out about wanting to focus on his consultancy full-time and asked if I’d be interested in taking his job.

ROR: Which is a different way to come to a radio station, and so is inheriting the frequency at a time of strength.

MILLER: Agreed. Jim is a legendary programmer, and he’s worked hard on rebuilding NEW 102.7 to the ratings leader it is today.

ROR: What’s your feeling about what and where New 102.7 is in the market now? It’s almost equidistant from three very different stations.

MILLER: It’s an adult pop station, tailored to New York City. Having previously programmed in this market for 12 years, I can tell you that the music played on New 102.7 has an incredible variety of era and texture — all the hit songs from the past 30 years. And it’s upbeat, with a lot fewer commercials than our competitors.

ROR: You’ve worked in three distinctive markets now, between Long Island, NYC, and South Florida. But are markets still distinctive in the era of streaming and nationalized radio?

MILLER: New York and Miami are two markets, with their larger proportion of ethnic listeners, that have always offered a unique blend of songs you might not hear in many cities. I have always been a big believer in localization being what separates good radio stations from great radio stations. Stations that win embody the market with music selection and dynamic talent.

ROR: That being the case, what sounds different about NYC radio? How do you hear that now in the makeup of New 102.7?

MILLER: NYC never sleeps … people are working around the clock keeping things going, and NEW 102.7 is their companion. All of our personalities have grown up here and have a ton of pride for this city. You can hear new music from Ed Sheeran and Lady Gaga, both homeowners here, and some of the huge pop/rhythmic and dance songs from the last few decades that Z100 and KTU played as currents.

ROR: Staying with unique markets, let’s talk about the launch of Magic, since it’s one of the few big success stories of recent years, particularly involving something new.

MILLER: Miami was the perfect market to launch this format for the first time in the United States. It had been very successful in Latin America, and we saw it as an opportunity to innovate at iHeart. Magic 93.9 being Spanish in its presentation was the huge difference maker [in a market that] was 56% Hispanic and the vast majority of the population is bilingual. Word of mouth caused Magic 93.9 to connect so quickly with Miami’s Hispanic community.

We had live and local talent answering the calls. All I can say is the response was powerful and emotional. Listeners were so happy a station that played all their favorite English songs from the ’80s and ’90s had personalities that spoke to them in their primary language. 

ROR: Before Magic, WMIA had become one of the first ’90s-based pop throwback formats as Totally 93.9. While that format didn’t last, a lot of the records stayed. What was that experience like, and where do the ’90s fit into Hot AC now? And which ’90s?

MILLER: WMIA struggled in the ratings for many years, and Miami is a crowded market with no real unoccupied formats. The appetite for ’90s music had been growing in music testing results for years, and we saw Totally 93.9 as a way to own our own lane. The pandemic created a huge desire for nostalgia. People were stuck in their homes, listening to their music collections, and we felt it was the perfect time to launch this unique format. [Now] a lot of successful Hot ACs are playing 2-3 ’90s/early 2000s songs an hour.

ROR: What about the balance now? Does Hot AC have the currents it needs, and is that getting better or worse? Also, are we at a point where “Oops, I Did It Again” is getting saturated by so many stations now playing that kind of song?

MILLER: Hot AC is not a fast-moving format with current music. But the great news is that we hold onto hit songs a lot longer. And that’s what listeners do. They don’t stop liking a song when a label moves to a new single from that artist. We don’t have to play a bunch of new songs; we can cherry-pick the BEST ones.

There’s a lot of stations playing the same gold songs now. But we need to continue to always mine for the best ones, because as time marches on and new listeners age into the target demo, there’s songs from their “school years” that bring back great memories for them that they want to hear again.

By the way, I would love to have more quality music from our core artists. Since the pandemic, the number of true hit songs has really slowed. Taylor Swift is in a class all her own in terms of being one of the few artists to create a movement beyond the tracks on her albums that galvanizes her fan base.

ROR: As you become active again, there are a lot of people now wondering if they will ever be able to come back to radio, or if they even want to. What advice do you have for the people who are still looking now?

MILLER: So many of my friends in radio and the label industry have had to make tough decisions this past year about what to do next when their company went through reductions in force. Many talented pros who loved what they did every day were crushed when it came to an end. Some folks don’t see value in staying in it and have decided to try something new that they’ve always wanted to do or that would provide more financial and mental stability.

I can tell you this: No company defines you. Those of us that have done this a long time with success have cultivated a lot of relationships, and you are your own brand, with a lot of value. Know your self-worth. Don’t underestimate yourself or your value. There will always be someone looking for an incredible talent to add to their arsenal. 

For me, I’m excited to join the Audacy team and to lead New 102.7 in this next chapter. We are so close to becoming No. 1!

Here’s New 102.7 just before 1 p.m. on April 7:

• Cascada, “Everytime We Touch”
• Walk the Moon, “Shut Up and Dance”
• Taylor Swift, “Cruel Summer”
• Justin Bieber, “Sorry”
• Sabrina Carpenter, “Espresso”
• Sean Paul, “Get Busy”
• Chainsmokers & Coldplay, “Something Just Like This”
• Rema & Selena Gomez, “Calm Down”
• Britney Spears, “Toxic”
• ROSÉ & Bruno Mars, “APT”
• Ed Sheeran, “Shivers”
• Destiny’s Child, “Say My Name”
• Teddy Swims, “Lose Control”
• Lady Gaga, “Poker Face”
• Dua Lipa, “Houdini”
• Katy Perry, “Hot N Cold”
• Alicia Keys, “Girl on Fire”
• Benson Boone, “Beautiful Things”