cld 320 hanna martin

1. KSR:
Kentucky Sports Radio
Hanna Martin
1

2. About
● Founder: Matt Jones 2005
● Motto: “University of Kentucky Basketball,
Football, and Recruiting news brought to you in
the most ridiculous manner possible.”
● Features: daily blog posts, articles, updates.
● Reports on all UK sports, recruiting, game
coverage, sports culture, news, and
entertainment.
● And national/professional sports.
● Media strategy: Presenting material fans
can relate to, have fun & engage with.
Content created with the fans in mind.
● Main staff & reporters:
○ Matt Jones, Ryan Lemond, Drew
Franklin, & producer Shannon Grigsby.
○ www.kentuckysportsradio.com
2

3. Audience
● “For fans; By Fans”
● UK athletics enthusiasts:
○ Kentucky Students
○ Locals
○ National audience
● Tim Ansted, program director for NewsRadio
630 WLAP in Lexington: “Kentucky Sports
Radio is consistently the No. 1 program in
Lexington during its time slot and
usually ranks No. 1 across key
demographics, including for persons ages 12
and older, persons ages 25–54 and among
men ages 25–54.”
3

4. Growth of KSR
● Began when Jones wanted to talk about
his passion for UK athletics but local
website Kentucky Sports Report would
not let him.
● Started a website for hosting a hobby
podcast created in 2005.
● Goal: podcast to one day become a
radio show.
● KSR is now one of the primary sources
of sports new and entertainment for UK
athletics fans.
● KSR came in 12th in Barrett Sports Media’s
ranking of the top 20 Mid-Market Midday
Shows.
● Developed additional sports reporting media
outlets with the fans in mind.
4

5. KSR media today
1. KSR iHeartRadio Podcasts: Matt Jones co-hosts with Ryan Lemond from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00
every weekday, broadcasted live on 38 different radio stations across the state.
https://www.iheart.com/live/newsradio-630-wlap-965/
2. Kentucky Sports Radio website: Articles and videos written and posted by KSR staff
https://blog.kentuckysportsradio.com/
3. Hey Kentucky! TV show: 2016. Matt Jones w/ various co-hosts & guests every weeknight at
7:30-8:00 on WLEX (WLEX Communications, a Cordillera Communications station).
● KSR’s website sees more traffic than 2 of Kentucky’s biggest news outlets: Lexington Herald
Leader and Louisville Courier Journal.
5

6. Maggie Davis
● 2 years as KSR’s Hey Kentucky! student production intern.
● UK Junior
● Major: Broadcast Media
● Chi Omega sorority
● Internship responsibilities:
○ assist with idea development and video production.
○ on-camera experience with stories airing in Louisville, Lexington and Bowling Green, KY.
○ write copy to be read on-air.
○ event planning and marketing, including three televised political debates.
○ social media and website management.
○ run teleprompter and audio boards.
6

7. Maggie on Hey Kentucky!
watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEmX2Q6mopI
● Hey Kentucky! Matt Jones discusses
hot topics in Kentucky.
● Maggie’s internship also requires her
to conduct Hey KY! interviews with
athletes and report on UK sporting
events.
● Summer internship with ESPN.
7

8. Television 2016
● Features Matt Jones as host, co-hosts, and special guests, including UK athletes and
inspirational people involved in doing good for our local community.
● Covering entertainment, college sports, local and national news and events.
● State fair, education & school, politics and debates, charity, other community
organizations.
● Positive community engagement and exposure for local businesses and leaders.
8

9. Social media uses
● Covers all UK sports.
● Live broadcasting of
games/drafts.
● Tweeting links to
articles/reports.
● Interact with and involve the
fans.
Maggie on media:
● Most effective: Twitter
○ Most fan interaction
○ Fast and effective
○ Live updates
○ Reaches a large audience
○ Takes less time than an article or show
taping.
● Most enjoyable, entertaining, and reliable for fans:
Live coverage and interviews out in the field.
9

10. Social Media
● Twitter
○ Matt Jones @kysportsradio
○ 183k followers
○ https://twitter.com/KySportsRadio?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
○ Maggie Davis - @MaggieDavisKSR - 2,383
followers
○ https://twitter.com/maggiedavisksr?lang=en
○ Hey Kentucky! - @hey_kentucky - 16k
followers
○ https://twitter.com/hey_kentucky?lang=en
10
● Instagram
○ Matt Jones @kysportsradio
○ 41k followers
● Pinterest
○ https://www.pinterest.com/kysportsradio/
● Facebook
○ @kysportsradio
○ 139k followers
○ https://www.facebook.com/kysportsradio/

11. Conflicts with local media
● Issues with permission regarding use of photos sourced from other media outlets.
● “KSR was accused of misappropriating photos from other news organizations for its website
without permission or attribution — most notably from the Courier-Journal, Lexington Herald-
Leader and the Kentucky Kernel — and received several cease-and-desist letters in regards to
copyright infringement.”
● “Creig Ewing, a sports editor with the Louisville Courier-Journal from 1998 to 2014, says he often
ran into issues with Jones and the KSR crew.”
● Unconventional style of sports reporting.
11

12. New Kentucky Project Group
● August 2016 - April 2019.
● Founded by former Auditor Adam Edelen and Matt Jones.
● Goal: new candidates, ideas, and more Democrats in KY
office.
● “Somewhat of an experiment” - Edelen
● Had 1,000 members.
● Raised roughly $175,000.
● Hosted some events with speakers.
● Edelen said it was intended to “fix a broken brand of politics
that was both idea-less and people-less,” but that ultimately
the project didn’t make enough money to sustain itself.
● April 2019 the group dissolved
unannounced.
● What worked: events like ideas
conferences.
● What did not work: building a bridge
between parties.
12

13. KSBar and Grille
● 1030 S Broadway, Lexington, KY 40504
● Casual sports bar and restaurant.
● Live podcast studio.
● KSR offices on 2nd floor.
● Family friendly place for local sports
fans.
● Jones: “Our hope is it becomes the
number one spot in Lexington to watch
all sports.”
http://ksbarandgrille.wpengine.com/?fbclid=IwAR2vKi9GIxpoZS4c871cfCkv9eX7fzZe5L0NhCdj461HZE7dNVwRABo-BKs
13

14. How KSR builds community
● KSR is a unique, entertaining and interactive media outlet where fans can connect with
their favorite UK sports teams and reporters.
● KSBar and Grille creates a place for any UK fan or local to eat, enjoy the company of
family and friends, and be directly engaged in their favorite sports. Created a real space
for KSR fans, where they can be part of the actual KSR production..
● Hey Kentucky! Is a friendly media outlet that integrates sports, news, and
entertainment in a way that highlights the positive people and places in the Lexington
community. Attracts a large audience both local and national.
● KSR’s media platforms build a stronger sense of pride in the KY community by covering
versatile topics in a relatable way that interest UK athletics fans and those who just want
to be informed about their community.
14

15. sources
● https://smileypete.com/business/kentucky-sports-radio/
● http://kentuckysportsradio.com/category/matts-blog/
● https://heykentucky.com/
● https://tcpca.org/blog/2017/10/15/why-im-writing-for-ksr
15