Hanna Martin cld 320 final project

1. KSR:
Kentucky Sports Radio
Hanna Martin
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2. About
● Founder: Matt Jones 2005
● “University of Kentucky Basketball, Football, and
Recruiting news brought to you in the most
ridiculous manner possible.”
● Features daily blog posts, articles, updates.
● Reporting 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
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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.”
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4. Growth of KSR
● 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 was for the podcast to one day
become a radio show.
● KSR is now one of the primary sources
of sports new and entertainment for
any UK athletics fan
● KSR came in 12th in Barrett Sports Media’s
ranking of the top 20 Mid-Market Midday
Shows
● KSR is now one of the primary sources of
sports new and entertainment for any UK
athletics fan
● Developed additional sports reporting media
outlets with the fans in mind.
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5. 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 5

6. KSR media today
● 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/
● Kentucky Sports Radio website: Articles and videos written and posted by KSR staff
https://blog.kentuckysportsradio.com/
● Hey Kentucky! TV show: Matt Jones w/ various co-hosts every night at 7:30 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.
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7. Maggie on Hey Kentucky!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEmX2Q6mopI
● Hey Kentucky! Matt Jones every
night at 7:30 on NBC LEX18 (WLEX
Communications, a Cordillera
Communications station).
● Maggie’s internship also requires her
to conduct interviews with athletes
and report on UK sporting events.
● Summer internship with ESPN.
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8. Television
● Features 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: inspiring people and
businesses.
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9. Social media uses
● Covers all UK sports.
● Live broadcasting of
games/drafts.
● Tweeting links to
articles/reports.
● Interact with and involve 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.
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10. Social Media
● Twitter:
○ Matt Jones @kysportsradio
○ 183k followers
○ https://twitter.com/KySportsRadio?ref_src=twsrc%5Ego
ogle%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
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● 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.
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12. New Kentucky Project Group
● August 2016 - April 2019.
● Founded by former Auditor Adam Edelen
and Matt Jones.
● “Somewhat of an experiment” - Edelen
● Had 1,000 members.
● 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.
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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=IwAR2vKi9GIxpo
ZS4c871cfCkv9eX7fzZe5L0NhCdj461HZE7dNVwRABo-BKs 13

14. How KSR builds the local community
● KSR is an 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 unique 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
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