BSM Podcast
PASR12: Matt Jones
“There’s no reason not to integrate your life into what you’re talking about.” – Matt Jones
Matt Jones is the creator of KentuckySportsRadio.com, the nation’s largest independent college sports blog, and has parlayed it into a very successful radio show.
I was Jones’ first co-host on his radio show, which originates out of Louisville (just miles from my hometown of New Albany, Ind.), and you will hear a couple of stories of how that radio show started to make some waves and then, long after I left, grew into syndication on around 30 stations in and around the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Jones is arguably the public’s foremost authority and conduit to University of Kentucky basketball with an average of over 150,000 unique visitors to his blog each day.
Why did I think he’d be a good option for the podcast? Jones’ avenue for success is one few take as they grow in their careers: remaining mostly “local,” while creating a massive following in his niche. It’s an avenue that many other local hosts could take as well. It can be done. Jones explains in the podcast.
Check out more of the show notes below to get a feel for what you will hear in this edition of The PASR.
I hope you enjoy and, as always, leave a comment to get out anything that this podcast had you thinking along the way.
INSIDE THIS EPISODE…
- How Matt got his start in radio and what made it so addictive for him. [4:02]
- Matt took a different avenue than many others who try to get into sports radio. [6:11]
- Matt talks about when he knew he really had something that people wanted. [9:37]
- Matt and Zach talk about how the show they did together first got ratings and surprised the whole building. [11:18]
- Matt talks about one of the stories that had nothing to do with sports that got the ball rolling on the kind of style Matt had on the air. [11:50]
- Matt talks about what sports radio does the worst. [13:57]
- Matt explains his show. [18:01]
- Matt gives the ingredients to having a mega-popular show on a local level. [19:52]
- Matt is currently trying to break through the “local” host stigma and work on a more regional and national scale. Matt opens up about it. [22:50]
- Matt talks about how his show has evolved over time. [23:50]
- Matt talks about his biggest shortcomings in sports radio. [25:00]
- Matt gives his biggest pet peeves about other sports radio hosts. [26:20]
- Matt still calls in to other sports radio shows randomly! [27:05]
- Matt talks about who he thinks is great in sports radio and what makes them great. [28:43]
LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE…
FROM THE GUEST
- Matt’s site: KentuckySportsRadio.com
- KentuckySportsRadio App on iTunes
- Matt on Twitter: @KySportsRadio
FROM ZACH
- Audible: I know you love audio. So I teamed up with Audible and if you haven’t already, you can grab an awesome audiobook from their enormous library of over 180,000 titles for FREE. Go to aboutsportsradio.com/audible. **
BONUS AUDIO
- Here’s some bonus audio that we left off the podcast just for you junkies. Here’s more with Matt Jones
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Jason Barrett is the owner and operator of Barrett Sports Media. Prior to launching BSM he served as a sports radio programmer, launching brands such as 95.7 The Game in San Francisco and 101 ESPN in St. Louis. He has also produced national shows for ESPN Radio including GameNight and the Dan Patrick Show. You can find him on Twitter @SportsRadioPD or reach him by email at [email protected].
Brady Farkas is a sports radio professional with 5+ years of experience as a Program Director, On-Air Personality, Assistant Program Director and Producer in Burlington, VT and Albany, NY. He’s well versed in content creation, developing ideas to generate ratings and revenue, working in a team environment, and improving and growing digital content thru the use of social media, audio/video, and station websites. His primary goal is to host a daily sports talk program for a company/station that is dedicated to serving sports fans. You can find him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady and reach him by email at [email protected].
Stephen Strom can be heard hosting ‘The Sports Talkers Podcast’ for Barrett Sports Media. In addition to hosting here, Stephen works as a broadcasting assistant for the Miami Heat and color analyst for Nova Southeastern. Additional career experiences include working for SiriusXM, performing analyst duties for Princeton basketball, and hosting shows for TalkNorth.com. You can find him on Twitter @SStrom_.
Brady Farkas is a sports radio professional with 5+ years of experience as a Program Director, On-Air Personality, Assistant Program Director and Producer in Burlington, VT and Albany, NY. He’s well versed in content creation, developing ideas to generate ratings and revenue, working in a team environment, and improving and growing digital content thru the use of social media, audio/video, and station websites. His primary goal is to host a daily sports talk program for a company/station that is dedicated to serving sports fans. You can find him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady and reach him by email at [email protected].
