Media of the Year - 2008

Les Kinderkuecht
Smoky Hills Public Television

2008 marked the 25th year Smoky Hills Public Television has broadcast the 321A Kansas State Wrestling Championships from Hays.  In the early years the Championship finals were tape-delayed.  For the last five years Smoky Hills Public TV has aired the Quarter and Semi-Finals live on Friday and the Championship Finals on Saturday.  The Finals are also re-broadcast on Sunday afternoon.  This totals 11.5 hours of broadcast time devoted to State Wrestling.  Past programs have received the Kansas Association of Broadcasters award for best Non-Metro Sports Production.

Smoky Hills Public Television has always felt that high school activities are important and deserved media coverage for the participants, coaches, schools and their communities.  We have aired the 8-Man State Football Championships for the last six years as well as 1A State Basketball for the last three years.  In the fall Smoky Hills Public TV broadcasts The Scoreboard Show on Friday night which covers cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, volleyball and of course football.  Last year a total of 184 different teams or schools were videotaped for highlights.

Smoky Hill Public TV serves 70 counties in Kansas and one county in Nebraska.  It is available on 120 cable systems, DirectTV, and the Disk Network, which includes coverage in Hutchinson and Wichita areas.  More information is available by calling 1-800-337-4788 or 785-483-6990 or at www.shptv.org.