INDExtra

Amy Jones back in the ‘zone'

by Heather Miller

UL football coach Mark Hudspeth was the inaugural guest Tuesday morning for The Jones Zone,' a new weekly sports talk radio show hosted by former KATC sportscaster and current public relations exec Amy Jones. Amy Jones, the Lafayette public relations exec who's managed PR for both high-profile political campaigns and lucrative NFL franchises, is returning to her roots in sportscasting with a new weekly sports talk show airing Tuesdays from 8 - 9 a.m. on 103.7 "The Game," Lafayette's first 24-hour FM sports radio station.

A Lafayette native and senior partner of Jones Co., Jones got her start in sportscasting at KATC, eventually moving on to major markets in California before returning home in 2001.

"We have rabid sports fans in Acadiana, and that always makes for interesting sports talk," Jones says. "This is a chance to really go beyond the x's and o's [of local sports]."

The new gig for Jones comes on the heels of a new launch from Delta Media Corp., which switched formats on the former SNAP 103.7 in June. Now known as 103.7 "The Game," it's the first 24-hour FM sports talk station in the region and joins Sports Radio ESPN 1420 AM of Lafayette in the genre.

Jones says it was by coincidence that she ran into Delta Media general manager Chuck Wood shortly after sharing remarkable weight loss journey with The Independent for a June 27 cover story, "The Skinny on Amy Jones."

"The week that the magazine article came out, I was in CC's and Chuck Wood was there. He and I ran into each other, and that sparked a couple of different lunch meetings," Jones recalls.

"The Jones Zone" adds to the new station's growing lineup of local programming, including a 6-8 a.m. daily show with 103.7 program director Chris Numan and KLFY-TV weekend sports anchor Jeff Horchak and The Endzone Extra Point with Chris Cox and Jon Arnold.

Her inaugural guest was UL football head coach Mark Hudspeth, followed by the president of the NBA Retired Players Association and Eric Maron from UL to discuss Ragin' Cajuns season tickets and the record-breaking pace at which they're selling.

"It was a great first show, lot of fun," Jones says. "I had done some work with KPEL sports before, but this is the first time it's ever been my own show."