OHIO and WOUB gave Director of Communications Kyle Lewis the confidence to know he could do it all

Kyle Lewis wasn’t your typical Ohio University student. When he came to Ohio University in the fall of 2003, Lewis had already experienced a great deal in his young life.

“I graduated from Miamisburg High School in June of 2001 and joined the Air National Guard,” said Lewis. “During my fifth week of basic training, 9/11 happened. Obviously, my active-duty plan changed in a big way. I ended up being deployed to many locations including places like the United Arab Emirates.”

Lewis was a journalism broadcast news major in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. He wanted to be an on-air sports broadcaster and learned about the opportunities to gain hands-on experience at WOUB from a fellow Miamisburg High School graduate who was working at the station already. Lewis was excited to get involved and take advantage of every opportunity.

“Because I was older and had served in the military, I wasn’t upset about getting up early on the weekends to go in for an early morning radio shift at WOUB. I wasn’t afraid to interview someone. I wasn’t homesick or stressing about a girlfriend. I just wasn’t dealing with typical new college kid stuff.”

During his time at WOUB, Lewis learned that being on-air was no longer what he wanted to do.

“I learned quickly that being in front of the camera was not my specialty. I hated how I looked and how my voice sounded, and I couldn’t get over it.  So, I started shadowing the production folks - the behind-the-scenes guys who were carrying cameras and found my place there.”

Lewis ended up developing a love for videography and editing while working on WOUB TV’s nightly half-hour news program NewsWatch and the half-hour high school football program Gridiron Glory. He even stayed in Athens one summer to work for WOUB.

“Staying over the summer was the absolute best thing I have done for my career to this day,” said Lewis. “I never had that much fun and learned so much as I did that summer.”

In the spring of his senior year, Lewis did an internship with NFL Films. And he came back to WOUB that fall armed with new knowledge to help him produce Gridiron Glory.  After Lewis graduated in 2007, he got a job working as producer for Inside Baylor Sports at Baylor University. Then, with the help of some WOUB connections, he was offered a position as associate director for Gamecock Productions at the University of South Carolina. After a few years, he moved back to Ohio and took a position as the content manager for the Lancaster City School District. Most recently in 2019, Lewis became the director of communications for the Delaware-Morrow Mental Health and Recovery Services Board.

“I was able to get all those positions because I had the confidence of knowing that whatever I was going to do, I had experience from WOUB. I haven’t started a new job with nerves ever.”

Lewis said his time at Ohio University and WOUB helped him figure out exactly what kind of media career he wanted to have.

“WOUB let us make our own mistakes. We got to do the things we wanted to do and try new things,” said Lewis. “We got to be creative and find out what worked and what didn’t, and I made the best friendships of my life. It was just fantastic.”