In his nine years as host of Kentucky Afield, Chad Miles has covered a lot of ground. As he and his crew travel the state, they highlight the many opportunities for boating, fishing, hunting, kayaking and other outdoor recreation throughout Kentucky.

“We’ve got so many options that vary from the swamps of western Kentucky to the mountains of eastern Kentucky. We try to showcase it all so that people will get outside. It seems like that is something every generation’s missing a little more of, and we want to pull them closer to the outdoors.”

A Bullitt County native, Miles has been an outdoorsman – and KET fan – most of his life. “I was raised in a house with four channels, sometimes five, depending on the weather,” Miles laughs. “KET was one of those channels.

The experience and education that is provided by the programming on KET is real and achievable – that’s what I really love about KET programming.

Chad Miles

“We enjoyed the outdoor programming – Wild America with Marty Stouffer and Nature. I remember watching certain programs on KET that just got my interest, and they always tended to be the outdoor ones. Anyone who’s watched PBS has probably seen the Dick Proenneke special Alone in the Wilderness; that one is just amazing to watch.”

Combining his love of the outdoors as recreation with his love of the outdoors as a profession, Miles was thrilled to succeed long-time host Tim Farmer and Dave Shuffett before him. “The Department of Fish and Wildlife, which produces Kentucky Afield, is all about educating not only outdoor enthusiasts, but potential outdoor enthusiasts. KET is all about education across the board, too. Paired up, they make such a great team.”

Miles sees strong similarities between beloved KET-produced series Kentucky Life and Kentucky Afield. “The thing that I really like about KET and Kentucky Afield is we are out there in the wild, in the communities, doing different activities, highlighting different local things. We’re not staged, we’re not written. What I love about a lot of the KET programming is that you can watch, and it showcases local places and ideas in a way that you can go out and do yourself. With Kentucky Life, you can go visit the same exact places that they were last week, and you can go experience that same exact thing. We try to do the same thing with Kentucky Afield – we want to make sure everything we do is local and achievable and accessible.”

Miles also sees a refreshing trend on KET. “Unfortunately, a lot of the programming on the thousands of channels that we have right now wants to move in the direction of reality TV. But it’s all staged, it’s all written, it’s all over-produced. But when you watch Tim Farmer’s Country Kitchen or The Farmer & The Foodie, you can produce that exact same meal with your family. It’s the same thing with Kentucky Afield. If you see us floating down a stream and you think, ‘wow, that’s the most beautiful stream I’ve ever seen,’ you can load up in an hour and do the exact same thing that we’re doing on the show. The experience and education that is provided by the programming on KET is real and achievable – that’s what I really love about KET programming. It’s not like some of the TV shows you see right now, they create conflict and fight to make TV… you don’t see that kind of thing on KET.”

Pointing out that the educational missions of KET and Kentucky Afield also have a lot in common, Miles noted, “KET is the only channel that provides us the statewide reach to reach all the households in Kentucky. I know the goal of KET is to reach as many people in all 120 counties as possible, to provide that education and quality entertainment to everyone, too. Just like KET, we want to offer our program to as many folks as possible, and make sure we aren’t hitting any barriers that prevent us from doing so. KET has been instrumental as a partner, making sure we’re sharing what we can teach others to do, to build their confidence, for as many Kentuckians as possible. We really couldn’t do it without them.”