TMCnet News

The Tavis Smiley Show Begins This Week on Public Radio International; Premier Programs Jumpstart Show's Return to Public Radio
[April 28, 2005]

The Tavis Smiley Show Begins This Week on Public Radio International; Premier Programs Jumpstart Show's Return to Public Radio


MINNEAPOLIS --(Business Wire)-- April 28, 2005 -- Public Radio International (PRI) announces the much-anticipated return of The Tavis Smiley Show to public radio, a two-hour program scheduled to begin Friday, April 29, 2005. The premiere broadcasts feature such luminaries as poet and author Maya Angelou, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, and Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Jill Scott. In addition to an always impressive guest lineup, the program also features regular contributors Cornel West, Connie Rice, J.C. Watts, Dr. Ian Smith, Michael Eric Dyson, and other leading voices. The Tavis Smiley Show is heard in a growing number of cities across the nation, including New York, Houston, Seattle, Louisville, Indianapolis, and Washington, D.C.



"It's good to be back," says Smiley. "Public radio is the perfect place to have a rigorous exchange on a difficult subject or simply to explore ideas that make you laugh -- and we'll do all of that on my show. Because of the range of guests we invite to the mic, we're in the enviable position of being able to re-introduce the nation to itself. We probe the ideas, the artistry, the poetry of people who create it, and we celebrate those things that make us the same or unique as humans and as Americans. It's definitely good to be back."

Tavis Smiley is one of the nation's most prominent media personalities. He hosts Tavis Smiley on PBS and is a regular commentator on the Tom Joyner Morning Show. Texas Southern University honored him with the opening of The Tavis Smiley School of Communications and The Tavis Smiley Center for Professional Media Studies, making him the youngest African American ever to be so honored.


Recipient of numerous honorary doctorates, including one from his alma mater, Indiana University, he established the Tavis Smiley Foundation "to enlighten, encourage, and empower black youth." He has authored eight books -- including The Unfinished Agenda of Brown v. Board of Education, Keeping the Faith, and On Air: The Best of Tavis Smiley -- and has his own imprint (Smiley Books) with Hay House. He lives in Los Angeles.

The Tavis Smiley Show is produced by Smiley Radio Properties, Inc. and is supported in part by Wells Fargo and Kaiser Permanente.

About Public Radio International(R)

PRI is public radio's leading source for innovative programming and audio content. The Minneapolis-based network provides over 400 hours of programming each week, content that is broadcast and streamed online by its 728 public radio station affiliates nationwide, who reach 31 million listeners each week. PRI is the managing partner of the satellite radio company American Public Radio, LLC, established with Chicago Public Radio(R) and WGBH Radio Boston. PRI's cultural programming is available via XM Public Radio. Its news and information programming is available via Sirius Satellite Radio.

PRI is known for driving innovation in public radio through partnerships with stations, independent producers, and other organizations, and for working collaboratively to pool resources and share risk, cultivate new talent, and bring diverse voices and perspectives to the public airwaves. Its best known offerings include The Tavis Smiley Show, produced by The Smiley Group Inc.; Marketplace(R), produced by American Public Media(TM) in association with the University of Southern California; This American Life, produced by Chicago Public Radio(R); PRI's The World, a co-production of BBC World Service, PRI, and WGBH Radio Boston; Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?(R), produced by Wisconsin Public Radio; PRI's From the Top(R), produced by From the Top in association with WGBH Radio Boston and New England Conservatory of Music; and PRI's Studio 360 with Kurt Andersen, produced by PRI and WNYC, New York Public Radio(R); as well as 24-hour program services -- Classical 24(R), produced by American Public Media(TM); and BBC World Service, produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation. For more information on PRI and its programs, visit the PRI website at www.pri.org.

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]