Daily News Program On Point to Debut in Smiley's Former Evening Slot

(May 24, 2004, New York, NY) - WNYC, New York Public Radio® today announced that beginning on Monday, June 7, it will air The Tavis Smiley Show live in the morning, from 9-10am, on WNYC AM 820. It its new spot, The Tavis Smiley Show follows Morning Edition and precedes The Brian Lehrer Show, rounding out the AM morning line-up of news, talk, and commentary. It had formerly aired at 8-9pm on AM 820.

The former 8-9pm AM 820 spot will now feature On Point, a live evening news program produced by WBUR in Boston, not previously heard in the New York market.

"I'm thrilled to be moving to WNYC-AM's morning lineup," said Smiley. "It's the perfect place for our eye-opening take on America and the world at large."

"We have the pleasure and the challenge of serving New Yorkers, people who rely on us for multitude of perspectives and the most responsive news coverage possible. Tavis Smiley does both those things incredibly well and we're thrilled to offer listeners his program as part of our daily morning lineup," said Dean Cappello, Vice President of Programming. "The addition of On Point deepens our news coverage in the evening, insuring that as big stories and issues are developing, WNYC will be the place to turn for information and context."

The Tavis Smiley Show from NPR® is a daily newsmagazine offering intelligent talk, news and commentary from diverse points of view, and reports on everything from politics to pop culture, hosted by author and broadcaster Tavis Smiley. Time magazine selected Smiley as one of America's 50 most promising young leaders while Newsweek profiled him as one of the "20 people changing how Americans get their news" and dubbed him one of the nation's "captains of the airwaves." The program features a high-profile cast of regular guests, including scholars Cornel West and Charles Ogletree, religion professor Michael Eric Dyson, technology guru Omar Wasow, law professor Kimberly Crenshaw and University of California regent Ward Connerly. On Fridays, the show takes a lighter tone, as guests such as comedians Paul Mooney and Cheryl Underwood offer a humorous take on current events. The Tavis Smiley Show originates in Los Angeles and is produced and distributed nationally by NPR.

On Point is a hybrid talk program and newsmagazine, produced and broadcast weeknights by WBUR in Boston, that covers the day's important news developments and conducts conversations with newsmakers and thinkers from all around the world. Interwoven are features containing interviews with personalities, politicians, musicians, writers, and journalists. On Point deliberately seeks out distinct and provocative voices that may be new to public radio or that may not have been heard in quite the same context before.

WNYC, New York Public Radio, is New York's premier public radio station, comprising WNYC 93.9 FM and WNYC AM 820. As America's most listened-to public radio stations, reaching more than one million listeners every week, WNYC FM and AM extend New York City's cultural riches to the entire country and air the best national offerings from affiliate networks National Public Radio and Public Radio International. WNYC 93.9 FM broadcasts a wide range of daily news, talk, cultural and classical music programming, while WNYC AM 820 maintains a stronger focus on breaking news and international news reporting.