The Tavis Smiley Show was broadcast on Public Radio International. It was a one-hour weekly program featuring interviews with news makers, thought leaders and artists and seeks to bring diverse perspectives to the airwaves. It was produced by Smiley Radio Properties, Inc., in partnership with PRI at Smiley's studio in Los Angeles, California. The program ran two hours per week until October 2010 when the second hour became the sister program Smiley & West, co-hosted by longtime Smiley collaborator Dr. Cornel West. The show ended in 2017.
Tavis Smiley is a late night television program on PBS. The show began broadcasting in 2004. It follows a similar style of show, featuring interviews on topical subjects and entertainment. The show has won both the 2005 and 2006 NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Television, News, Talk, or Information Series or Special. As the first west-coast talk show for PBS, it is recorded at the studios of Los Angeles former PBS station KCET. The show will continue to be presented by and produced at KCET after January 1, 2011, although the station will not be able to air the program itself as it left PBS as of that date. After 2011, however, the show looks likely to move elsewhere, as Smiley has said he has a tenuous relationship with KCET officials over a lack of fundraising for the series, and will only keep filming at the studios for the present time as there was no time after KCET's PBS dismembership announcement to find a new taping facility. PBS suspended the show in 2017.
The first version of The Tavis Smiley Show was on National Public Radio Tavis Smiley wanted to tape his show a day in advance, and NPR did not agree; 2) against federal funding policies, Tavis Smiley wished to own the right to rebroadcast the show; and 3) Tavis Smiley appealed to have the budget for promoting the program significantly increased, and NPR did not have the budget to do so. The show was a news and opinion program focusing upon issues of race, diversity, and ethnicity and often featured guest speakers. It was an hour-long show. The show was helped through a collaboration with various public radio stations. It was replaced on some radio stations by News & Notes which follows much the same format and topics. Many other radio stations replaced it with the short-lived NPR News with Tony Cox.
