*It’s never about how many times you fall, or how many try to keep you down, or even the reason why you feel more than it’s about your relentless rebound to prevail regardless of your past.
Talk host, Tavis Smiley is a perfect example of what it means to do this, as he buys Arthur Liu’s Multicultural Radio Broadcasting. According to RBR, Smiley was ordered to pay PBS $2.6 million for allegedly violating a morals clause in multiple sexual harassment cases last August.
He was also fired by BET earlier in his career which ignited him becoming a household name.
Yet, a deal is a deal, right?
RBR reports that the deal is valued at $7.15 million. A $357,500 escrow deposit has been made and is being held by Patrick Communications, the buyer’s representative. The transaction will see the newly formed Smiley Radio Properties pay $10,000 per month to lease KBLA’s equipment, with an annual increase of 3%. Get ready world, er, LA/Southern California ’cause KBLA Talk 1580 is on its way!
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While there are many who think he is unqualified for the job and/or he should be held to some type of restriction due to his outstanding cases, Smiley unapologetically owns this pulpit of his own. Here he can continue his previous work of highlighting under deserved voices of color.
Not only is he acquiring an entire broadcasting station, but a multidimensional one at that, that has room for the continued expansion on the agenda of diversity. The facility, with a total of 10 towers for day and nighttime powers respectively, is best known for being the home of Los Angeles’ pioneering hip-hop station, KDAY, in the 1980s. Its signal reaches the entire L.A. basin and much of coastal San Diego.
Starting this Saturday, June 19, to commemorate Juneteenth, it will convert from Spanish-language programming to presumably serve as a talk radio station catering to the Black community — relating to the prominent display of the historic Watts Towers in its logo. However, the word “progressive” suggests Smiley has bigger sights than just African Americans and the bill keeps rolling!
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