TV One To Offer Live Coverage Of Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Dedication

– Live coverage to be anchored by award-winning industry veterans Roland Martin, Joe Madison and Art Fennell  - -

Aug. 19, 2011, Silver Spring, MD — TV One will offer live coverage of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Dedication Sunday, Aug. 28 on the National Mall in Washington, DC from 9 AM – 1 PM. The coverage will be anchored by TV One’s Washington Watch with Roland Martin host and managing editor Roland Martin, along with Sirius XM Radio host Joe Madison, and Art Fennell, executive producer and host of Art Fennell Reports on The Comcast Network. Martin will also be participating in the day’s official ceremonies. The live broadcast reunites Madison and Fennell, who anchored TV One’s award-winning coverage of the 2008 Presidential election and inauguration.

TV One’s coverage will include the best of the pre-dedication concert, expected to include performances by: Mary Mary; Ebenezer Baptist Church Choir; Richard Smallwood Choir with Vanessa Williams; Morehouse College Glee Club; Mary Chapin Carpenter; Mary Gurley (who sang at Dr. King’s funeral service); Bernice Johnson Reagon; Ann Nesby; and hip hop violinist Miri Ben-Ali& Po Emcees; plus excerpts from Dr. King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech delivered the day before he was assassinated.. TV One’s lineup will also include coverage from the week’s events, including the Civil Rights Pioneers Luncheon, The Message in the Music concert of civil rights era music, The Women Who Dare to Dream Luncheon honoring women civil rights leaders, and The Celebration Dream Gala. In addition, TV One will feature interviews with civil rights leaders and other celebrities taped during the week’s events, plus live interviews with visiting dignitaries, celebrities and special guests on site. TV One’s live coverage will conclude with the formal dedication ceremony, with expected participation by President Obama.

“The dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial marks an historic day in Washington and in our country, and we want to share with our viewers the excitement and splendor of this long-awaited event,” said TV One President and CEO Wonya Lucas.  “We are pleased to offer full coverage of this powerful event celebrating the Memorial, which will serve as a continual reminder of Dr. King’s message of hope and possibility, and his vision for our country’s potential for freedom, opportunity, and justice for all.”

The Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial is the first on the National Mall to honor a man of hope, a man of peace, and a man of color.  Located on the Tidal Basin, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial creates a visual line of leadership between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. The dedication is being held on the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech.

Launched in January 2004, TV One (www.tvoneonline.com )serves nearly 54 million households, offering a broad range of real-life and entertainment-focused original programming, classic series, movies, and music designed to entertain, inform and inspire a diverse audience of adult African American viewers. In December 2008, the company launched TV One High Def, which now serves more than 10.3 million households. TV One is a joint venture owned by Radio One [NASDAQ: ROIA and ROIAK; www.radio-one.com  ],the largest radio company that primarily targets African American and urban listeners; and Comcast Corporation [NASDAQ: CMCSA,CMCSK); www.comcast.com  ], one of the nation’s leading providers of entertainment, information and communications products and services.

Contact:         LynnMcReynolds, 410-268-0275/ lynn@mcreynoldselek.com
Karen Baratz, 240-497-1811/ Karen@mcreynoldselek.com