Pastor T.D. Jakes is all set to become a mainstay on the small screen now that his faith-based talk show will be kicking off this August on four TEGNA stations.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Debmar-Mercury and TEGNA Media have partnered together for Jakes' talk show to undergo a trial run from Aug. 17 to Sept. 11 this year. His talk show will run for an hour and focus on "mainstream, headline-driven" content.
"I'm excited for this challenge," said Jakes. "I have the opportunity to do something new, fresh and exciting by breaking boundaries, talking about everything, enjoying life and having a lot of fun. This show provides a great platform to expand conversations, to be encouraging, positive, uplifting and help people work through tight places in their lives."
His program will air in Atlanta, Minneapolis, Cleveland and Dallas. It is being produced by distributor Debmar-Mercury, TEGNA Media, 44 Blue Productions, and Jakes' very own TDJ Enterprises. Gail Steinberg and Jack Mori, who both have an extensive background working on other successful talk shows, will serve as showrunners.
"T.D. Jakes has a fresh and distinctive voice and will make a great daytime talk show host," said TEGNA Media senior VP programming Bob Sullivan. "A charismatic leader, visionary, provocative thinker and entrepreneur with a strong, established and trusted point of view, he will be able to take on compelling topics in a thought-provoking, uplifting, hopeful and compassionate way, empowering his audience," Sullivan said.
Debmar-Mercury co-presidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein agreed, saying that they have no doubt Jakes will do well on his show because of his unique voice and brand awareness. "T.D. Jakes has volumes of both, with the strong potential to eventually break out and attract many new national viewers to network affiliates who are hungry for something different," they said.
If his show proves to be a success, Jakes' program will be aired on other TEGNA stations next year.
