WTCI Launches New Seasons and Episodes for Three Local Series

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – January 29, 2010 – WTCI-TV (PBS) is launching new seasons and episodes for three of its locally-produced series. Southern Accents with Karen Elliott and The A List with Alison Lebovitz will launch new seasons on Thursday, February 4 at 8 and 8:30 p.m., respectively. First Things First with Julie Baumgardner will launch new episodes for its fifth season on Saturday, February 6 at 6:30 a.m.

"WTCI is committed to offering unique local programming because, as a PBS station, our connection within the community is what makes us different and vital to the members who support us," said Paul Grove, WTCI President and CEO. "We are proud to offer local programs that feature exciting destinations in the Southeast, engaging interviews with local and national personalities, and meaningful discussions about the dynamics of family life."

Now entering its 18th season, Southern Accents with Karen Elliott is WTCI's longest running locally produced series and has received four Mid-South Regional Emmy® nominations. Highlighting wonderful places to visit and things to do throughout the Southeast, the program achieved national exposure in February 2009 when it became the first WTCI program to air nationwide on other PBS networks. Now viewers across most of the Southeast and in portions of eleven other states —including New Jersey, California, and Montana— can join host Karen Elliott on a trip through some of the South’s most distinctive and historic locations. The season premiere on February 4th will feature the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute in Alabama; Carl Sandburg Home in Flat Rock, NC; Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams in Madisonville, TN; and the Blue Willow Inn Restaurant in Social Circle, GA. Other featured destinations this season include: Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta; Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg; Lookout Mountain Flight Park; and Jellies: Living Art, a unique partnership between the Tennessee Aquarium and the Hunter Museum of American Art. Southern Accents with Karen Elliott airs Thursday nights at 8 p.m. with encores on Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m.

WTCI's newest local series, The A List with Alison Lebovitz, is an engaging one-on-one weekly interview series that features local and national personalities. The second season debuts February 4th with a revealing interview with Chattanooga native Jordan Thomas, a young man recently recognized nationally for his philanthropic endeavors. Other featured guests this season include: Maestro Bob Bernhardt; documentary filmmakers Howard and Michelle Hall; Fletcher Bright of The Dismembered Tennesseans; green activist, Majora Carter; financial guru Dave Ramsey; Bruce Pearl, the University of Tennessee’s Men’s Basketball Coach; and sports legend Coach Pat Head Summit. The A List with Alison Lebovitz airs Thursday nights at 8:30 p.m. with an encore presentation on Sundays at 10 a.m.

The fifth season of First Things First with Julie Baumgardner continues on WTCI with new episodes for the season debuting February 6th.  From child discipline to talking to your spouse about financial issues, host Julie Baumgardner engages families and experts in honest, informative discussions about the dynamics of family life. Topics to be explored in the new episodes include: intimacy in marriage; blended families/step-families; and cohabitation/living together. WTCI produces the series in partnership with First Things First, a non-profit organization dedicated to strengthening families in Hamilton County.  First Things First with Julie Baumgardner airs Saturday mornings at 6:30 a.m. with encores on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and Fridays at 10:30 p.m.

In addition to airing locally on WTCI, these three local series are also available statewide through the Tennessee Channel, a new four-hour block of original Tennessee-centered programming. Those in WTCI's viewing area can see the Tennessee Channel on Saturdays from 6:00-10:00 p.m. and Sundays from 2:00-6:00 p.m. on WTCI Create, available to viewers on Comcast Digital Cable channel 201 and over-the-air on channel 45.2. This channel includes a rotation of local program content from all of the state's PBS stations. Episodes for all three series can also be viewed online at wtciTV.org.

Schedule Recap

Southern Accents with Karen Elliott: Thursday nights at 8 p.m.; encores on Saturdays at 5:30 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m.

The A List with Alison Lebovitz: Thursday nights at 8:30 p.m.; encore on Sundays at 10 a.m.

First Things First with Julie Baumgardner: Saturday mornings at 6:30 a.m. with encores on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and Fridays at 10:30 p.m.

About Karen Elliott

Originally from South Carolina, Elliott graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism. She arrived in Chattanooga after she accepted her first job as an anchor/reporter with a local commercial station and joined WTCI in April 1996 as host and producer of Southern Accents. An avid community volunteer, Elliott has served as president of the Chattanooga Bar Association Auxiliary, Thrasher Elementary PTA and The Chattanooga Girls Cotillion Club. She has also served on several community boards, including the Junior League of Chattanooga and Habitat for Humanity.

About Alison Lebovitz

Alison Lebovitz is President of One Clip at a Time, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to perpetuating the Paper Clips project, started in Whitwell, Tennessee, through a free teaching unit designed to inspire and empower 5th grade students to make positive changes in their own classrooms and communities. She is also a columnist for Chattanooga Parent Magazine and hosts WTCI's weekly television series, The A List. For more information, visit www.oneclipatatime.org.

About First Things First and Julie Baumgardner

First Things First (FTF) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening families in Hamilton County, Tennessee through education, collaboration and mobilization. FTF is a community resource that collaborates with and is supported by a broad cross-section of community organizations, groups and individuals. Julie Baumgardner has been with FTF since its inception in 1997. In addition to overseeing the FTF operations, she conducts trainings and speaks to various communities across the country. She writes a weekly column featured in the Chattanooga Times Free Press each Sunday and hosts the weekly First Things First television series on WTCI. For more information, visit firstthings.org.