Buena Vista Television of Burbank, Calif., has announced the launch of a new daytime talk show hosted by bestselling author Iyanla Vanzant. The show, to be called Iyanla, will be produced by Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie and will premiere on August 13 in national syndication. Best known for her inspirational titles from Simon & Schuster, such as One Day My Soul Just Opened Up and Yesterday I Cried, Vanzant's books have sold more than eight million copies and spent dozens of weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.
S&S is planning on using the premiere as a tie-in to the release of a new Vanzant book, Living Through the Meantime, which will be released on August 14. Trish Todd, Vanzant's editor at S&S, told PW, "We see the television show as the next step in a natural evolution of Iyanla's message. We look forward to reaching not just a larger audience but a different audience." The TV show will be mentioned on store displays for the new book and on book jacket copy. Another new title from Vanzant, Every Day I Pray, will be released in October.
Iyanla will be a one-hour, single-topic program and will involve the audience in a range of issues from personal finance to love and romance. While Buena Vista's Barbara Warren told PW that the show will not feature authors and books per se, experts in a number of fields, many of whom are also authors, will be invited.
