"We The People with Gloria Allred" Builds On "America's Court's" Success, Launches Fall 2011 on NBC Stations

Entertainment Studios, Inc., (ES) has cut a major deal with NBC Owned Television Stations for its 28th and newest HD television court program: "We The People with Gloria Allred." The NBC owned stations include: New York's WNBC, Los Angeles' KNBC, Chicago's WMAQ, Dallas's KXAS, San Francisco's KNTV, San Diego's KNSD, and Hartford's WVIT.

"With the increasing success of our show "America's Court with Judge Ross" we are extremely proud to have Gloria Allred join our family and further demonstrate Entertainment Studios' unwavering commitment to be the number one provider of quality television content," said Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Entertainment Studios.

"Quite often a Gloria Allred case is the lead story on the news across the nation. Gloria Allred is the perfect judge to be on a television court show which can serve as the ultimate news lead-in," said Allen. "In addition to being a lawyer, she is a great communicator with a heart. Viewers are drawn to her because they know she will be fearless, informative, and entertaining."

(Byron Allen on set with America's Court Judge Kevin Ross)

A former stand-up comedian who opened for acts including the legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., Byron Allen, 50, has transformed a business started by he and his mother, Carolyn Folks, into an entertainment powerhouse. Founded in 1993, Entertainment Studios produces, distributes, and sells advertising for all its programs, making it the largest independent producer and distributor of first-run syndicated programming for broadcast television stations.

With offices in New York, Chicago, and Raleigh, the Los Angeles based company is also owner of seven 24-hour HD television networks. The latest of which is LEGACY.TV, a network that will be exclusively devoted to celebrating African American excellence.

Entertainment Studios entrance into the competitive daytime syndication arena began in 2010 with "America's Court with Judge Ross," featuring former Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kevin Ross. Ross also serves as a producer on the daily strip, entering its second season in additional U.S. and global markets beginning Monday, September 19, 2011.

In several cities, "We The People" will debut alongside "America's Court" as a solid viewing block of court, joining such mainstays as Judge Judy, Judge Joe Brown and The People's Court.

Oprah Puts The OH-MY-GOD In Christmas With Her Favorite Things Episode: Stand Down Usher!

My Journey With Oprah - From Unimpressed Student To Inspired Colleague

Farewell and Hello

By Kevin Ross

When Oprah Winfrey hit the national stage on Sept 8, 1986, who could have imagined that a 32-year-old news journalist with a strange, biblical-inspired name would amass such a level of fame, wealth and influence?

And it all started with a television show.



For me, what initially stood out about the undisputed queen of talk was that she was one of only a few minority personalities on network TV, particularly during the day.

Admittedly, I was underwhelmed watching the A.M. Chicago host interview Mr. T during a brief visit to the Windy City in the early 80's. “Who is this Oprah?” I remember saying disdainfully to my Morehouse College buddy. “People like her," he responded defensively. "She’s more popular here than Phil Donahue!”

(Years later, that same friend would marry a woman who ended up working at Harpo Studios.)

By the time Winfrey’s show debuted around the country, I had just finished college. Although I felt like the same person, the “new” Oprah I was now eying seemed more entertaining. I actually wrote to her the following month, inquiring whether I could be on the show to discuss why students such as myself preferred attending Historically Black College and Universities over mainstream white institutions (in my case the University of Southern California).

Hoping to get her attention, I included a 1986 Men of Morehouse Calendar that some classmates and I had created and sold earlier that year.

Although I was never contacted by the show’s producers, I remained a loyal fan. Between scouring newspaper job listings and filling out law school applications, I always made it a point to get my regular Oprah fix.

But once my student loans started getting uppity and my parents began inquiring whether I was as clear about my career path as I kept insisting, it was decision time. Was I going to continue working the marketing job I had just landed, or follow the path that I felt compelled to pursue?

With a little help from the media mogul and the debut of a one-hour drama set in a fictitious law office, the answer would be revealed.

You see it was the power of television that ultimately gave me the confidence to believe that I had a shot at having a legal career. At the time, I neither knew anyone in the profession, nor did I fully understand what would be required to succeed in it.

What I did know was after watching LA Law, which also premiered in the Fall of 1986, I became convinced that if Mario Van Peebles and Blair Underwood could portray polished attorneys who just happened to be black, then I could actually be one?

And with Bryant Gumbel successfully at the helm of The Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show obliterating afternoons and The Cosby Show dominating primetime, the so-called “boob tube” kept reinforcing in my mind one thing and one thing only:

Achievement!

In 2010, that message is making a comeback!

Look no further than the upcoming Primetime Schedule of the major networks and you’ll find more "color" (at least in front of the camera) than we’ve seen in quite some time. And NBC, to their credit, is leading the way with shows like Undercovers, Outlaw, The Event, Law & Order: Los Angeles, and Community.

In daytime, returning programs like ABC’s The View with Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Sheppard, Meredith’s Better with Audra Lowe, and Debmar Mercury’s The Wendy Williams Show feature multi-talented women conversing with everyone from reality stars to an African American Commander-In Chief. Joining that mix is Holly Robinson Peete, one of the six ladies helming CBS’s new chatfest The Talk.

With respect to syndicated game shows, Emmy-winning host Wayne Brady kicks off a second season of Let’s Make A Deal, while comedian, radio host and NY Times best-selling author Steve Harvey will now have the pleasure of kissing cheeks on Family Feud.

And if you go inside any of the court shows this year, you’ll discover 5 out of 10 feature African Americans dispensing justice They include mainstays Judge Joe Brown, Judge Greg Mathis, Divorce Court with Judge Lynn Toler, as well as Judge Karen’s Court.

I did say five, right?

The remaining one is mine.

And that's because I ended up going to law school and working as a LA prosecutor before serving for several years as an elected member of the California judiciary.

Now, America’s Court with Judge Ross is set to find its niche with audiences this Fall.

"These years with you… have enriched my life beyond measure," Oprah stated when she announced her decision to leave her award-winning show.

In joining my soon to be colleague for her 25th and final season (beginning Monday September 13), I look forward to sharing with the iconic figure what many, irrespective of race, truly feel about her journey.

“Thank you for inspiring me Ms. Winfrey. Mission accomplished!”

Former Superior Court Judge Kevin Ross is the host of America's Court. The show, from Entertainment Studios, debuted on broadcast television Monday, September 20. 2010 (check your local station for show times)

America's Court With Judge Ross Wants The Web To Follow Them To Daytime Television This Fall!

Here Comes The Judge!

In today's media landscape, launching a new syndicated television program requires more than just radio and tv ads, billboards, and print. The Internet and social media is absolutely critical to ensure audiences gravitate towards shows they want to see regularly.

Entertainment Studios, the company bringing "America's Court with Judge Ross" to daytime, is assuming a leadership role in this regard, particularly as it relates to communities of color.



With blacks making up 25% of the active participants on Twitter, and the increased presence of Latinos in the online space, Entertainment Studios will be launching a traditional and digital strategy that speaks not only to the general marker, but also those tech-savvy minorities who function almost exclusively on their computers and cell phones.

"Every tool available will be utilized to promote America's Court, from a robust web site, Facebook, blogs, Internet radio and RSS feeds, to e-blasts and mobile applications," says former California Superior Court Judge Kevin Ross, who will serve as host and one of the producers for the daily one hour strip. "We can no longer make comparisons about old versus new media. Today, it's about finding synergy and seeing the landscape with a 360 degree lens."

America's Court debuts in the Fall, joining other legal favorites such as Judge Judy and The People's Court. Will you be watching?

Kevin Ross Joins Nancy Grace and Nate Berkus As Fall's New Daytime Line-up Takes Shape

America's Court A Firm Go!

Entertainment Studios will premiere America's Court With Judge Ross on broadcast and cable this
 fall, having cleared the legal strip in 75% of the country.

"We are pleased to have greatly expanded our company's nationwide clearance of America's Court with Judge Ross," said Andrew Temple, President of Domestic Television Distribution for Entertainment Studios.

Created by multihyphenate Byron Allen, Entertainment Studios is set to produce and deliver a minimum of 26 weeks of
 original episodes of America's Court in high definition as well as 26 weeks 
of repeats. The show joins weekly E/I program The Young Icons, which also has been cleared for a 2010 launch under the Entertainment Studios banner, and Career Day, recently picked up by the Sinclair Broadcast Group for 2011.

In entering the daytime syndication arena, Allen assumes his place among a select group of African Americans (think Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry) who are successfully producing content they own, control and distribute to increasingly diverse audiences looking for quality programming.

As America's Court continues to generate strong buzz, television stations are still being offered the one-hour block as two half-hour episodes.





Groups who have already signed on include Weigel, Scripps, Media General, Acme, Cox, 
Raycom, Barrington, Ellis, Journal, Belo, Bonton, LIN, New Age and Sinclair. 


Scheduled to film in Los Angeles, 'Court' joins The Nate Berkus Show (Harpo/Sony) and Swift Justice with Nancy Grace (CTD) as one of three freshman daytime skeins confirmed to debut in 2010.

And according to tvnewscheck.com, America's Court will also run on
 one of Entertainment Studios six high-definition cable networks that were 
launched on Verizon's FiOS broadband systems last September.





America's Court with Judge Ross shows litigants unique ways in which they can responsibly deal with their unlawful or wrongful acts, and also forces wrongdoers to reflect on the consequences of their transgressions.

Kevin A. Ross, 46, has been a judge, prosecutor and media personality
 in Southern California. He is also president and CEO of 3BAAS Media Group, which will serve as a producer on the show.

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