Fusion today announced that it will be expanding Alicia Menendez’s daily primetime show, “AM Tonight,” to an hour in 2015 and that Kim Gamble is joining the network to executive produce the show.
“Alicia is already redefining what it means to anchor a show that covers the stories that matter to her generation — a generation that is incredibly diverse, came of age in a digital era, and values inclusivity. Confident, optimistic, smart and funny, Alicia has a unique ability to cut through the clutter,” Fusion CEO Isaac Lee said in an email to staff.
Gamble was most recently the Executive Producer and Head Writer for MTV’s “Nikki and Sara Live.”
Check out the entire email sent to the Fusion staff, after the jump…
Hola Fusion,
I am excited to announce that we will be growing our program offering on Fusion’s linear network in the new year and the first step in that process will be expanding Alicia Menendez’s daily primetime show to an hour.
Alicia has given her generation a distinct, new voice and we are expanding her show because of the incredible success she has shown and the promise that she holds.
Over the past year, Alicia’s interviews with everyone from Janet Mock and Taylor Swift to Chelsea Clinton and Malala have made headlines, while her commentaries proved thought-provoking and insightful. As recognition for the quality content on “AM Tonight” and Alicia’s ability to speak on behalf of millennials, she has become the go-to voice of her generation among mainstream outlets, including ABC’s “The View” and “This Week with George Stephanopolous” as well as “Real Time with Bill Maher.”
This national acclaim isn’t just a success for Alicia, but it speaks to the incredible work of her entire team, and everyone here at Fusion. I could not be more proud of everyone involved in “AM Tonight,” and our expansion of Alicia’s show is a strong vote of confidence in everything they are doing.
As we prepare to take the show to the next level, I am very pleased to announce that Peabody Award-winning, Emmy-nominated producer, writer and journalist Kim Gamble will be joining Fusion as Executive Producer of “AM Tonight.” She will join the show’s Senior Producer Claudia Pou and the team who have been so integral in the show’s growth and development over the past year.
Kim has deep and extensive experience serving a young, diverse audience with content over a range of media and genres.
Her television experience spans from working on documentaries with Peter Jennings to producing late night comedy-based programs such as “The Colbert Report” and “Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn.” Most recently she served as the Executive Producer and Head Writer for MTV’s “Nikki and Sara Live” — a show The Daily Beast called “late-night TV’s best-kept secret.”
Kim’s essays and articles have been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Grantland, Marie Claire and The Boston Globe. Kim has also served as a producer with Martin Scorsese and Frank Rich on a pilot for HBO, contributed to NPR’s “Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me” and written speeches on climate change for Vice President Al Gore.
What makes Kim stand out is that her approach is not to replicate what others have already done, but to create something new and distinct. She has consistently demonstrated an ability to give stories and issues context while making them accessible. Her breadth of experience also makes her a perfect fit for the broad range of topics that Alicia covers on a daily basis — and that the audience Fusion serves are interested in. Kim and her family will be moving to Miami from Los Angeles in the coming weeks; she starts full-time in Miami in mid-January.
Alicia is already redefining what it means to anchor a show that covers the stories that matter to her generation — a generation that is incredibly diverse, came of age in a digital era, and values inclusivity. Confident, optimistic, smart and funny, Alicia has a unique ability to cut through the clutter.
I can’t wait to see what Alicia, Kim, Claudia and the rest of the “AM Tonight” team achieve in the months and years ahead.
Abrazos,
Isaac