As the year’s election coverage continues to accelerate, The Young Turks has served as one of the Internet’s preeminent progressive voices. Now, the news network will bring its message back to TV as well. TYT has joined forces with Fusion for a 12-episode weekly show that will launch on September 5th ahead of this November’s presidential vote.
TYT’s new TV show, which is currently titled, will be co-hosted by Ana Kasparian and John Iadarola. In each hour-long episode, Kasparian and Iadarola will engage with college students about the issues they find most relevant. Along the way, the two hosts will receive help from their colleagues, including TYT founder Cenk Uygur, who hosts the network’s main digital program alongside Kasparian, and Hannah Cranston, who hosts TYT’s ThinkTank channel with Iadarola.
While TYT’s digital programming has emerged as its centerpiece, the network has a long history with TV. Uygur hosted a program on MSNBC in 2011, but he left that post a few months later, citing clashes with network higher-ups. Later that year, Uygur landed at Current TV, though his program there — titled The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur — was discontinued in 2013 after Current TV was purchased by Al Jazeera America.
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The new show will represent a new direction for TYT’s TV efforts, with Uygur stepping aside to make room for Kasparian and Iadarola in the spotlight. The collegiate theme will play well with Fusion’s audience of culturally-diverse millennials.
“Fusion’s goal is to continue elevating the issues that matter to this diverse, emerging generation of young people,” said Fusion Co-President and CCO Daniel Eilemberg in a press release. “The Young Turks and their distinct, passionate voices will be a valuable addition to our coverage of this unconventional and consequential election cycle. We are excited to hit the road this fall to engage college students from across the country, providing them with a platform to make their voices heard.”
Fusion, launched in 2013, is owned by Univision Communications. Disney, originally a co-owner of the channel, sold its stake to Univision in April 2016.
Photo credit: Tim Collins / The Young Turks
