"Kenny Rogers: The Journey" Premieres on PBS Nationwide

Janson Media today announced the broadcast television premiere of Kenny Rogers: The Journey, a spellbinding ride with the three-time Grammy Award winner, through his life's work and music over a 40-year time span. This new one-hour PBS special is an intimate and entertaining exploration of an unforgettable and multi-talented artist and one of the greatest country music performers of our time. In a career spanning four decades, Rogers has recorded 61 albums and has sold over 105 million units worldwide. His accolades include three Grammy Awards, eleven People's Choice Awards, eighteen American Music Awards, eight Academy of Country Music Awards, and five Country Music Association Awards. Through performances and short interview excerpts, Kenny Rogers: The Journey tells the complete Kenny Rogers story - from his beginnings as a member of The New Christy Minstrels and The First Edition to his superstar status in the 70s and 80s, all the way to his current chart toppers. The one-hour PBS special includes a new concert filmed in Indiana in April 2006, along with performance footage of complete Kenny Rogers classics taken from the era when they first became hits. This classic footage includes duets with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Sheena Easton, and Kim Carnes, and is seamlessly mixed with 70s, 80s, 90s and present day concert footage. This classic concert footage is interwoven with comments from Kenny Rogers himself, and from some of the industry veterans who have worked with him down through the years. These songwriters, producers, musicians, managers, and heads of labels include Lionel Richie, David Foster, Jim Mazza, Mike Curb, Ken Kragen, Don Schlitz, Mickey Jones and Brent Maher.Kenny Rogers: The Journey was produced by Jerry Samuels for GroovPix Entertainment. The program was written and directed by Kelly Junkermann, and edited by Bill Patterson and Keith Wolf. The PBS special was executive-produced by Stephen Janson of Janson Media and Mark Kresser of K2 Communications. The special is distributed to worldwide television and DVD markets by Janson Media. The PBS Station Relations representative is Jim Scalem. Contact your local PBS affiliate for specific broadcast dates and times. Established in 1989, Janson Media is an independent content distribution company based in Harrington Park, New Jersey, with a rights portfolio of over 1,200 hours of exclusive programming available for licensing to worldwide television, DVD/video, and emerging VOD and broadband companies. The company is also a DVD publisher/ manufacturer with a growing catalog of titles, ranging from children's and family films to award-winning documentaries and special interest programming. K2 Communications is a leading edge production and distribution organization specializing in emerging non-traditional media programming, including Giant Screen Films for both large format and digital theaters, Video on Demand, Interactive Media, branded content and High Definition television and DVD. K2 has extensive experience supervising large-scale entertainment projects from concept to completion, and an impressive track record securing corporate sponsorship for its projects. GroovPix Entertainment LLC, a content company focused on the live performance segment, creates projects designed to give audiences the ultimate concert experience within all genres of music. Founded in 2004, GroovPix concept was simple; create first-rate concert programming that can be exploited on DVD, television and next generation digital platforms that people will want to watch over and over. In addition to breathtaking concert footage, GroovPix gives fans an intimate, insiders look into the music and lives of the artists they love. PBS, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, is a non-profit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 354 public television stations. A trusted community resource, PBS uses the power of noncommercial television, the Internet and other media to enrich the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services that inform inspire and delight. Available to 99 percent of American homes with televisions and to an increasing number of digital multimedia households, PBS serves over 75 million people each week.