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SF Chinese talk show attracts national television audience
SAN FRANCISCO — Chinese speakers nationwide have a new late-night talk show host to turn to with the syndication of a nightly Mandarin-language call-in show.
The half-hour “China Crosstalk” will air nightly at 11 p.m. PDT starting Monday on cable’s International Channel.
The show, which started as a radio program at a 1 kilowatt station in San Francisco in 1997, focuses on news affecting Chinese Americans, according to host and co-founder Jay Stone Shih.
“What’s happening in Asia? What’s happening in the U.S.? How does that affect the Chinese community?” Shih said, comparing his show’s format to CNN’s Larry King and himself to a Chinese-speaking Charlie Rose. “It’s really news-driven.”
Shih brought the program to television in 2000, and has been co-producing the show with Brisbane-based KTSF ever since.
“We deal with issues for the Chinese community that are national and international in scope,” said Michael Sherman, general manager of KTSF. “The show has had such legs here in the Bay Area that there’s no reason not to take it to a broader scale.”
International Channel Networks, based in Centennial, Colo., delivers news, drama and movies from around the world in 20 languages, according to spokeswoman Teresa Wiedel.
