“The Advocates With Sonia Baghdady” has been greenlit for nationwide syndication across several major networks.
The half-hour lifestyle program, which currently airs on ABC Localish, has been picked up by a handful of stations across Fox, Nexstar, CBS, ABC, Hearst, Tegna, Scripps, Weigel and Hubbard. It will launch the weekend of Sept. 6 and air weekly.
With guests from “Abbott Elementary” star Sheryl Lee Ralph to singer Adam Lambert, “The Advocates With Sonia Baghdady” shares inspirational stories celebrating people making a difference and finding solutions for challenges nationwide, per the logline, to share positive and uplifting stories from neighborhoods across the country.
The program won a 2025 Telly Award for investigative episode, “Nowhere to Go,” which explores the shortage of domestic violence shelters for people with pets, and the queer community, making it more difficult to escape abusive environments.
“The Advocates With Sonia Baghdady” is produced by equalpride studios, with CEO Mark Berryhill and senior EP of programming Mary Schwager serving as executive producers. The show is distributed by Sewee Entertainment.
“The voices that have been amplified due to this show’s intelligent and thoughtful storytelling have exceeded our expectations, and we couldn’t be more proud to bring this to a broader audience,” Berryhill said in a statement. “Our vision was to create a space in weekend programming that leaves people feeling hopeful, inspired and informed.”
“The broadcaster’s response to ‘The Advocates with Sonia Baghdady’ has been overwhelming,” Sewee Entertainment’s Tim Voit said. “There is a clear need nationwide for stories that are hopeful and impactful. This show offers authentic storytelling, and its expansion is confirmation that inspiring narratives are something audiences crave.”
“We are enthusiastic about telling the stories of people who will undoubtedly inspire you,” Schwager said. “Our team will provide the stations taking the show with content inserts for their newscasts and digital platforms.”
