If you are an early riser on Sunday mornings, and are listening to the B around 6:30 AM, you have probably caught my show! “East Tennessee Now” is a community affairs show, which will help keep you in the know about events coming up in our area, people who need your help, or sometimes just topics of interest that the public needs to stay informed about. I love to help get the word out, about deserving organizations in our area, who just need a little local support, like non-profit groups in our community. That’s not all though, sometimes it is a controversial issue that needs to be discussed, or sometimes I have guests who have lost a family member to crime, and they need tips to help solve it. Whatever the topic may be, or whomever the guest, I try to make sure that the program speaks to the different interests and needs of listeners in East Tennessee. My program’s main focus is helping people, and that is the best part of my job!

My name is Niki Roberts. I was born in Arkansas, but have been a Tennessee girl for more than 25 years. I grew up in Clinton, but live with my husband Jonathan, in Knoxville. We hope to have a family someday, but we have started that dream with two children of the four-legged variety. I am speaking of our two poodles, Fella and Gracie. We love working on our home, spending time with family, and traveling whenever we have the time and money. Personally, I also love to sing and read! I love books, but if given a day to myself, you will find me curled up with a cup of coffee and a magazine.

Entertainment news is a hobby of mine, and it is a running joke in our family, that if you want to know anything about Hollywood, I am the girl to ask. I literally have an embarrassing amount of entertainment trivia floating around in my brain 24/7! I knew from the time I was 7 years old, that I would find a way on to the airwaves! It was at that age, that I began recording my own homemade radio shows, on my little tape deck. Friends spending the night would want to play dolls, but I always talked them into making a radio show with the two of us as the hosts. I even wrote my own commercials! They grew bored after a few hours of it, but not me!!

After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University in 2002 with a degree in Communications, I came to work here at South Central Radio Group. I had a bit of a southern accent, and I worried it would keep me out of the profession, but my general manager believed in me. “You are from here, so why shouldn’t you sound like your from here?”, he said. And with those words, I had my first shot at radio, and became a part of the South Central family. I still try to not get too twangy on -air, but the country girl in me still comes through from time to time! I have hosted and produced my show for the last 5 years, and I never get tired of it. I love the people I get the opportunity to meet and it means so much to feel like I might be making some small difference in someone’s life each week.

I hope when you listen to my show, that you are uplifted, empowered, and entertained. It is my deepest wish though, that you feel that you are cared about, and that you have a friend. I want my love and concern for my listeners and the people of East Tennessee to come through. At the end of each show, I always say ‘Take care of you’ which is short for “Take care of you for me.” I want people to be moved and inspired by the show to reach out to others in need, but I want them to remember to love themselves as well, because they are important to me!

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