Basketball Trailblazer Nancy Lieberman to be Focus of Nightly Business Report Program on Women in Leadership

MIAMI, April 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PBS' Nightly Business Report (NBR), the award-winning business news television program, today announced that it will present the first edition of its groundbreaking "Women in Leadership" series.  This special NBR Edition will give viewers a look at female pioneers in business, government, and society, beginning with basketball Hall of Fame legend Nancy Lieberman.  

While the "glass ceiling" continues to be a major problem for women in many industries, Lieberman has managed to smash through almost every gender barrier in professional basketball.  How does she do it? On Good Friday, Nightly Business Report on PBS finds out, by examining this trailblazer's breakthroughs in both playing and coaching men's pro teams.  The program will also take a look at Lieberman's success off the basketball court in various business activities.

"It is both motivational and inspirational to see the many barriers and obstacles that have been overcome by Nancy Lieberman, who has truly been a unique force for positive change for all women, across all age groups," said Mykalai Kontilai, Chairman and CEO of NBR.

The program will be hosted by sports business expert Rick Horrow, who appears Mondays on NBR's Beyond the Scoreboard segment.

In a wide-ranging interview with Horrow, Lieberman tells the story of her amazing rise from starring on the Far Rockaway High School team to winning an Olympic silver medal (1976) to being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and her current role as head coach of the National Basketball Association's Development League's Texas Legends - the only woman to ever coach a professional men's basketball team.  The program also details Lieberman's transition from player to coach, her success as businesswoman/entrepreneur, and lessons that she's learned about leadership.

It will be broadcast on Friday, April 22.  Check local listings for station and airtime.

About Nightly Business Report: For more than three decades, the award-winning Nightly Business Report has provided business news in a fast-paced format. Timely investment information helps viewers manage their money and stay abreast of the news that affects their portfolios. Nightly Business Report premiered as a Miami regional program on January 22, 1979, with national distribution beginning in 1981. Underwritten by Franklin Templeton Investments, Nightly Business Report is distributed live to public television stations at 6:30pm ET every weeknight. Local broadcast times vary.

About Rick Horrow: Rick Horrow is the leading expert in the business of sports.  As CEO of Horrow Sports Ventures, he has been the architect of 103 deals worth more than $13 billion in sports, performing arts, and other urban infrastructure projects.  A popular speaker, writer and commentator on the business, law and politics of sports, he is nicknamed "The Sports Professor" because he has served as Visiting Expert on sports law at The Harvard Law School. Horrow is also a Founding Director of the National Sports Lawyers Association.

SOURCE Nightly Business Report