Background
Redding is the son of Rev. Robert Redding Sr., an Atlanta pastor and former president of the Fayette County's Black Voters League, and the late Mary Ann Redding, who was an Atlanta public school teacher and a Fayette school board candidate. He began his media career as a hip-hop radio personality at KZWA-FM, while at McNeese State University in Lake Charles in 1994.
In 1996, he accepted a full-time position as a hip-hop night personality at WIBB-FM in Macon, GA, where he was named "Tony Smoove" by his program director. Macon was also the home of another Redding family member, '60s soul singer Otis Redding.
He left hip-hop for talk radio and journalism, working at a series of newspapers: The Prince George's Sentinel, The Prince George's Gazette, The Prince George's Journal, The Macon Telegraph, and finally The Washington Times. During that same time he began his talk radio career filling in for Bernie McCain on Radio-One's WOL in Washington, D.C. in 1999. In 2001, he landed his first full-time job in talk radio doing afternoons at CBS Radio's WAOK-AM, where he started ReddingNewsReview.com. He left the station in 2003 and began syndicating his talk radio show while filling in for Ambrose I. Lane Sr. on SiriusXM 128 The Power.
He has since inked his own weekend syndication deals with GCN and Sirius XM in 2008.
On August 30, 2010, he began doing a weekday show for GCN, while still doing the Sunday show. The weekday show airs in multiple markets and at one time on Sirius XM daily from April 2012 to February 2013. The Sirius XM deal ended after nearly half a decade and more than 420 episodes on Feb. 10, 2013.
Read more about this topic: Rob Redding
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