Contact: Troy Miller, SVP/COO, NRB Network, 615-338-5826

NASHVILLE, Oct. 8 /Christian Newswire/ -- Today the NRB Network announced plans to air a new program developed by "Joni and Friends". The program will be hosted by Joni Eareckson Tada and highlights a refreshingly honest approach to people's toughest questions about the goodness of God in a world shattered by pain and suffering. Through dramatic and powerful glimpses into the lives of real people who have endured -- or are still enduring -- heart wrenching trials, Joni and her guests put Scripture to the toughest of tests, showing why God is worth believing and how to trust Him in the worst of times. In this unique program, we meet the exceptional people who inspire Joni Tada, world-famous quadriplegic author and artist. Joni and Friends is a half-hour of riveting images, soul stirring stories, and proof-positive truths from the heart of God's Word which will change your life.

"Joni and Friends" will air Fridays at 7:00pm (ET) starting October 19th, 2007.

A diving accident in 1967 left Mrs. Tada a quadriplegic in a wheelchair, unable to use her hands. During two years of rehabilitation, she spent long months learning how to paint with a brush between her teeth. Her high detail fine art paintings and prints are sought after and collected.

Due to her best-selling books, beginning with her autobiography, Joni, as well as having visited 35 countries, Joni's first name is recognized around the world. World Wide Pictures' full-length feature film, JONI, in which Mrs. Tada recreated her own life, has been translated into 15 languages and shown in scores of countries around the world.

Mrs. Tada's role as a disability advocate led to a presidential appointment to the National Council on Disability for three and a half years, during which time the Americans with Disabilities Act became law.

NRB Network broadcast on DIRECTV channel 378. DIRECTV (www.DIRECTV.com) has over 16 million subscribers, making it the nation's leading and fastest-growing digital multi-channel satellite television service provider in both residential and commercial markets. The NRB Network is included in DIRECTV's base package, TOTAL CHOICE, making it available to all DIRECTV subscribers.

NRB Network is a unique Christian television experience, and a "revolution" in a way, being the first of its kind to provide "genre" blocks of programming slotted in specific times of day to meet the needs of the viewing audience.