Tony Sweet, previous founder of LA-based Global Voice Broadcasting, and award-winning TV, film and stage actress Ann Walker (“Sordid Lives”), have partnered on the launch of Universal Broadcasting Network (UBN), a new international media platform, which includes an Internet-based multimedia radio network.

Broadcasting live from Hollywood’s Sunset Gower Studios, Universal Broadcasting Network is already host to a diverse spectrum of talk radio shows, including those geared towards entertainment, children and family, love and relationships, LGBT and women’s issues, and sports and fitness, among many others. The station currently airs 16 shows, and is growing with the capability to host up to 100 in the future.

Having hosted his own No. 1 entertainment talk radio show, “On Air With Tony Sweet,” with over 500,000 loyal listeners for five years, it was an organic evolution that led Sweet to join with Walker on building their own radio network that would not only allow him to continue to host his own show, but to create a platform for others to share their talents with the world. Initially, Walker was a co-host with Sweet, but then also became a host of her own popular show, “The Ann Walker Show,” which now broadcasts on UBN.

“Universal Broadcasting Network is my child, my vision and my creation of what I have always dreamed to build: a multi-media company that entertains, inspires and educates,” said Sweet, President of UBN. “To me, UBN Radio is a place that combines Reality Radio with honesty, integrity and entertainment without limits. My vision is for it to become an international Internet television and radio station that will take us into the new age of technology and media.”

“When Tony approached me about starting a new station, I was intrigued by the possibility and opportunities that new technologies bring to our industry and decided to jump on board as his partner,” said Walker, CEO of UBN. “Having been an actress for 35 years, I was excited about a new adventure that still holds true to what I set out to do all those years ago, which is to entertain, inspire and connect. UBN not only allows me to do this, but provides a platform for other voices and entertainers to do the same.”

A self-proclaimed ‘country boy from Kansas,’ Tony Sweet began a modeling career in his early twenties, and became a professional bodybuilder. In 2002, he moved to Los Angeles and in 2008, he auditioned alongside thousands for the Gospel Music Channel’s “Gospel Dream,” where he was selected to move onto Nashville, as one of the top 16 contestants. Sweet’s first chance to inspire others came when national LGBT magazine The Advocate featured him as the face of Gay America. After receiving thousands of supportive letters from fans around the world, he took to the airwaves with his own show formatted for Internet radio. In 2008, “On Air With Tony Sweet,” made its debut. Since then, Sweet has had the opportunity to interview hundreds of top stars on his show, including Debbie Reynolds, Melissa Etheridge, Mo’nique, Dustin Lance Blance, and Rue McClanahan.

Ann Walker grew up in Houston, TX, and moved to Los Angeles in 1974, working continuously as an actress in films, television and theater since then. She is best known for playing the enduring and beloved LaVonda Dupree in Del Shores’ LOGO television hit comedy, “Sordid Lives.” In addition to “Sordid Lives,” Walker’s major television credits include “Medium,” “Mad About You,” “Murphy Brown,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Dynasty,” and “Designing Women,” among dozens of others. She has also appeared on-screen in films, which include Father of the Bride II, The Fanatics, It Takes Two and Soulman. Her award-winning theatrical career has included the 2001, 10-month Los Angeles run of Del Shores’ play “Southern Baptist Sissies,” which earned her a Robby Award, Maddy Award, and the prestigious Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. She has also appeared in Tyler Hansen’s “Ballad,” “Steel Magnolias,” “The Glass Menagerie,” “Rain,” and “Best Wishes.”