TAVIS SMILEY; NPR HOST BRINGS LATE-NIGHT TALK TO PBS.(Stars)

Byline: William LaRue Staff writer

Tavis Smiley has just 20 minutes to chat, and he's delighted to hear that a reporter has a tape recorder rolling. "You probably should, because I talk so fast anyway," he says over the telephone from Los Angeles. Squeezing a whole lot into a limited time is something of a Smiley trademark.

It's been that way even more so since Jan. 5, when he launched his own late-night talk show, "Tavis Smiley," on PBS. The program begins airing on a regular basis Monday on WCNY-TV, Channel 24, which will carry the show at 11:30 p.m.…