"Pickler & Ben," starring country singer Kellie Pickler and "Extra" contributor Ben Aaron (husband of "Good Morning America" meteorologist Ginger Zee), will air on 38 stations, including WCPO-TV (Channel 9).
As I reported in May, the daytime entertainment and lifestyle show premieres Sept. 18 (3 p.m., Channel 9).
It replaces "T.D. Jakes," which was canceled half-way through its first season.
Cincinnati's E.W. Scripps Company, which is producing the show in Nashville with Grammy-winning singer Faith Hill, former "Oprah Winfrey Show" executive producer Lisa Erspamer and other producers, announced new details about the show Thursday.
"Pickler & Ben"will be seen on 20 of Scripps' 33 stations, including Indianapolis' WRTV-TV. It was also sold to Louisville's WBKI-TV, Minneapolis' KTSP-TV and Knoxville's WVLT-TV. The biggest markets for the premiere season are Scripps' stations in Tampa (No. 11), Phoenix (12), Detroit (13), Denver (17) and, Cleveland (19), plus the Minneapolis station (15).
According to Scripps, "the show features Kellie and Ben hosting segments with top celebrities, tastemakers and experts on everything from entertaining and home design to cooking, DIY and more. The show will be recorded in front of a live audience at a studio in one of America’s hottest cities — Nashville — on an expansive, modern farmhouse-styled set." The studio audience will include "a mix of Nashville locals and out-of-towners," the release said.
Pickler, since finishing sixth on "American Idol" in 2005 at age 19, has released four country music albums and won several CMT Music Awards. She also won ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" in 2013, and stars in "I Love Kellie Pickler," a CMT reality series.
Aaron, a former child actor who married Zee in 2014, won three Emmys for reporting and co-hosting on WNBC-TV's "New York Live." He's also reported for "Extra" and "Today." His acting credits include "Hill Street Blues," "Webster," "Perfect Strangers," "Moonwalker," "Mathnet," "The New Mike Hammer" and "Beverly Hills Buntz."
He and his wife starred this summer in a four-week DIY Network reality series, "Renovation Realities: Ben & Ginger," about buying a fixer-upper outside New York City.
