Scripps Networks picks up Faith Hill, Kellie Pickler talker

Scripps Networks has greenlit a new daytime lifestyle talk show executive produced by Faith Hill and co-hosted by Kellie Pickler and Emmy Award-winning New York City journalist Ben Aaron. The untitled show, based on out Nashville, will launch this fall on TV stations across the country and cover everything from cooking, gardening, entertaining and home design to beauty and fashion. It’s set to be informative, fun-filled and interactive.

“We will bring a little bit of southern charm and inspiration to our viewers, alongside insights from top tastemakers and experts in many areas,” Hill says in a press release. “Kellie is very much southern while Ben is everything New York – complete opposites but together their chemistry is magic and our viewers are going to love them.”

Happy Street Entertainment co-founder and former The Oprah Winfrey Show executive producer Lisa Erspamer and Sandbox Entertainment president and CEO Jason Owen, in partnership with The E.W. Scripps Company, will also co-executive produce the series.

“We will bring a little bit of southern charm and inspiration to our viewers, alongside insights from top tastemakers and experts in many areas.”

“Our vision for this show is to deliver the best of lifestyle content with two very talented and charismatic hosts,” states Erspamer. “We are excited about combining an entertaining show with a unique shop-ability factor – viewers will be able to buy items they see on set while watching the show.”

“We believe we have a winning combination for a new show unlike anything viewers have seen,” says Cater Lee, vice president of programming for Scripps. “We have a talented group of producers and hosts with a fresh concept – a lifestyle show set in the heartland. We believe this is the right time for this kind of show, and it will resonate with our viewers across the country this fall.”

Scripps will debut the show in 20 of its 24 television markets, and Disney/ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution will distribute the show in national syndication.

Pickler is best known as a contestant on American Idol who has four country albums to her credit. In 2013, she won the Mirror Ball Trophy on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. She is an avid supporter of the military and has completed 11 USO Tours performing for military serving abroad. Her ongoing CMT docu-comedy series I Love Kellie Pickler debuted in November 2015 and is returning for its third season this summer.

Aaron has numerous TV credits as a contributor for Extra, Meredith and Today. He has earned three Emmy Awards as a features reporter for WNBC for New York Live and has posted stories on YouTube that have earned millions of views. He also is teaming up with his wife, Ginger Zee, chief meteorologist for Good Morning America, on a new home renovation show on the DIY Network that is set to air in May.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com