CMT Picks Up ‘Pickler & Ben’

CMT is adding syndicated daytime show Pickler & Ben to its morning lineup starting Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 9 a.m. ET. The Nashville-based talk show will air the morning after their first run.

Kellie Pickler and Ben Aaron host the show. Pickler, a country singer, is the star of CMT’s unscripted I Love Kellie Pickler series. The third season kicked off last month.

Faith Hill, Lisa Erspamer and Jason Owen are the executive producers.

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“The combination of Faith serving as producer and Kellie as one of the co-hosts makes Pickler & Ben a natural fit for CMT,” said Frank Tanki, general manager of CMT and TV Land. “The reciprocal partnership with Scripps will allow the show to reach a national audience, while providing us new country lifestyle programming for our fans.”

E.W. Scripps is producing the show. Disney/ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution is distributing it in national syndication.

The series will see Pickler and Aaron host segments with celebrities, tastemakers and experts on entertaining, home design, cooking and other topics. The show will be recorded in front of a live audience.  

CMT reaches 74 million households.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.