‘Daily Blast Live’ Hosts, Fall Premiere Date Set

Tegna Inc. today announced the host lineup and fall premiere date for Daily Blast Live (DBL), a new 30-minute daytime news and entertainment show and multi-platform brand.

DBL will debut on Monday, Sept. 11, in 36 Tegna markets and can be seen live nationally on Facebook and YouTube. DBL features well-known names from television, fitness, sports and comedy including veterans of shows including Dr. Drew, The Biggest Loser, Big Brother and Growing Pains.

DBL’s host team will share their expertise, opinions and distinctive points of view on the day’s news, daily trending topics and viral, shareable content generating buzz at the moment. The hosts include:

• Erica Cobb: A correspondent and football fanatic who has been heard on radio stations in Chicago, Denver and Sacramento, Calif. Cobb has also appeared as a football pre-game correspondent for several television stations, including  Tegna’s KUSA Denver.

• Tracey Gold: The actress who started her on-screen career at the age of 4 and later landed the role of Carol Seaver in the popular 1980’s sitcom Growing Pains.

• Al Jackson: The stand-up comedian, writer and TV/radio personality is known for his Comedy Central Presents: Al Jackson special and hosting role on BBC’s Officially Amazing series.

• Sam Schacher: A broadcast journalist who has appeared on CNN, was a co-host on HLN’s Dr. Drew and contributed to the Huffington Post. She has also hosted and produced the internet show, Pop Trigger, since 2012.

• Jeff Schroeder: The reality TV veteran who has appeared on Big Brother, Amazing Race and Marriage Boot Camp. He conducts the post-interviews online for Big Brother, the show where he met his wife.

• Ebony Steele: A comedienne, serial entrepreneur and former co-host of The Rickey Smiley Morning Show who has also appeared on Fox’s Dish Nation. She has been named one of Radio Facts’ Top 30 Women in Media.

• Tory Shulman: A stand-up comic and UCB Improviser who is the pop culture correspondent at KTTV Los Angeles and the co-host on Sam in the Morning, airing on the internet’s LA Talk Radio. She’s also been an on-air host for ReelzChannel.

• Jen Widerstrom: A fitness expert, life coach, best-selling author and cover model who was the undefeated trainer on The Biggest Loser and serves on the advisory board for Shape Magazine.

“We’re incredibly excited and fortunate to have such a variety of talented hosts comprise our robust on-air team for DBL,” said Bob Sullivan, Tegna SVP, programming. “We purposely tapped personalities from a cross-section of backgrounds and disciplines to bring their distinctive voices, personalities and points of view to DBL. We’re confident that audiences across the country will want to engage with them, live, around the day’s news and trending topics.”

DBL’s multi-platform brand will bring stories to viewers 24/7 with broadcast and digital teams delivering a half hour to viewers. Seven live, half-hour feeds will be produced Monday through Friday and be live in nearly every market and time zone in which it airs.

DBL will also be streamed live Monday-Friday on the DBL Facebook page at 2-3 p.m. ET and 7-7:30 p.m. ET as well as on YouTube Live at 3-5 p.m. ET.

DBL’s format will let viewers across the country participate in the show’s conversation, live, in real time, by sharing their reactions and opinions on stories, voting on content and submitting videos and other content that may appear on the show. 

Daily Blast Live will be produced out of KUSA Denver and air in 36 Tegna markets across the country.