By Erica Cobb
When my show, Daily Blast Live, was canceled last year, I didn’t spend a lot of time mourning the end of an era. I embraced the beginning of a professional revolution. After more than two decades in mainstream media, on both television and radio, I knew one thing for sure: my voice wasn’t going to disappear just because my nationally syndicated show did. In fact, I realized it was time to amplify my experience on my terms.
The timing couldn’t have been more poetic. Just one week after DBL ended, I started the Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business program powered by NYU Stern. Surrounded by powerful, visionary Black women experts and entrepreneurs, I was reminded that what I’d lost wasn’t an ending, it was a door opening. The program equipped me not just with the mindset but also with the strategy to turn my name, my platform, and my principles into a sustainable business. And now I’m doing just that.
Like many media personalities navigating a rapidly shifting landscape, I made the leap from legacy media to independent ownership. I launched ComebackTV Presents, a multifaceted production company built on my core values: authenticity, community, care, and yes, resilience, too. Because comebacks aren’t just about bouncing back. They’re about rising up, reimagined and unapologetic.
We are in a media moment unlike any we’ve seen before. Journalists, hosts, and creators are leaving, or being pushed out of, legacy networks and forging new paths as independent voices. Substack newsletters, self-funded podcasts, YouTube shows, and Patreon-supported journalism ventures are all exploding. This isn’t just a career pivot for individuals like myself, it’s a mass movement that reflects a hunger for digital storytelling that centers real people.
That’s why ComebackTV Presents exists. It’s not just a production company; we’re rooted in the idea that we don’t need gatekeepers to be great. ComebackTV Presents’ slate of original podcasts, including Accidentally Informed with Claudia Jordan and myself, and Daytime Talk After Dark, hosted with my former DBL co-hosts, is proof of it.
But ComebackTV Presents is not just about content creators. We’re valuable strategic partners for brands and organizations, too. What makes our team unique is that we’re powered by national TV veterans with experience in daytime and unscripted. We all worked together in a newsroom for seven years, which is special. We know how to tell a story that lands, scales, and sticks. We can wrap a newsroom structure around any industry or business.
Starting my own venture wasn’t easy. It meant learning new skills, assembling a team of fellow industry professionals, and investing in a dream with no guarantees. But what I’ve gained is something liberating: freedom. The freedom to platform important voices. The freedom to bring opportunities to other talented, often overlooked media professionals, and the freedom to engage with new audiences across sectors. Starting CTP was a natural move after Daily Blast Live ended, because I was already producing so much of my own content for podcasts and live shows. My podcast, Comeback: with Erica Cobb, was even nominated for an NAACP Image Award.
We’re not just entering a new chapter in media; we’re building a new book entirely. A lot of the innovation and creativity is coming from those of us who have gone independent. The ventures and platforms we build now will become the stages for the next generation. And they won’t be built on formulas. They’ll be built on freedom.
In daytime TV, I had a seat at the table. Now, I’m building the house, and there’s room for everyone who’s ready to come back stronger, louder, and freer than ever.
Erica Cobb is CEO & founder of ComebackTV Presents. She is a 25-year veteran national TV and radio host who leveraged her media platforms in the content creator and production space. Cobb sat on the Board of META’s Black Creator Program, “We the Culture,” and was a member of the LinkedIn Creator Program. She was honored with a NAACP Image Award Nomination in 2023 and is a cohort of the Fall 2024 Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women: Black in Business program with curriculum partner NYU.
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