 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV) (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Nexstar Media Group |
| Key people | |
| Sister channels |
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| History | |
| Launched | November 9, 1978; 47 years ago (1978-11-09) asWGN-TV[5][6] March 1, 2021 (as NewsNation) |
| Replaced | WGN America |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Service(s) | DirecTV Stream,FuboTV,Hulu + Live TV,Sling TV,YouTube TV |
NewsNation is an Americancable news network owned byNexstar Media Group. Known for most of its history asWGN Superstation andSuperstation WGN before becomingWGN America in 2008, it relaunched on March 1, 2021, as a cable news network named after its flagship news program. The channel's relaunch came as part of a planned expansion of its news programming.[7] The channel continued to carry some entertainment programming held over from WGN America on weekends, but this was discontinued in July 2024. After being acquired by Nexstar,The Hill and broadcast networkThe CW have collaborated with NewsNation on content.
In September 2018, the channel, then WGN America, was received by approximately 80 million households that subscribed to a pay television service throughout the United States (or 62.7% of households with at least one television set).[8]
The channel has publicly claimed to becentrist, but in 2021, several NewsNation staff left the network citing concerns they were being pushed by management to lean toright-wing politics in news coverage.[9]
WGN America was established on November 9, 1978, whenUnited Video Inc. began redistributing the signal ofWGN-TV (channel 9) inChicago to cable andsatellite subscribers throughout the United States. This expanded the prominentindependent station into America's secondsatellite-distributed national "superstation", afterAtlanta-basedWTBS becameTBS.[10][11]
As the national feed of WGN-TV, the channel broadcast a variety of programming seen on the Chicago signal, including sports (mainlyChicago Cubs andWhite Sox baseball, as well asChicago Bulls basketball games); locally originated news, children's, religious andpublic affairs programs; movies; and syndicated series. Through the 1980s, the WGN local and national feeds maintained nearly identical program schedules, aside from some sporting events that were restricted to the Chicago-area signal under league policy restrictions. After the January 1990 re-imposition of federalsyndication exclusivity regulations, programming between the two feeds increasingly deviated as the WGN national feed incorporated alternative syndicated programming to replace shows on the WGN-TV schedule that were subjected to market-exclusivity claims by individual television stations, and some local programs that the national feed chose not to clear; particularly from the late 2000s onward, as the WGN Chicago signal began expanding its local news programming and added lifestyle programs to its schedule.
On December 13, 2014, WGN America was converted by Tribune into a conventional basic cable network, at which time cable providers within the Chicago market started to offer it alongside its existing local carriage on satellite providersDirecTV andDish Network. Simulcasts of WGN-TV's Chicago-originated local newscasts, news specials and public affairs programs, special events and sports telecasts – with the exception of a one-hour simulcast of WGN-TV'smorning news program that was carried early weekday mornings during the transitional period – immediately ceased being shown on a national basis the day prior, while WGN-TV maintained a separate schedule of local and syndicated programs exclusively catering to the Chicago market. The channel began to focus squarely on acquired programming, including shows held over from its superstation era, and by 2015, began to incorporate a limited schedule of original drama and reality series.[12][13]
On September 1, 2020, WGN America launched a three-hour-long prime time newscast,NewsNation, which began development in October 2019, when Nexstar management commissioned research from television subscribers that determined a share of survey participants were dissatisfied with opinion-based programming on cable news channels such asCNN (which had previously offered straight news programming within its evening lineup, before shifting further into personality-based programming in the mid-2010s),MSNBC (which gravitated toward liberal opinion/talk programs beginning in 2008), andFox News (developed in 1996 with aconservative-leaning format).[14][15] The program draws partly from the broadcast and digital resources of Nexstar's television stations (including those acquired byTribune Media, in addition to WGN America, several months prior). NewsNation boasts the resources of "over 5,000 journalists in 200 newsrooms across America."[16]
During December 2020 and January 2021, Nexstar reached carriage agreements that added WGN America to virtual multichannel television providersYouTube TV (reached on December 1),[17]FuboTV (reached on December 11),[18]Hulu (reached on December 18),[19]Sling TV (reached on December 24, through a broader agreement with Sling parent Dish Network which ended a three-week impasse in which the satellite provider lost access to Nexstar's broadcast stations)[20] andVidgo (reached on January 14)[21] to expand the channel beyond its existing wireline and satellite distribution footprint, and increase exposure forNewsNation. (AT&T TV had already carried the channel since October 2019).[22]
On January 25, 2021, Nexstar Media Group announced that it would relaunch WGN America under theNewsNation brand on March 1, cutting all ties with the WGN brand after 43 years.[7] The name change coincided with a gradual expansion of its news programming: expanding to nine hours per day (from six), the revised news schedule is fronted by a splintered expansion of the flagshipNewsNation broadcast (adding an hour-long early evening edition, alongside the existing and now reduced two-hourNewsNation Prime) and two host-centered news and interview programs anchored respectively by Joe Donlon andAshleigh Banfield. NewsNation reduced its schedule of entertainment programs acquired by the channel under the WGN America moniker in daytime and some overnight slots; beginning with the launch of a morning news program in 2021, the acquired entertainment shows were replaced with additional news content once syndication contracts expired.[23][24]
NewsNation was developed under the management ofSean Compton, who was promoted to executive vice president of WGN America upon completion of the Nexstar purchase, and former WGN-TVnews director Jennifer Lyons, who was reassigned by Nexstar to serve as WGN America's vice president of news.[25] However, since its launch, NewsNation has been accused of having a rightward tilt due to its guests and for hiring former Fox News Channel chief andWhite House Deputy Chief of StaffBill Shine as a consultant. The news director and managing editor quit following the disclosure of Shine's role in February 2021.[26] Lyons announced her resignation in March amid the controversy and continued low ratings.[27] Amid dissension from NewsNation staffers, Nexstar's CEO affirmed the schedule to convert NewsNation into an "all-news, talk, and opinion" channel by 2023.[9]
In May 2021, Nexstar hired Michael Corn, the senior executive producer ofGood Morning America, as its news director to replace Lyons.[28] Corn then named Fox News vice president Cherie Grzech as managing editor.[29] Later that year, NewsNation premiered more opinion programming hosted by cable news veteransLeland Vittert andDan Abrams, as well as a morning show hosted by formerABC News presenter Adrienne Bankert.[30]
On October 3, 2022, former CNN anchorChris Cuomo, who was terminated for advising his brother, New York governorAndrew Cuomo, about how to deal with various scandals, joined the network with an evening program calledCuomo to replaceNewsNation Prime week nights, thus fully converting evening programming to personality-driven opinion and analysis shows.[31] News contributors include former Fox News hostBill O'Reilly, former White House chief of staffMick Mulvaney, former White House press secretarySean Spicer andThe Washington Post columnistGeorge Will.[32]
On April 1, 2023, overnight drama series and infomercials were replaced with repeats of its evening talk and analysis shows; then on April 24, NewsNation permanently switched to a 24-hour all-news schedule on weekdays consisting of a four-hour rolling afternoon news block,NewsNation Now (replacingcrime dramas in that slot), and an hour-long political news show,The Hill (a broadcast extension of the co-owned publication, replacing an hour of the early evening newscastNewsNation Rush Hour). The network also unveiled a new studio at itsNew York City bureau (located in theDaily News Building inMidtown,Manhattan, where co-operated CW affiliateWPIX, which also christened a separate new studio on that date, operates). Syndicated scripted series acquired under the WGN America brand that remain on the schedule (such asBlue Bloods andLast Man Standing) and time-brokered programs continued to air on weekends outside of prime time.
On June 1, 2024, NewsNation expanded its all-news format to weekends, thereby completing its four-year transition into a 24/7 cable news network. NewsNation had gradually replaced non-news programming in weekend morning and daytime slots (consisting of religious and paid programming in the early morning, and marathon blocks ofBlue Bloods—its last remaining entertainment program, which completed its syndication contract the week before the transition—in the late morning and afternoon) with weekend editions ofMorning in America, rolling news programsNewsNation Live andNewsNation Now, and theweekly political talk showThe Hill Sunday during the first half of 2024.[33][34]
After seeing an increase in viewership during its coverage of the disappearance andkilling of Gabby Petito in 2021, NewsNation launched a new series calledMissing in America which focused onmissing persons cases.[35]
Beginning in September 2024, NewsNation began to carry overflowsports programming from co-owned broadcast networkThe CW, specifically airing the start of the second game of acollege football doubleheader under theCW Football Saturday banner after the first game ran well over its scheduled timeslot or airing the start of the college football game afterNASCAR Xfinity Series races run over their scheduled time slot.[36] Such usage of news channels for overflow weekend sports content is not unprecedented, asFox has similarly used co-ownedFox Business for this purpose.[37]
On November 6, 2024, NewsNation and its partnerDecision Desk HQ were the first to call the2024 United States presidential election forDonald Trump.[38]
In 2023, NewsNation gained significant attention for its focus onUFO issues,[39][40] to which it devotes more coverage than most other cable news networks.[39] Entertainment executive Aden Ikram, writing inFortune, stated NewsNation's coverage was "normalizingUAPs by going where no network has gone before" in "sharp contrast" to traditional media's skeptical coverage towards UFO claims.[40]The Washington Post said NewsNation had found a "viewership niche" in UFO coverage. UFO journalistRoss Coulthart's interview with UFO whistleblowerDavid Grusch in June 2023 earned high ratings for the network.[39] NewsNation's interview with Grusch was repeatedly cited during aUnited States Congress UFO Hearing in July 2023.[41] NewsNation president Michael Corn toldFortune: "We are a news organization that doesn't dismiss or shy away from any story. Grusch's claims are serious and fascinating—any way you slice it, that's news."[40] NewsNation was forced to issue corrections after incorrectly claiming thatThe Intercept had obtained leaked information regarding Grusch's mental health.[39]
During the presidential primaries of the2024 election, the network hosted their first presidential candidates debates and forums. On December 6, 2023, NewsNation andThe CW were the joint television broadcasters of the fourthRepublican presidential debate.[42][43] On January 12, 2024, the network hosted a forum featuring three challengers inthe Democratic primaries (RepresentativeDean Phillips ofMinnesota,Marianne Williamson, andCenk Uygur). Incumbent presidentJoe Biden was invited to participate, but declined. The forum was moderated byDan Abrams.[44]
NewsNation is available on most multichannel television providers (including cable, satellite, IPTV, andfiber-optic-based services) within the United States. However, the channel continues to have somewhat scattershot coverage (outside of satellite distribution) in portions of theWestern United States and much of theNew England region. Moreover, some multichannel providers in various markets where Tribune Broadcasting had owned a television station prior to the closure of the group's purchase by Nexstar do not carry NewsNation. In theChicago metropolitan area, NewsNation is carried by the three major cable television providers serving the immediate area (Comcast Xfinity,RCN andWOW!) and streaming providers, in addition to the WGN-TV broadcast signal.
NewsNation streams onYouTube TV,[45]Sling TV,[46]Hulu,[47]DirecTV Stream, andFuboTV.[48]
On September 1, 2020, at the same timeNewsNation was launched, the NewsNation brand expanded to radio by broadcasting its 2-minute top-of-the-hour news headlines onWGN 720 AM. These audio newscasts are also available to listen nationally on the radio section of the network's website and app.[49]
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