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Well, your theory may explain Fox News (given the 65-68 median age of its viewers), but some of the best and most memorable anchors and reporters in television history have been Smith's age and older.

This clears out everything I have digitized on the computer through 1992. Enjoy! WTVJ (Miami, FL) December 31, 1988 11:00pm Newscast repeat from the night of switching from CBS to NBC. Lots of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" promos... https://vimeo.com/527541034 WKTV (Utica, NY) October 20, 1991 6:00pm https://vimeo.com/522611254 WBNG (Binghamton, NT) October 20, 1991 11:00pm (Short Newscast) https://vimeo.com/529540745 WVUE (New Orleans) April 3, 1992 6:00pm https://vimeo.com/522613208 WXXV (Gulfport/Biloxi) April 3, 1992 9:00pm (Mississippi News Tonight, also aired on WDBD, Jackson) https://vimeo.com/522612524 KUVN (Dallas/Ft. Worth) August 28, 1992 5:00pm https://vimeo.com/522609817 KDFW (Dallas/Ft. Worth) August 28, 1992 6:00pm https://vimeo.com/522613511 WBZ (Boston) November 20, 1992 5:00pm https://vimeo.com/529540745 WLNE (Providence, RI) November 20, 1992 11:00pm https://vimeo.com/519787352

Perhaps we will get a 4pm co-anchor announcement at the same time (and any other chair that needs to be filled as a result of that) so those opens can be recorded too.

Narrator: Shepard Smith is 57 years old.

Well, looks like MLBN/NHLN fixed their problem.

More news material from the Philippines, this time from the '90s. GMA News Live update circa 1995: Ending to ABS-CBN's The World Tonight, from March 11, 1991) via DX: Coverage of the inauguration of Fidel Ramos in 1992 from the Associated Broadcasting Company (ABC), now TV5:

A brand new station shacking up on an existing frequency. Certain markets seem to be maxed out on the UHF frequency, but they'll probably have to settle for VHF unless they can make a deal with an existing licencee. It may have to happen with the low-power holders especially if someone like Weigel wants to move in to a market where HC2 wants to stay and they split a channel. Then again, it's probably easier to buy or sell rather than trying to apply for a new license in the first place...

Marquee has nevered "sidecar"-ed with Lowcountry. They've both have swapped LPs with each other last year. But they have no ties with each other. And again, no company needs to sidecar when acquiring LPs (either operational or unbuilt). I don't understand why you continue to think one company is buying the LPs on behalf of another when there's no ownership limitations on LPs.

This should have been an OTT thing from the start. Cable is dying faster than the subscribers who are dropping it. And whatever efforts Nexstar is doing digitally (like their digital desk at WFLA in Tampa) are being buried on the web. Even as a last resort, there's Antenna TV, now wouldn't that be the ultimate oxymoron if they end up on cable . Even then, the shows they air are mostly available 24/7 on places like Pluto TV...

And a way to drive viewership? Make a half-hour or hour long show to syndicate on their stations. It could follow the "PM/Evening Magazine" model. Have a bank of stories that are chosen and promoted, and that drive viewership to the main channel. It could be localized in the larger markets, especially if it's a story that originated locally or in the region. And if all else fails, see if CNN still has the "jukebox" they used for Headline News in the 90s. Call me old fashioned, sometimes I just want to know what's going on at a random time.... And when HLN jumped the shark, the last days of the All News Channel was a good watch. They essentially did what Nexstar should have been doing all along. Using THEIR stations to present content to a national audience. We have to remember when NewsNation runs a story from one of Nexstar's markets, that local reporter doing the story is mentioned on-air as a "NewsNation reporter." So, if (let's say) a report on the recent blizzard runs on KDVR/KWGN in Denver (both Nexstar stations), that reporter on said station will most likely first use their station's mic flag for the local run, before using the NewsNation mic flag for the national run of that story. (The story, BTW, would probably air first locally before airing nationally.) It may sound kind of corny, but I tend to think Nexstar is also using NewsNation as a showcase for all the journalistic work done by reporters all across the Nexstar station spectrum. If one is a reporter at a Nexstar station and he or she is chosen somehow to file a report for NewsNation, this would be considered a major honor/accomplishment for that reporter. (Scripps sometimes does the same thing with Newsy, in which reports from some of their stations also air at various points on the channel's programs.)

THIS email sent to FTVLive pretty much sums what is wrong and what could work going forward for NewsNation... There are several huge reasons that News Nation is failing, in my opinion. First.. the approach is all wrong. Stories from the Nexstar stations need to be local stories that can be easily adapted to national interest. It's all in the writing. You have to write those local lead-in's, NATIONALLY. You have to structure them differently. To a good imaginative writer, this is not difficult. If the news writer or producer is enthusiastic about it, the magic words are there. You simply have to make that local story in Peoria, interesting to people in Raleigh-Durham. You can only do that in the writing. You can also make a difference by re-editing the package, taking out some of the local references. It is NOT difficult. Second... the anchors are all wrong for that show. Frankly, they are boring, seemingly uninterested in any story they're reading. Part of it are the words they're reading, but most of it is just flat deliveries. They just do not seem comfortable. Third... timing is everything. News Nation has changed time on several occasions. It's not finding an audience because people never know where to find IT. Fourth is the news approach. The world does not need another Fox News anymore than it needs another CNN. It does need a national newscast that is free of any political coverage. Yeah, I said it. Who cares what's going on in Washington right now? Who cares about Democrats and Republicans and what they think? In a political season, yes. Do political stories. Outside of a political season, can them. Nobody cares. There are other subtle changes that News Nation needs to make, that won't get made. I crossed News Nation off my watch list after the second or third show. I haven't watched it since, and won't. I also haven't even bothered to watch Sinclair's National Desk. In my opinion, they are both and equally gigantic wastes of valuable viewer time. And a way to drive viewership? Make a half-hour or hour long show to syndicate on their stations. It could follow the "PM/Evening Magazine" model. Have a bank of stories that are chosen and promoted, and that drive viewership to the main channel. It could be localized in the larger markets, especially if it's a story that originated locally or in the region. And if all else fails, see if CNN still has the "jukebox" they used for Headline News in the 90s. Call me old fashioned, sometimes I just want to know what's going on at a random time.... And when HLN jumped the shark, the last days of the All News Channel was a good watch. They essentially did what Nexstar should have been doing all along. Using THEIR stations to present content to a national audience.

Exactly! NewsNation is still in its "infancy"; much like the other news channels were at one point. WGN America was going to suffer from ratings decline, much like other channels have been dealing with. To be quite honest, even the most "neutral" newscasts and organizations will have been accused of bias at some point, whether or not we remember. Also, NewsNation has been uploading stuff to their YouTube channel (even full episodes of Banfield). This means that they are trying to make things more accessible to more people.

In my personal opinion, it is completely unfair to consider NewsNation a fail less than one year after they launched (as a newscast). I think it is self-evident that there are those who literally want NewsNation to crash and burn, because Nexstar had the idea of creating a news channel. I think we can all agree that any start-up has to make changes as time goes on with plenty of room for improvement -- and this is no different. They are undoubtedly experiencing growing pains and people should keep that fact in mind. I also think it is also unfair to tie NewsNation directly to the decline of WGN America. WGN America had seen better days before Nexstar, to put it mildly. And now Nexstar is injecting new life into the channel under the new NewsNation brand. As much as people want to say otherwise, WGN America was not going to survive long-term without major changes. And now Nexstar is making changes that, in my opinion, puts the channel on the best possible path to being successful. I personally would've preferred that they kept the WGN America name, at least nominally, to maintain continuity of the brand. But nonetheless, I think NewsNation has a solid concept and they are well on their way to fulfilling their mission. I agree that NewsNation cable feed should be more accessible to digital users, but we should also remember that they have to turn a profit and just making it free over the Internet, while trying to be successful on cable, can short-circuit their success on cable. Finally, referring to the NY Times piece, I think it is ridiculous to suggest NewsNation has some kind of unique bias. I'm sure if the shoe was on the other foot, the NY Times would have no objections. I perceive NewsNation as being objective and trying to be fair. There is no such thing as a perfect news outlet. But I would say NewsNation is among the best on cable right now for straight news.

Thank you. We certainly don't need more than one thread just to say "this sucks and I want it gone".

Maybe someone can help me here but I fail to understand these broad doomsday statements. Saying that "NewsNation has lost a majority of its staff" is simply not true. There are about 150 people on staff at NewsNation. Have over 75 people quit? Sure they have lost a few key leaders, and I'm not downplaying that, but to say a majority of their staff is a gross exaggeration. And I still don't understand the "cut losses" concept. People on this board have been clamoring for it to be shut down since the day it launched. This product is a little over 6 months old! FOX News took 6 years before they became a ratings juggernaut. MSNBC took much longer. And both of those channels took far more start up cash than NewsNation did. As long as Nexstar sees long term potential, I believe they will give the channel time to find an audience. All it takes is one marquee program and they can build around that. O'Reilly was the cornerstone for Fox while Olbermann was the ticket for MSNBC. I do agree they need a better programming strategy. The all-things to all-people programming strategy is no longer viable. I would advise them to take a "heartland" approach. I hear a lot from friends in the middle of the country that news is too focused on NY and LA. Maybe being in Chicago then can build a news product for middle America. That certainly would distinguish them. Their ratings would probably be modest, given the population density. But it would give them a target audience for programming and ad sales. In any event, with a lot of people's jobs on the line I'm sure not rooting for a failure. I hope they are given time to find their voice.