NewsNation Launch Thread

[J1975am 208]

1 hour ago, Kenneth Kissel said:

I find it appalling Nexstar has enough money to get a new news set and graphics for News Nation but can't fix a station in Wheeling with new Graphics. These are from WTRF's 5 PM newscast on 8/6/2020. Nexstar bought this station in 2017.

I don't see anything here that's bothersome......

 

What's wrong with these graphics, though?

[Technically A Director 164]

1 hour ago, Kenneth Kissel said:

I find it appalling Nexstar has enough money to get a new news set and graphics for News Nation but can't fix a station in Wheeling with new Graphics. These are from WTRF's 5 PM newscast on 8/6/2020. Nexstar bought this station in 2017.

Unless it's a flagship station, it's almost never a corporate decision on who gets new graphics when. If the station has a compatible system, they can select whatever Nexstar package fits them and tailor it to their needs, with little to no associated cost (other than an art director or two going sleepless). 

 

Now, if they have an older system, or one that is still unique in the Nexstar ecosystem, that might be a holdup. Nexstar's packages are prebuilt for systems like Xpression, and they may be hesitant to spend time porting a package to an old or less used system. Upgrading/Replacing the system may be cost prohibitive, and that would definitely be a corporate roadblock if they don't approve the upgrade. 

[tyrannical bastard 3442]

WTRF and the other former WVMH stations aside from WOWK are pretty much the same as they were from the WVMH days.  Only WOWK got the CBS look since it's only affiliated with CBS, while the other stations are airing multiple affiliations and opt to brand with only their channel number.  

 

In the future, they might be candidates for the WISH or the KOIN package.

 

Ratings-wise, WBOY dominates while WTRF lags behind WTOV.   How does WVNS stack up, since they're the youngest station in the market?

[ED2 144]

is WTRF using the KTLA graphics?

[kfc513 225]

On 8/6/2020 at 9:42 PM, ED2 said:

is WTRF using the KTLA graphics?

 

Yes. All of the West Virginia Media Group stations used it.

 

[GoldenShine9 1509]

On 8/6/2020 at 7:06 PM, tyrannical bastard said:

WTRF and the other former WVMH stations aside from WOWK are pretty much the same as they were from the WVMH days.  Only WOWK got the CBS look since it's only affiliated with CBS, while the other stations are airing multiple affiliations and opt to brand with only their channel number.  

 

In the future, they might be candidates for the WISH or the KOIN package.

 

Ratings-wise, WBOY dominates while WTRF lags behind WTOV.   How does WVNS stack up, since they're the youngest station in the market?

 

I believe WVVA is the runaway market leader there.

[news89 467]

https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/nexstar-news-nation-promotional-campaign-tv-1234736796/

[CircleSeven 1944]

This is big get. A well known network correspondent is joining the Nation.

 

 

[Georgie56 3059]

NewsNation's YouTube channel uploaded a behind-the-scenes documentary.

[Spring Rubber 609]

6 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

NewsNation's YouTube channel uploaded a behind-the-scenes documentary.

Dang, only 170 views and 0 comments on that video so far. I thoroughly enjoyed the video, but I feel like it's just us news junkies that know care about it at this point.

[Jase 818]

7 hours ago, CircleSeven said:

This is big get. A well known network correspondent is joining the Nation.

 

 

This is indeed a big get given he was (reportedly) looking to retire this summer.

 

27 minutes ago, Spring Rubber said:

Dang, only 170 views and 0 comments on that video so far. I thoroughly enjoyed the video, but I feel like it's just us news junkies that know care about it at this point.

 

It’s going to be an uphill battle for them on the social media side, but I’m confident they can get things going after 9/1. My main concern is the slate of programming outside of News Nation. They’re going to need something to draw people to WGN America because News Nation alone won’t be enough. 

[ScottJ 134]

This is admittedly pedantic on my part, but it's my job to notice minor details like this so it's bugging me. Nexstar needs to decide if it's NewsNation or News Nation and make sure everyone on staff is formatting it the same way. They're formatting it both ways. The Twitter account is formatted NewsNation Now, but the YouTube account is News Nation Now, and even the four videos they've uploaded to the YT account don't all have the name the same way in the titles.

 

Again, that's something that most people won't notice, but it looks bad to people who do notice it. Get the branding correct one way or the other.

[Spring Rubber 609]

9 hours ago, ScottJ said:

This is admittedly pedantic on my part, but it's my job to notice minor details like this so it's bugging me. Nexstar needs to decide if it's NewsNation or News Nation and make sure everyone on staff is formatting it the same way. They're formatting it both ways. The Twitter account is formatted NewsNation Now, but the YouTube account is News Nation Now, and even the four videos they've uploaded to the YT account don't all have the name the same way in the titles.

 

Again, that's something that most people won't notice, but it looks bad to people who do notice it. Get the branding correct one way or the other.

I agree that is very important. I've never seen a major company be so inconsistent with that. Normally every company has very strict standards about the way their brand name is presented.

[24994J 5269]

Here's a look at the in-broadcast graphics...

 

 

And a preview of digital anchor Ji Suk Yi at the breaking news/update desk...

 

 

[Spring Rubber 609]

Looks like they're giving a lot of screen real estate for the bug there. It's always risky when you use lower thirds that are shaped based on the bug. If the bug ever fails on the air, it winds up looking pretty silly.

[Georgie56 3059]

7 hours ago, Spring Rubber said:

Looks like they're giving a lot of screen real estate for the bug there. It's always risky when you use lower thirds that are shaped based on the bug. If the bug ever fails on the air, it winds up looking pretty silly.

 

If this is the bug they plan to use on-air, that's not a good sign. 

 

[ED2 144]

My only complaint is that clock needs to be bigger.

[tvtime07 250]

I still don't understand the logic of News Nation. From what I understand, this will exclusively be seen on WGN America. Is WGN America legitimately an appropriate broadcasting home for the show? Can someone tell me how this business model works? Cause, I really don't see it doing much or anything.

 

Will News Nation content be seen on all Nexstar stations in some form? They should have invested in streaming and created the brand around a free app, combining content from Nexstar stations with the original and live content streaming from News Nation and called it a day.

[LoadStar 363]

On 8/17/2020 at 5:33 PM, Georgie56 said:

NewsNation's YouTube channel uploaded a behind-the-scenes documentary.

Honestly, it felt a little self-indulgent to do a half-hour documentary all about themselves.

 

On 8/17/2020 at 11:54 PM, Spring Rubber said:

Dang, only 170 views and 0 comments on that video so far. I thoroughly enjoyed the video, but I feel like it's just us news junkies that know care about it at this point.

I suspect no one other than news junkies will care enough to watch something like this.

[tyrannical bastard 3442]

36 minutes ago, tvtime07 said:

I still don't understand the logic of News Nation. From what I understand, this will exclusively be seen on WGN America. Is WGN America legitimately an appropriate broadcasting home for the show? Can someone tell me how this business model works? Cause, I really don't see it doing much or anything.

 

Will News Night content be seen on all Nexstar stations in some form? They should have invested in streaming and created the brand around a free app, combining content from Nexstar stations with the original and live content streaming from News Nation and called it a day.

 

I'm starting to see the co-promos air on Nexstar stations.  They start with a local anchor tag telling viewers to watch NewsNation on WGN America, then it cuts to a NewsNation promo.

 

WGN America really needs (or has really needed to) boost their availability outside of cable and satellite TV.  I know I sound like a broken record saying this again and again, but Nexstar really needs to put their content in the OTT world like 5 years ago.  Very few of their stations have Roku or Amazon apps, and the ones that do are pet projects like KRONon and whatever Tribune stations actually launched on their own before the merger.

 

Of course, not being part of a media conglomerate (since Nexstar is basically nothing in the pay tv world) hurts them, and if they think holding out like their channel is actually worth something is laughable.

 

Get it beyond cable TV, get it on more OTT services, launch an OTT app (with a nominal fee to cover costs), and they can actually make this worthwhile!  I guess the "broadcast tv" mentality (aka LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL) is still ingrained in their heads, and having a national cable channel is still much a foreign idea to them.

[dabx 55]

I, for one, would welcome a newscast like this - the others (CNN,MSNBC,Fox) do nothing but rehash the same points over and over 24/7. How many times about the school, about the crowds, spending too much time on trivial BS and suspicions. I much rather watch a traditional network newscast without the so called experts on their opinions (which is usually all the same)

As for their stations, I am sure the will eventually come up with a weekend type MTP type program. Give it time, it will need to grow - I hope that Nexstar a least give it the time to grow - WGN now has worthless programming, so what does have to lose?

BTW I have to laugh at some these comments how they don't like the bug they are using - is it that important? People get a life

 

[Jase 818]

5 hours ago, ED2 said:

My only complaint is that clock needs to be bigger.

Do they really need a clock at night? It would be a different story if this was a morning newscast.

 

9 hours ago, Georgie56 said:

 

If this is the bug they plan to use on-air, that's not a good sign. 

 

It seems like they are just trying different things out before settling on something by September. Whatever bug/option they choose, it could likely be something that transitions on/off screen and isn’t constant. 

[swillh2k2 203]

1 hour ago, jase said:

Do they really need a clock at night? It would be a different story if this was a morning newscast.

 

It seems like they are just trying different things out before settling on something by September. Whatever bug/option they choose, it could likely be something that transitions on/off screen and isn’t constant. 

There’s a non-zero chance that people will decide whether or not to watch this - outside of some members on this board - due to the bug or whether it’s formatted as “News Nation” or “NewsNation” 

 

3 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

 

WGN America really needs (or has really needed to) boost their availability outside of cable and satellite TV.

This is where NewsNation will live or die, and that’s by distribution rights with live streaming platforms. Right now AT&T TV Now is the only one that carries WGNA, but I think part of the reason why it’s not come to retrans agreements with YTTV, Sling, Hulu, FuboTV, etc. is that there’s not really anything on there that is truly worth watching. In The Heat of the Night reruns are a carryover from WGN’s superstation era, and they’re offering Last Man Standing and Blue Bloods rerun blocks in prime time, but I could easily find those shows on demand or on a local station in syndication. It’s not really developed the identity of a national cable network and established itself as a destination for appointment viewing.

 

It feels like Nexstar has put the cart before the horse in hoping that NewsNation takes off and leads WGNA to get picked up by some of the big streaming services, but if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it...

 

Either way, I’m interested in seeing the product. It will be streamed on their website, but I could be wrong on that front. But being less than 2 weeks from launch with just one live TV service on board has put WGNA in a tough position, and unless something changes between now and 9/1 they’ll be in big trouble right out of the gate.

[tvtime07 250]

3 hours ago, tyrannical bastard said:

 

I'm starting to see the co-promos air on Nexstar stations.  They start with a local anchor tag telling viewers to watch NewsNation on WGN America, then it cuts to a NewsNation promo.

 

WGN America really needs (or has really needed to) boost their availability outside of cable and satellite TV.  I know I sound like a broken record saying this again and again, but Nexstar really needs to put their content in the OTT world like 5 years ago.  Very few of their stations have Roku or Amazon apps, and the ones that do are pet projects like KRONon and whatever Tribune stations actually launched on their own before the merger.

 

Of course, not being part of a media conglomerate (since Nexstar is basically nothing in the pay tv world) hurts them, and if they think holding out like their channel is actually worth something is laughable.

 

Get it beyond cable TV, get it on more OTT services, launch an OTT app (with a nominal fee to cover costs), and they can actually make this worthwhile!  I guess the "broadcast tv" mentality (aka LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL) is still ingrained in their heads, and having a national cable channel is still much a foreign idea to them.

 

TOTALLY. Cord-cutting is real and people will continue to cut their ties with cable and satellite. The future is streaming and it's very laughable that station groups are not putting themselves out there on places like Roku and Amazon.  

 

In regards to WGN America, I'm surprised that the network is still a thing. It's already lost in the shuffle. They might as well rebrand the channel if they plan to target news/info content, wouldn't mind seeing a CNN Headline News-esque network. 

[tyrannical bastard 3442]

The leverage that Nexstar has is with their many affiliate stations, yet the lack thereof (especially with CW affiliates including key ones in major markets...and other independents including WGN 9!!) is a gaping hole.   Hopefully they can bundle WGN America into this without getting into a retransmission consent war with the OTT providers.