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NewsNation Launch Thread


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Thread Notice: On March 1, 2021 WGN America will rebrand as NewsNation. As it will then become a proper cable news network, this thread documenting the start of the show as it existed on WGN America will be closed on that date. Please consider starting new threads to cover other aspects of the new network.

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I've said it before, but why are people not willing to give NewsNation a chance to prove itself?   The level of disdain people have for this fledgling operation, specifically, is stunning. 

 

I'm extremely picky over any subtle bias that's masked as objective.    So far in my estimation, NewsNation is doing an outstanding job in being objective.  There is always room for improvement, but NewsNation is exceeding every expectation I had for them.

 

As for the CNN controversy, would it be that disastrous to do without CNN for news content?   When was the last time anyone regarded CNN as an objective news organization?   This is merely my opinion, but I view any shared content from CNN (whether it be on a station website or newscast) as a negative--given how much bias and spin occurs on CNN.   There needs to be a better choice for local newsrooms.   Maybe with time, as NewsNation develops into its own identity, NewsNation can fill that gap of offering that service.

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16 minutes ago, Spring Rubber said:

First off, which one of you wrote this? 😉

 

Secondly, idk, it just sounds a little too self-serving for them to actually put this on air.

20200909_011156_HDR.jpg

 
If I’m being honest, I’m disappointed in the decision to air this. 

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Also there is AP and Reuters video available. It is interesting how stations handled NN talent leaving - CBS 4 in Miami kicked Rudabeh off immediately while Greard Jebaily hadn't been at KSHB for more than a few years and got to hang on until August. The larger networks may feel NN is competition, but then again they were feeding CBSN off the work of Nexstar, Gray, Cox, and Sinclair affiliates, all of whom have or will have national news programming. 

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9 hours ago, TheRyan said:

When was the last time anyone regarded CNN as an objective news organization?   This is merely my opinion, but I view any shared content from CNN (whether it be on a station website or newscast) as a negative--given how much bias and spin occurs on CNN.

 

The value of CNN Newsource is not Wolf Blitzer, Chris Cuomo or any CNN-produced reporting. The service provides hundreds of items daily from local stations, foreign affiliates and other sources -- along with clean feeds of news conferences and major events. It has more reach in this regard than any other service. You would have no idea warching that CNN was the conduit for that material.

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10 hours ago, CalItalian2 said:

You can NOT operate ONE cable channel today. That's not the way the industry works anymore. Nexstar has proven they don't have the ability to even present a product that viewers let alone advertisers want. Reruns would do much better...and were...in demos/sales. 

Nobody is buying it. They're giving ads away like crazy. The ad agencies are laughing at it. As I have said in multiple posts since this turkey even went on the air, SELL WGN AMERICA NOW, NEXSTAR, while you can still make something off of it. NEXSTAR KILLED WGN AMERICA. It is NOT salvageable. 

 

WGNa wasn't salvageable to begin with. Did you miss reruns of Blue Bloods, In the Heat of the Night or movies? If so, just say it. But you don't have to be pissed off too much. @CalItalian2, who hurt you?

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4 hours ago, Kenneth Kissel said:

Update to CNN and Nexstar's Pissing match. https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2020/9/9/cnn-pulls-the-plug-on-nexstar.

 

Stations like WGN, WPIX, KTLA, and WXIN are feeling the pinch.

 

While the "Nexstar Nation" could cover local issues easily, this puts world events at the mercy of other networks, and leaves a gaping hole for their independent and  standalone "netlet" stations.

At least WXIN/WTTV has CBS and FOX to pull from.   And WPIX is still part of Scripps.....for now.

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5 minutes ago, tyrannical bastard said:


 

While the "Nexstar Nation" could cover local issues easily, this puts world events at the mercy of other networks, and leaves a gaping hole for their independent and  standalone "netlet" stations.

At least WXIN/WTTV has CBS and FOX to pull from.   And WPIX is still part of Scripps.....for now.

Indeed, But I believe Sinclair was going to do the same thing with WGNA , more right-leaning to Compete with FOX though, If the Sinclair/Tribune merger had gone through.

 

If I was Scripps, I would tell Nexstar/Mission that we will hold on to WPIX until you fix your mess with the Networks and CNN.  Let Nexstar sue them, Scripps would win out if they did.

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41 minutes ago, YardLionREW said:

WGNa wasn't salvageable to begin with. Did you miss reruns of Blue Bloods, In the Heat of the Night or movies? If so, just say it. But you don't have to be pissed off too much. @CalItalian2, who hurt you?

 

Plus, Blue Bloods, In the Heat of the Night, Last Man Standing and various movies could all find new homes if WGN were to make the channel 24-hour news. 

 

 

 

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I wonder what the odds are that Nexstar would consider producing original series on WGN America, much like what Tribune did with shows like Manhattan, but as either a lead-in or lead-out for NewsNation.  I thought at the time Tribune was on to something with making original series that gave people a reason to tune in.  It would be tricky considering that they would have to run it either at 7pm eastern or 11pm eastern (if the NewsNation rerun was bumped back one hour).

 

Probably not a likely scenario, but it's something I wish Nexstar would explore to give WGN America more original content than just NewsNation.

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Fox Business had around 6,000 viewers in 2007 when they debuted. No calls from TVNT to immediately shut it down.

 

Newsy's cable channel currently gets about 6,000 viewers and they've been on cable for years. No calls to shut that down either.

 

NewsNation gets over 10 times those numbers and it must shut down immediately.

 

Interesting...

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22 hours ago, Kenneth Kissel said:

Now Fox Wants to Drop Its Network Source from Nexstar Stations. (Source is once again FTVLive) https://www.patreon.com/posts/could-more-shoes-41448479

 

 

FOX.PNG

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7 hours ago, Kenneth Kissel said:

Now Fox Wants to Drop Its Network Source from Nexstar Stations. (Source is once again FTVLive) https://www.patreon.com/posts/could-more-shoes-41448479

 

 

FOX.PNG

Given Perry's actions, I have to say it's going to be the former of the 2 questions Scott asked at the end of the article.

 

I smell disaster coming for more than just NewsNation, it may be complete disaster for Nexstar as a whole

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While in the short term this could be a drawback for Nexstar, it might be just what the doctor ordered to get the trend started of breaking newsrooms free of CNN.   Anything with CNN's name on it takes away from the credibility, regardless of what the product is.   Whenever I hear someone say in a newscast "CNN is reporting that..." I immediately consider the story's credibility suspect.  

 

We'll have to see how this plays out, but I believe that NewsNation has real potential of offering a competing service to CNN NewsSource as they continue to develop.   Nexstar might just be doing everyone a favor here in the long-run.   Change can be difficult, but it's long past time to get CNN out of local newsrooms nationwide.

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8 minutes ago, TheRyan said:

While in the short term this could be a drawback for Nexstar, it might be just what the doctor ordered to get the trend started of breaking newsrooms free of CNN.   Anything with CNN's name on it takes away from the credibility, regardless of what the product is.   Whenever I hear someone say in a newscast "CNN is reporting that..." I immediately consider the story's credibility suspect.  

 

We'll have to see how this plays out, but I believe that NewsNation has real potential of offering a competing service to CNN NewsSource as they continue to develop.   Nexstar might just be doing everyone a favor here in the long-run.   Change can be difficult, but it's long past time to get CNN out of local newsrooms nationwide.

 

Uh, no. Nexstar stations already share video and resources between them—NewsNation might have codified that a bit more, but in essence this program is just lifting and shifting that local content into a national broadcast. NewsNation isn't designed to compete with the global newsgathering efforts of a network like CNN.

 

Also there's another 50% of the country that doesn't share your reaction when they hear the "CNN" brand.

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I remember back in the day when I thought Uncle Perry was crazy pulling us off cable. We went a year and tossed out all the ratings we had but look what he accomplished! ALL television owners do this even with OTT and CTV. 
 

Perry is not stupid. He does not do anything irrational. He has a plan in his head that he’s carrying out. He’s just bad at communicating the message to internal staff. It’s not his sweet spot. 
 

That being said, he is an innovator. And this will probably go the same way as retrans occurred back in 2004. 

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The more I think about this whole Nexstar-CNN-Fox situation, the more I think Scott Jones (of FTVLive) is gold-digging his way into Nexstar's territory just to break the company up.

 

I don't understand what Nexstar did in the lead-up to the launch of NewsNation but every report Jones has made since NewsNation launched on September 2nd (the same day the report about Nexstar denying access to CNN and the Big 4 nets came out) has been pushing towards breaking up Nexstar for no reason.

 

I haven't seen any reason whatsoever for the company to be broken up in any way, shape and forum but it's clear to me that Scott is doing this just to cause either a mass sell off of the Nexstar stations, mass affiliation switches of the Nexstar stations (on a scale we haven't seen since the 90s given how large Nexstar as a company is), or both.

 

I think stations like KASW, WATN, WOI, WISH, WITI and KCPQ are all glad they don't have to deal with this mess.

 

I also think Scott Jones is to be blamed on (partially) for this mess that we're in.

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8 minutes ago, oknewsguy said:

The more I think about this whole Nexstar-CNN-Fox situation, the more I think Scott Jones (of FTVLive) is gold-digging his way into Nexstar's territory just to break the company up.

 

I don't understand what Nexstar did in the lead-up to the launch of NewsNation but every report Jones has made since NewsNation launched on September 2nd (the same day the report about Nexstar denying access to CNN and the Big 4 nets came out) has been pushing towards breaking up Nexstar for no reason.

 

I haven't seen any reason whatsoever for the company to be broken up in any way, shape and forum but it's clear to me that Scott is doing this just to cause either a mass sell off of the Nexstar stations, mass affiliation switches of the Nexstar stations (on a scale we haven't seen since the 90s given how large Nexstar as a company is), or both.

 

I think stations like KASW, WATN, WOI, WISH, WITI and KCPQ are all glad they don't have to deal with this mess.

 

I also think Scott Jones is to be blamed on (partially) for this mess that we're in.

I completely disagree with this. If this was Sinclair, This would have clout but not Nexstar.

 

P.S. I sent This to Scott

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9 minutes ago, Kenneth Kissel said:

I completely disagree with this. If this was Sinclair, This would have clout but not Nexstar.

 

P.S. I sent This to Scott

I think though he probably would've done the same thing to Sinclair had they did something similar to what Nexstar has done to WGNA albeit not in the style Nexstar has done it (at least in Sinclair's case)

 

The impression I'm getting out of him is that he didn't "want" to see NewsNation succeed but he also probably wouldn't want have seen whatever format Sinclair would have put on WGNA had they gotten them to succeed anyway.

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On 9/9/2020 at 6:12 PM, froyo49 said:

Fox Business had around 6,000 viewers in 2007 when they debuted. No calls from TVNT to immediately shut it down.

 

Newsy's cable channel currently gets about 6,000 viewers and they've been on cable for years. No calls to shut that down either.

 

NewsNation gets over 10 times those numbers and it must shut down immediately.

 

Interesting...

FBN was a completely new channel. It didn't have access to 75 million households. You are comparing apples with oranges. WGN America and its Nexstar owned stations promoted the hell out of a product that is a complete DUD. NewsNation is DOA and won't be revived nor will WGN AMERICA. SELL WGN AMERICA NOW, NEXSTAR. 

On 9/9/2020 at 9:21 AM, YardLionREW said:

WGNa wasn't salvageable to begin with. Did you miss reruns of Blue Bloods, In the Heat of the Night or movies? If so, just say it. But you don't have to be pissed off too much. @CalItalian2, who hurt you?

WGN America has a huge household base that would take years, if ever, to cobble together today. It certainly is salvageable for another company that knows how to run a cable network. 

On 9/9/2020 at 10:05 AM, Newsjunkie24 said:

 

Plus, Blue Bloods, In the Heat of the Night, Last Man Standing and various movies could all find new homes if WGN were to make the channel 24-hour news. 

 

 

 

WGN America will never be a 24/7 cable news network. This is 2020 not 1980 and they don't have the resources or knowledge to even run a 3 hour newscast. 

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On 9/8/2020 at 11:07 PM, TheRyan said:

I've said it before, but why are people not willing to give NewsNation a chance to prove itself?   The level of disdain people have for this fledgling operation, specifically, is stunning. 

 

I'm extremely picky over any subtle bias that's masked as objective.    So far in my estimation, NewsNation is doing an outstanding job in being objective.  There is always room for improvement, but NewsNation is exceeding every expectation I had for them.

 

As for the CNN controversy, would it be that disastrous to do without CNN for news content?   When was the last time anyone regarded CNN as an objective news organization?   This is merely my opinion, but I view any shared content from CNN (whether it be on a station website or newscast) as a negative--given how much bias and spin occurs on CNN.   There needs to be a better choice for local newsrooms.   Maybe with time, as NewsNation develops into its own identity, NewsNation can fill that gap of offering that service.

The ratings, households, demos are getting worse by the day. If you can't see this is DOA, you don't understand the delivery of news today and in the future. NewsNation has no future. 

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25 minutes ago, CalItalian2 said:

The ratings, households, demos are getting worse by the day. If you can't see this is DOA, you don't understand the delivery of news today and in the future. NewsNation has no future. 

 

Actually I understand very well how news works today.  And I believe NewsNation has a future.  Many successful channels began with lower ratings and became household names.  This is just the beginning.  I'm sure Nexstar has a plan for continuing its development beyond this launch phase.

 

36 minutes ago, CalItalian2 said:

FBN was a completely new channel. It didn't have access to 75 million households. You are comparing apples with oranges. WGN America and its Nexstar owned stations promoted the hell out of a product that is a complete DUD. NewsNation is DOA and won't be revived nor will WGN AMERICA. SELL WGN AMERICA NOW, NEXSTAR.

 

FBN was not unique.  Obviously, CNBC was already around.  And yet FBN became wildly successful.  It wasn't that there was a need for a business channel (because there was CNBC), but it was because people wanted an alternative. 

 

 

6 hours ago, oknewsguy said:

I think though he probably would've done the same thing to Sinclair had they did something similar to what Nexstar has done to WGNA albeit not in the style Nexstar has done it (at least in Sinclair's case)

 

The impression I'm getting out of him is that he didn't "want" to see NewsNation succeed but he also probably wouldn't want have seen whatever format Sinclair would have put on WGNA had they gotten them to succeed anyway.

 

I entirely agree @oknewsguy.  That was also the impression I was getting.

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12 hours ago, oknewsguy said:

The more I think about this whole Nexstar-CNN-Fox situation, the more I think Scott Jones (of FTVLive) is gold-digging his way into Nexstar's territory just to break the company up.

 

I don't understand what Nexstar did in the lead-up to the launch of NewsNation but every report Jones has made since NewsNation launched on September 2nd (the same day the report about Nexstar denying access to CNN and the Big 4 nets came out) has been pushing towards breaking up Nexstar for no reason.

 

I haven't seen any reason whatsoever for the company to be broken up in any way, shape and forum but it's clear to me that Scott is doing this just to cause either a mass sell off of the Nexstar stations, mass affiliation switches of the Nexstar stations (on a scale we haven't seen since the 90s given how large Nexstar as a company is), or both.

 

I think stations like KASW, WATN, WOI, WISH, WITI and KCPQ are all glad they don't have to deal with this mess.

 

I also think Scott Jones is to be blamed on (partially) for this mess that we're in.

Hey @oknewsguy and @TheRyan Scott has responded. https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2020/9/11/blame-me

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13 hours ago, CalItalian2 said:

FBN was a completely new channel. It didn't have access to 75 million households. You are comparing apples with oranges. WGN America and its Nexstar owned stations promoted the hell out of a product that is a complete DUD. NewsNation is DOA and won't be revived nor will WGN AMERICA. SELL WGN AMERICA NOW, NEXSTAR. 

I guess the most analogous example would be Newsy. Their cable channel had access to 25 million households at its launch in 2017 and currently sits at 40 mil. Yet, their primetime numbers are considerably below NewsNation's (20k vs 60-100k). I don't live in a Scripps market so I can't say how much they market it on their stations. Sure you can factor in the fact they have an online stream, but anyway.

 

The point I'm trying to make is that even though NewsNation didn't have millions of viewers out of the gate, it doesn't mean they should just give up after 2 weeks. Plus, in this day and age of political tribalism and waning numbers for cable overall, one shouldn't expect them to come super strong out of the gate. Sure, if after a number of months they still struggle to pull a decent viewership, then they should review their options, but 2 weeks is far too soon. They spent millions on this, I don't think they should throw it all away based on a slow start. As with many things in life, persistence is key.

 

13 hours ago, CalItalian2 said:

The ratings, households, demos are getting worse by the day.

Actually Scott Jones is reporting that the numbers are starting to perk up. This past Wednesday, according to him, they averaged 105k viewers, the first time they reached six digits since the premiere. Maybe a one-off, maybe the start of a trend. It's far too early to say. Just like it's far too early to say they should shut down right this instant.

 

 

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