Despite strong-arming traditional pay TV companies and forging new agreements with streaming services, Nexstar has yet to see a return on that investment even after it reduced NewsNations news hours from three to two and launched two new current affairs programs in their place. NewsNation, previously named WGN America, had been positioned by Nexstar at its debut last year as a just-the-facts news channel. The founder, chairman, president, and CEO of Nexstar is Perry A. Sook. The Nexstar Media Group was founded as the Nexstar Broadcasting Group on June 17, 1996, initially backed by ABRY Partners. Earlier this year, Sook said that Nexstar was already taking in more revenue from political spending than ever before. Im not so focused on being first, Graziano said. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. But the company has been surprised by NewsNations inability to attract a sizable number of viewers. In an email to The Hills staff on Friday, Mr. Finkelstein wrote that The Hill was highly profitable, with profit and revenue increasing at a rate of 50 percent a year. NewsNation is an American subscription television network owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and is the company's only wholly-owned, national cable-originated television channel.The channel runs a mixture of entertainment programming (consisting of comedy and drama series, and theatrical feature films) for most of the broadcast day and a straight-news format during the evening and overnight . Compton helped secure the sit-down, which was disclosed to viewers. Nexstar is increasingly producing content that will be aired across multiple stations in a regiona plan that has both benefits and drawbacks for the public. News Nation is an American cable news television channel owned by Nexstar Media Group, which debuted on September 1, 2010. Legal experts weigh in, ChatGPT who? In September, its cable network WGN America (a former Tribune holding) will launch a three-hour nightly prime-time program that will compete with cable news shows. Nexstar had a strong year financially, reporting free cash flow of $1.3 billion in 2020, a 100% increase over 2018; TV stations typically see a boon from political advertising in election years. The accusations were detailed in a lengthy profile on the media brand by the New York Times on Sunday that painted an environment of conflict between executives who are trying to establish a neutral cable news brand and front-line journalists who believe the result of their efforts is anything but. But after eight months on the air, NewsNation has been plagued by minuscule ratings and internal strife over allegations of meddling in news coverage. Despite Nexstars claims that its consolidation is helping high-quality local news flourish, its stations are essentially left to face the same market pressures as any other. Media Type: TV Station Press Freedom Rank: MOSTLY FREE 2) Fox News's viewership is pretty moderate compared to the Hannitys, Limbaughs, Becks and Breitbarts. Tanton-founded groups have been frequently cited by mainstream and local media alike throughout the end of the Trump administration and first days of the Biden administration. This article was published more than8 years ago. To no ones surprise, these false claims were widely discussed and debated on conservative-leaning news channels, including the Fox Business Network, One America News Network and Newsmax. Retransmission fees now account for roughly half of Nexstars total revenueand the majority of these agreements are locked down until 2022, so this revenue is expected to remain steady or even increase. Butthe piece also included this soundbite from Bensman: Citation During the launch of NewsNation, Sean Compton, Nexstar Inc.'s Networks Division President, said, "Rebranding WGN America as NewsNation underscores the network's clearly defined mission of delivering fact-based and unbiased news, while making it easier for viewers to find this new informative source for news." Top of Page Articles from NewsNation Ranking the media from liberal to conservative, based on their audiences. Last week, when Nexstar relaunched WGN America under the NewsNation brand, the news block brought in just 37,000 viewers. Sook has declared that Nexstar has the largest news gathering organization in the country, and staff at the corporate headquarters, in Irving, Texas, refer to their vast network as the Nexstar Nation.. The program pulled only 236,000 viewers in April, despite having a highly recognizable anchor. They cover community events. Nexstar had a strong year financially, reporting free cash flow of $1.3 billion in 2020, a 100% increase over 2018; TV stations typically see a boon from political advertising in election years.. Overall, we rate KTLA Least Biased based on neutral straight news reporting without offering opinion pieces. Local TV stations tend to have a glut of crime stories, ranging from the horrific to the mundane, because a steady stream of them are always arriving through the police blotter. Armed with a team of national reporters and backed by over 100 local newsrooms spread out across the country, Nexstar promised quality broadcast journalism free from opinion or bias, setting aside three hours on its only cable news channel WGN America for NewsNation. A bruising presidential campaign and a historic pandemic brought in a record number of viewers for CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. But as conservative activists gather in suburban . WTNH produces local shows including Whats Right with Schools, Stretch Your Dollar, and CT Style, which features local businesses that have paid the station to appear. Factual Reporting: HIGH WGN Americas future as an outlet for old broadcast network hits such as JAG and In the Heat of the Night was considered bleak due to the growing number of viewers turning to streaming services for scripted entertainment programs. Donlon does not have an ideological bent on air and presents conservative and liberal guests. President Trump is absolutely correct that the election results are in doubt, the lawyer, Jenna Ellis, said on the program, which is pre-recorded and had aired just one episode prior to that evenings show. In March, WGN America changed its name to NewsNation, and currently has five hours of news programming a night, which is repeated for West Coast viewers. Filtered Search, Enter your email address to subscribe to MBFC and receive notifications of new posts by email. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact-check record. He is based in Northern California. Like its slightly smaller rival, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Nexstar produces content that can be played on multiple stations across the country. In January, before the pandemic hit, Nexstars stock price had nearly doubled from two years prior. Then, late last year, Nexstar finalized an acquisition of Tribune Media for $7.2 billion, a figure that includes the assumption of Tribune's debt. He said NewsNation would launch a five-hour morning program later this year and remained committed to having a full lineup of news and talk programming by mid-2023. He is also the author of three books about television, including a biography of pioneer talk show host and producer David Susskind. Two Nexstar insiders not authorized to discuss the matter publicly said Donlon was not involved in the editing of the interview and was unhappy with the final product. Here you have more people consuming local news than at any time in recent history, says Steve Passwaiter, a vice president and general manager at Kantar, a consultancy firm. All plans give access to our growing exclusive content! Much of the reason news companies seek to buy up stations is to increase revenue from retransmission fees: charges to cable and satellite companies for permission to air local content. The company went public in 2003, after its first big acquisition. The only thing there is space for is opinion-echo-chamber content, and there is more room for that on the right than there is on the left.. 02/09/21 3:33 PM EST, Article Aug. 20, 2021. Whats more, over the last three months, several of NewsNations top editorial executives including the newsrooms leader, Jennifer Lyons, a veteran news director from Nexstars Chicago station, WGN have exited. And in contrast to the private equity firms that have gutted local print newsrooms nationwide, Nexstars corporate management largely comprises veterans of local broadcasting. Article A review of hosts indicates that more lean left, such as Dan Abrams and Chris Cuomo, who holds the 8:00-9:00 pm prime time slot. The local television behemoth Nexstar Media Group announced Friday that it had acquired The Hill, a Beltway political news website, for $130 . He said he had not always enjoyed the attempts by Mr. Trump and another old New York associate, the Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, to pressure him for favorable coverage. The ideal figures to hold those officials to account are local journalists familiar with state budgets, local lawmakers, and the unique contours of their communities. Media Bias Fact Check offers a number of sustaining Ad-Free membership plans to fit your budget! Members of the NewsNation staff were also upset upon learning that Bill Shine, a former longtime top executive at conservative-leaning Fox News, was employed by Nexstar. Retransmission fees now account for roughly half of Nexstars total revenueand the majority of these agreements are locked down until 2022, so this revenue is expected to remain steady or even increase. As the political implications of the coronavirus crisis evolve in the coming weeks and months, in-depth local reporting will only become more urgent. In 2017, Nexstar acquired Media General, which ran local newspapers and television stations, for $4.6 billion. Lyons' departure was announced by Nexstar CEO Perry Sook, according to Robert Feder, who writes about the Chicago media business. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. about fifteen years ago, a handful of companies including Nexstar, Sinclair, Tegna, and Gray Television competed to buy up independent stations and media companies. CIS Executive Director Mark Krikorian has spent years attacking immigrants, both documented and undocumented. A 2020 deep . It has Nexstar insiders fearing that NewsNation will chase after Fox News, which has more than 40% of the cable news audience on most nights, as the company feels more pressure to attract viewers. Nexstar Chairman Perry Sook told staff during a newsroom visit in March that talk programming was always part of the plan for NewsNation. The station airs eleven hours of local newscasts every weekday, starting at 4am and ending at 11:30pm. Advertisers are also willing to pay more to run commercials on live original programs than sitcoms and drama repeats, the company has said. ANNA WIERNICKI (NEXSTAR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT): Todd Bensman with the Center for Immigration Studies says the policy change will invite a surge at the southern border. The reporting is factual and usually sourced. WGN America has set the anchor team for the nightly three-hour newscast that is coming to the primetime lineup of Nexstar Media Group's cable network as of Sept. 1. In the spring of 2019, Sook and Timothy Busch, Nexstars president, were visiting a Nexstar station in El Paso when they realized that Nexstars local focus, numerous stations, and nonpartisan lens meant it was uniquely positioned to produce and aggregate stories from the southern border. It was a huge undertaking for her, said another former WGN colleague of Lyons who was not authorized to speak publicly. Lyons did not respond to a request for comment. The must-watch TV of the moment is local news. According to Open Secrets, Nexstar Media group gave more money to Republicans in the 2018 election cycle (45% to Democrats, 55% to Republicans). Even Sinclair Broadcast Group, which had run into criticism for a conservative bent in local newscast commentary, is launching what it calls a fact-based morning headline news service early next year. Washington, CIS and other Tanton-affiliated groups have been pushing bigoted anti-immigration claims and conspiracy theories for decades -- and yet one of the largest broadcast news companies in the country is still citing them in reports on immigration policy as if they are providing good-faith expertise. Eighty-three percent of liberal Democrats have at least some trust in the national media, while just 30 percent of conservative Republicans do. On paper, Nexstar stations reach 38 percent of American households that own a TV, just below the maximum allowed by market caps designed to prevent monopolies. There was outrage in the newsroom when the version of the interview that aired appeared to give a free pass to Trump, with softball questions and minimal pushback. The Supreme Court's conservative justices cast doubt on President Biden's student debt forgiveness plan during oral arguments on Tuesday in a pair of challenges to the administration's relief program. KTLA.com is the associated website that publishes news and information pertaining to the Southern California region. The network also hired Ashleigh Banfield, a veteran of CNN and MSNBC, to host a nightly newsmaker interview program at 10 p.m. Eastern. The program bears the name of Joe Donlon, the broadcast journalist who just a few months earlier had been accused of the cringe worthy interview with Trump. But the ratings show that there is not a lot of demand for straight-ahead news in the evening. And whats happening? Nexstar Media Group plans to launch a nationwide primetime news show called News Nation over its WGN America cable network tomorrow, a risky move under the best of circumstances let alone. ), This year, Nexstar can also count on election ad spending, which is a key component of nearly every television companys revenue. The. Nexstar has also hired lobbyists to exert influence in Congress and at the FCC while simultaneously expanding its DC bureau, where its news staff covers Congress. Many reports contain videos from TV news content. (In 2019, Sooks compensation was worth $16.4 million, while the median salary of Nexstars thirteen thousand employees was $43,537.). Several recipients of Nexstar donations, including Sens. Copyright 2013-2023 Solano Media, LLC. Stephen Battaglio writes about television and the media business for the Los Angeles Times out of New York. I like to say that were as far to the left as the right will go and as far to the right as the left will go, Jimmy Finkelstein, who took a controlling stake in The Hill in 2014, said in an interview. [6] The Hill is owned by Nexstar Media Group, the country's largest television station owner, which purchased the publication in 2021. The political news publication, which started as an insiders guide to Washington and greatly expanded its audience after it went digital, fetched a price of $130 million. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources. The local television behemoth Nexstar Media Group announced Friday that it had acquired The Hill, a Beltway political news website, for $130 million. On July 26th, 2022, NewsNation announced that former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo would join the network with a new prime-time show. Ad-Free Sign up The firms last media bias chart, issued in January, placed NewsNation squarely in the center of the political spectrum, while rating CNN as skewing left, Fox News as hyper-partisan right and MSNBC as hyper-partisan left.. Nexstar, the largest operator of local TV stations in the country, said in a news release that the deal would expand its digital reach and coverage of political news. National news is covered through a combination of the Associated Press, CNN, Los Angeles Times, and other large media outlets. team is small. We will see Nexstars dual purposesserving the public and expanding to maximize profitscontinue to be at odds. Nexstar Media Group subsidiary Nexstar Media Inc. has acquired political news outlet The Hill in a $130 million deal, the company announced Friday. Jon Rosen, the executive producer, explained: Due to, I think, the amount of people on staff that we have and having to fill so much news time, I think theres a challenge for us to constantly be coming up with original and new story ideas.. The company can continue to boast that it serves the public good by keeping local news afloat; in its FCC application to acquire Tribune, Nexstar had argued that the consolidation would result in more airtime for local news and was therefore in the public interest. What the FCC proceedings showed without a doubt, however, were the hard limits of a media conglomerates ability to truly serve the public interest. All rights reserved, except where otherwise noted. Under Nexstar. Shine did not respond to a request for comment. During the 2020 presidential campaign, a columnist for the publication, John Solomon, played a central role in Rudy Giulianis efforts to link Joseph R. Biden to corruption in Ukraine, prompting an internal investigation by The Hill. Manage Settings [4] The first television station bought by Nexstar was WYOU in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In 2018, a high-stakes midterm year, political advertising accounted for roughly, 19 percent of Nexstars total $1.3 billion in ad revenue. NEW YORK (AP) Republican presidential contenders typically fight for prime speaking slots at the Conservative Political Action Conference. A Nexstar source noted that with the rise of far-right outlets such as Newsmax and One America Network, there's heightened competition for the conservative demo beyond Fox News. The number of nightly viewers in the 25-to-54 age group preferred by advertisers for news programming has been in the range of 9,000 viewers nowhere near the 100,000 viewers in the demographic that Nexstar has targeted. 3) The broadcast stations (NBC, CBS, ABC) and online news sites like Yahoo and Google have a more middle-of-the-road audience than other mainstream media outlets. As of 2019, KTLA is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which owns over 200 TV stations nationwide. Using the resources of its local TV news operations, the company launched a prime-time newscast, NewsNation Prime, in September on its cable outlet WGN America a nationally distributed network available in 75 million homes with plans to expand it to a full-time news service. In 2021, The Hill was purchased by Nexstar, which owns around 200 TV stations and media outlets nationwide. Last week, a lawyer who is known to promote Trumps election conspiracy theory appeared on The Donlon Report where she once again repeated the falsehood. Editorially, NewsNation does not produce opinion pieces and generally reports on politics neutrally. Former ABC News correspondent Adrienne Bankert is joining NewsNation as a morning show anchor. The interview came at a time when Trump was running for re-election, and several Nexstar employees said they felt the interview didnt go far enough to challenge numerous false claims that the former president made during his campaign. The reporting is factual and usually sourced. She is expected to be one of the anchors for a NewsNation morning program. 8,730-Acre Maria Fire Burning on South Mountain Destroys 2 Structures, Threatens Homes in Santa Paula andSomis, The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). 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