By Focusing on the Heartland, NewsNation Separates Itself From the Pack

NewsNation is taking dead aim at the voids that have been created, under the leadership of Jonathan Killian who joined the network in January as Vice President for Creative Marketing and Brand Communications. At the time, the channel was called WGN America, but the day after he started work WGN America became NewsNation, and the mission shifted. It's one that Killian is well prepared to execute, having spent the previous 13 years as Executive Director of Creative and Brand Development at CNN International.

"The timing was wild, but I knew what I was signing up for," Killian said. "It's very appealing -- the chance to start a new news network." And it's a network that hit the ground with 5,500 correspondents who work for Nexstar's 200 owned television stations, from Los Angeles to New York and many, many points between. The service reaches 75 million homes.

Beginning March 1, NewsNation started to greatly expand its five-days-per-week evening news programs, launching a plethora of new shows. Today the weekday schedule (in the eastern time zone) is:

• Morning in America, a new three-hour live national newscast hosted by Adrienne Bankert that airs at 7 a.m.
• NewsNation: Rush Hour at 5 p.m.
• The Donlon Report anchored by Joe Donlon at 6 p.m.
• On Balance with Leland Vittert at 7 p.m.
• Dan Abrams Live with the former MSNBC host, at 8 p.m.
• NewsNation Prime hosted by broadcasting vet Marni Hughes at 9 p.m.
• Banfield with Ashleigh Banfield at 10 p.m.

Some of the programs repeat for a second cycle starting at 11 p.m. ET, plus weekend evening newscasts

What does it all add up to? Something new and useful in the news firmament, Killian said. The hosts, a mix of veterans and fresh faces, will field reports from those far-flung American correspondents and air important stories missed by the coast-based networks.

The expectation is that NewsNation will be a 24/7 news operation within the next two years. "It's a big commitment and a big signal," Killian said. "Dan Abrams was a big get for us. And having the three-hour news program is also important. To be competitive we have to be in the morning news race."

"We're just getting started, and our local journalists are a powerful weapon in our arsenal," Killian said. "In looking ahead strategically, we think it's important to be on the ground in the communities where stories happen. We're going to be a national network with local impact."

Veteran news watchers can be forgiven for thinking that stories can only be found around the Beltway and in New York and other big cities. But Killian said NewsNation will "remember where the middle of the country is." That will drive the editorial focus. For instance, the heartland opioid crisis -- as portrayed on Hulu's Dopesick series -- was deeply embedded in Middle America before it made the traditional news cycle.

"We see an opening, and we're going to go after it," Killian said. "When we created our marketing plan and materials, we emphasized that most of America is in the middle, not on the extremes of left or right, and they don't fit neatly into one slot. As our ad says, we are a nation of neighbors, and of more than two sides."

Killian continued, "We created these criteria to accomplish our goals: keep the focus on the viewer; reflect all perspectives, not just left or right; challenge elitism; and keep whatever we do feeling authentic and true. It's a different tone, and we want it to feel aspirational and empowering. Our focus groups tell us there's a hunger for that kind of information."

The biggest challenge for NewsNation now is awareness -- getting viewers to know that this high-quality alternative programming exists. "We've just started to address that with promotional materials in the last eight or nine weeks," Killian said. "And we're seeing some traction, though building our audience is not something that will happen overnight."

According to Killian, NewsNation isn't sweating the day-to-day ratings numbers because it's so new, but it's seeing a significant growth in awareness. "We're encouraged by the early returns. Nexstar believes in the mission and is putting in the time and marketing muscle in to help us break out. And the product keeps getting better and better," Killian said.

NewsNation is deep into plans for next year, with expanded resources to draw upon. "We're proud of the collection of talent we're assembling," he said. "We're delivering on news for all America, and people are taking notice."

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