Nexstar Media Group announced Tuesday its anchor and correspondent lineup for WGN America’s forthcoming primetime broadcast, “News Nation.”
The company revealed the three-hour nightly program, premiering Sept. 1, will be anchored by Joe Donlon and Marni Hughes. The breaking news anchor will be Rob Nelson and the meteorologist will be Albert Ramon. On the weekends, “News Nation” will be anchored by Rudabeh Shahbazi and Nichole Berlie along with Aaron Nolan on breaking news and Gerard Jebaily as meteorologist.
Together, according to a release, they’ll deliver “fact-based, unbiased news coverage” with the help of Nexstar’s 5,400 journalists in 110 national newsrooms. The program will air in traditional primetime hours, from 8 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET and content will be available around the clock on a yet-unreleased mobile app called NewsNationNow.
According to Nexstar, cable channel WGN America has now reached 75 million television households around America.
Currently, WGN America is known for playing scripted series like “Blue Bloods” and “Underground.” Less scripted fare has been offered, like Dog the Bounty Hunter’s “Dog’s Most Wanted,” but the channel’s pivot to straight news is a noteworthy departure from all of its previous programming.
The ostensible goal is to compete with larger cable news primetime outfits, which tend to offer commentary from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
WGN America’s executive vice president Sean Compton said in a Tuesday statement, “Our on-air anchors and reporters, as well as those guiding the off-camera news-gathering process, are award-winning journalists who understand the importance of being objective. They reflect the diversity of our country and will be the backbone of ‘News Nation,’ as WGN America begins charting a new course in television news, designed for the millions of viewers across the U.S. who want their news to be accurate, fair , and without opinion.”