The Price Point | NewsNation Finds Itself At Early Crossroads
Nexstar’s nascent NewsNation cable network has been roiled with high-level departures and “plummeting morale amid dismal ratings,” as summarized by one media writer. It is certainly at a pivotal juncture, and whether it can deliver on the unique, apolitical content it promised will be key to its survival.
By Hank Price | March 15, 2021 | 5:29 a.m. ET.
Hank Price
As an alumnus of Chicago television, I can say with some certainty there is nothing the town likes better than inside baseball. In most cities, no one cares who runs the local stations, where news directors last worked or the minute details of anchor contracts, but not Chicago. Chicago is the king of media towns.
Nexstar’s nascent NewsNation cable network has been roiled with high-level departures and “plummeting morale amid dismal ratings,” as summarized by one media writer. It is certainly at a pivotal juncture, and whether it can deliver on the unique, apolitical content it promised will be key to its survival.
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“We have begun a search for her replacement and hope to have that person in place quickly. While the search moves forward, Nexstar’s Executive Vice President of Station Operations and Content Development, Blake Russell, assisted by members of our local content development team, will be responsible for overseeing NewsNation.”
Perry Sook, chairman and CEO of Nexstar Media Group informed the staff earlier today, the spokesperson said, adding that Lyons will be “communicating her departure in a message to the NewsNation staff” on Tuesday.
Her departure comes shortly after two senior news editors, Sandy Pudar and Richard Maginn, resigned in February and March, respectively.
The exodus at NewsNation continued Tuesday with the resignation of top news executive Jennifer Lyons, who helped launch the struggling cable news network