THIS email sent to FTVLive pretty much sums what is wrong and what could work going forward for NewsNation...
There are several huge reasons that News Nation is failing, in my opinion.
First.. the approach is all wrong. Stories from the Nexstar stations need to be local stories that can be easily adapted to national interest. It's all in the writing. You have to write those local lead-in's, NATIONALLY. You have to structure them differently. To a good imaginative writer, this is not difficult. If the news writer or producer is enthusiastic about it, the magic words are there. You simply have to make that local story in Peoria, interesting to people in Raleigh-Durham. You can only do that in the writing. You can also make a difference by re-editing the package, taking out some of the local references. It is NOT difficult.
Second... the anchors are all wrong for that show. Frankly, they are boring, seemingly uninterested in any story they're reading. Part of it are the words they're reading, but most of it is just flat deliveries. They just do not seem comfortable.
Third... timing is everything. News Nation has changed time on several occasions. It's not finding an audience because people never know where to find IT.
Fourth is the news approach. The world does not need another Fox News anymore than it needs another CNN. It does need a national newscast that is free of any political coverage. Yeah, I said it. Who cares what's going on in Washington right now? Who cares about Democrats and Republicans and what they think? In a political season, yes. Do political stories. Outside of a political season, can them. Nobody cares.
There are other subtle changes that News Nation needs to make, that won't get made. I crossed News Nation off my watch list after the second or third show. I haven't watched it since, and won't. I also haven't even bothered to watch Sinclair's National Desk. In my opinion, they are both and equally gigantic wastes of valuable viewer time.
And a way to drive viewership? Make a half-hour or hour long show to syndicate on their stations. It could follow the "PM/Evening Magazine" model. Have a bank of stories that are chosen and promoted, and that drive viewership to the main channel. It could be localized in the larger markets, especially if it's a story that originated locally or in the region.
And if all else fails, see if CNN still has the "jukebox" they used for Headline News in the 90s. Call me old fashioned, sometimes I just want to know what's going on at a random time....
And when HLN jumped the shark, the last days of the All News Channel was a good watch. They essentially did what Nexstar should have been doing all along. Using THEIR stations to present content to a national audience.