Starting Monday, April 24, NewsNation will launch a new live four-hour afternoon news block, NewsNation Now, and expand to a 24-hour news schedule five days per week.
NewsNation Now will air weekdays from 1-5 p.m. ET. The first two hours will be anchored by a rotation of NewsNation personalities, including weekend anchor Natasha Zouves, chief Washington correspondent Blake Burman, correspondents Markie Martin, Keleigh Beeson, and Brooke Shafer. NewsNation will name a permanent 1-3 p.m. ET anchor in the future.
Nichole Berlie will anchor the 3-5 p.m. hours.
NewsNation Now joins a daypart that has become increasingly competitive and important for the news networks. For instance, this past Monday, CNN launched the afternoon edition of CNN News Central.
“From the start, our mission has been to inform and enlighten our viewers with balanced news programming, and we will continue to do so with this added block,” NewsNation president of news Michael Corn said in a statement. “Over time, we’ve built trust with our audience, and with this expansion, I think we can capitalize on the swiftly evolving broadcast news landscape. Viewer trust is at the center of everything we do, and viewer demand for this expanded block is strong.”
The addition of the afternoon news block stitches together a complete weekday news schedule for the channel. This effort began in January 2021 when it was fully rebranded to NewsNation from WGN America and started with just five hours of news programming.
The epxansion to 24 hours also coincides with the debut of a new broadcast facility in New York City the launch of Elizabeth Vargas Reports, which airs weeknights at 6 pm ET, anchored by former ABC News anchor Elizabeth Vargas.
Other programming moves made by the network include adding a third hour of NewsNation Live, led by anchor Marni Hughes and airing weekdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET, and the debut of the soon-to-be-launched hour-long political news and analysis program The Hill, which also premieres Monday, April 24 at 5 p.m. ET and originates from NewsNation’s Washington, D.C. studios.
“I couldn’t be more proud of what we have accomplished in just a little over two and half years,” added Nexstar Networks president Sean Compton. “NewsNation’s growth has been fueled by exceptional talent with stellar reputations for high-quality journalism and by viewers hungry for unbiased news reporting. Becoming a 24-hour news network Monday through Friday positions us well to keep growing our audience by providing them with consistently meaningful news coverage.”
Weekday Programming Lineup:
- 6-7 p.m. – Early Morning hosted by Mitch Carr
- 7-10 a.m. ET – Morning in America with Adrienne Bankert
- 10 a.m.-1 p.m. – NewsNation Live with Marni Hughes
- 1-3 p.m. ET – NewsNation Now
- 3-5 p.m. ET – NewsNation Now with Nichole Berlie
- 5-6 p.m. ET – The Hill
- 6-7 p.m. ET – Elizabeth Vargas Reports
- 7-8 p.m. ET – On Balance with Leland Vittert
- 8-9 p.m. ET – Cuomo hosted by Chris Cuomo
- 9-10 p.m. ET – Dan Abrams Live hosted by Dan Abrams
- 10-11 p.m. ET – Banfield hosted by Ashleigh Banfield