Joe Donlon
After five months as a co-anchor for NewsNation, WGN America’s prime time news, Joe Donlon is being reassigned as the solo anchor for a one-hour news at 6 pm Monday through Friday.
“The Donlon Report”, announced as a mix of “news and interviews with today’s newsmakers”, will debut on March 1 – coinciding with the brand change of the cable network Nexstar Media Group from WGN America to NewsNation.
“We are going to dive into the biggest stories from news, sports, entertainment and culture while staying true to NewsNation’s mission of providing objective journalism,” said Donlon of his new program.
Donlon was in his third year as the main news anchor on the flagship of the Nexstar WGN-Channel 9 when he was scheduled to launch Chicago-based “NewsNation” in September along with co-anchors Marni Hughes and Rob Nelson, imported from Seattle and New York, respectively.
In response to the terribly low ratings, Nexstar announced plans to reduce the renamed “NewsNationPrime” from three hours to two hours.
Nichole Berlie
From March 1st, Hughes and Nelson will co-anchor NewsNationPrime from 7pm to 9pm, followed by a new one-hour newscast and talk show hosted by Ashleigh Banfield at 9pm. Another new feature on the lineup will be “NewsNation Early Edition,” an hour-long newscast hosted by current weekend anchor Nichole Berlie at 5 pm
“Changing the WGN America brand as NewsNation highlights the network’s clearly defined mission to provide unbiased, fact-based news, while making it easier for viewers to find this new informational news source,” said Sean Compton, president of network division of Nexstar, in a statement.
“At the same time, expanding our news schedule to five hours, Monday through Friday, will extend the reach of the network and the depth of its news content for more periods of the week at night, delivering more national and regional news to viewers across the United States, as well as covering the most important issues of the day. “
From March 1st, NewsNation’s evening schedule will be:
- 5 pm to 6 pm NewsNation Early Edition with Nichole Berlie
- 18h to 19h. Donlon report with Joe Donlon
- 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm NewsNationPrime with Marni Hughes and Rob Nelson
- 9 pm to 10 pm Banfield with Ashleigh Banfield