• by Charlene Weisler , Op-Ed Contributor, August 19, 2020

How can an enterprising company like Nexstar find a core distinctive market position in a crowded field like news? Sean Fassett, vice president, research and insights, WGN America & Antenna TV, has been applying his research skills to find the answer. 

Nexstar has just announced the launch of “News Nation,” a three-hour newscast carving out the middle of the road for prime-time news coverage. Fassett explained that this is an “alternative to the news talk show choices on cable TV today, utilizing the 110 local Nexstar Newsrooms across the U.S., with over 5,500 reporters in the field.” 

Set to launch Sept. 1, “News Nation” is headquartered in Chicago with additional reporters in Miami, New York, Dallas, LA and Washington DC.

Charlene Weisler: What research did you conduct on “News Nation”?

Sean Fassett:  We have conducted four custom research studies pre-launch to gauge the marketplace, develop an awareness of what people felt was missing in their prime-time news, test taglines, determine genres of stories important to viewers in a post-COVID world and understand the overlap of digital and linear news usage.

Weisler: Can you share some of the takeaways?

Fassett: The promise of an “Unbiased Newscast, No Opinions” and a “Facts Only Newscast” drew the support of nearly 75% of respondents across all demos and ages. More than six in 10 viewers want national news reporting that does not give indications of a network’s political affiliation. 

They don’t want a news broadcast to tell them what to think or have a host tell his opinions. They want the facts to make their own decision.

Weisler: Were there any surprises?

Fassett: What we found interesting is that most of the respondents know that the cable news they are watching on TV are politically left- or right-driven, but they don’t have any other choices on TV.  While conducting internal research across two different research firms, we correlated those results with research from syndicated services to show that the majority of the U.S. citizens are politically middle of the road, or politically agnostic. This presents us with a large opportunity to deliver news reporting that is politically agnostic.

Weisler:  Is there any further research planned?

Fassett: Post-launch, we plan on continued monitoring of social media, ongoing weekly awareness and intent to view, and evaluation of Nielsen ratings. We also will be conducting focus groups, online panels, and will be tapping into research that allows our programming team to see what stories are resonating across all the Nexstar stations locally. 

Some stories that may not be top of mind or carried by other networks allow us to give voices to the voiceless locally but at a national level. In addition to our custom research, we will be utilizing syndicated services from social, digital services and Nielsen ratings.

Weisler: What are the most important metrics to use?

Fassett: Metrics of success will always be evolving. Right now our most important metrics are program and network awareness and intent to view. After launch we will need to tap into sentiment, perceptions and delivering on our unwavering promise of middle-of-the-road, non-biased news. 

While ratings always become a network’s typical “gauge of success,” we are planning the network for the long term, and following stories of importance rather than just ratings. We are not chasing stories to drive ratings. Our ratings will be driven by our viewers embracing our stories both on air and on digital. We will also be working with rhetoricians who will be analyzing our anchors and wording to make sure we continue to deliver on that promise.

Weisler: What do you see as the competitive set?

Fassett: We are competing in a very wide category, both on TV and digital. While most will bucket us going up against the other cable news nets as our competition (CNN, MSNBC, FNC), we will not be doing what they are doing. We will not be delivering politically driven talk shows in prime time.  

Weisler: What are the biggest challenges in launching and tracking this new service?

Fassett: One of the biggest challenges is offering news programming on a network not known for news programming. We are going against networks like CNN, now 40 years on TV. MSNBC and FNC are coming up on 25 years.

Weisler: What are the opportunities?

Fassett: The opportunities are to serve the community with those stories that are important nationally but sometimes don’t make it out of the local markets. Utilizing the thousands of hours of news produced across the 196 Nexstar stations allows us the opportunity to make that happen.