NewsNet

NewsNet is an American news-oriented free-to-air television network and newscast production company owned by NewsNet LLC, a division of Freelancer Television Broadcasting, Inc. The network is structured to broadcast a tightly-formatted 30-minute newswheel 24 hours a day (with a 90-minute break on weekend late mornings), incorporating freshly-updated information that covers various areas of interest (such as national news, sports, entertainment, weather and business). Breaking news stories are updated constantly as they develop and new information becomes available.

NewsNet

Type	Terrestrial television network
Country	United States
Availability	Nationwide, via terrestrial TV and OTT streaming (estimated coverage [as of November 8, 2020], 21.65%)[1] and Worldwide
Founded	February 28, 2018
Slogan	More news. More often.
Headquarters	Cadillac, Michigan
Parent	NewsNet LLC (Freelancer Television Broadcasting, Inc.)
Key people	Eric Wotila (President/CEO, NewsNet LLC)
Launch date	January 1, 2019
Picture format	720p (HDTV, widescreen)
Affiliates	See section
Official website	yournewsnet.com

In addition to being carried on digital subchannels of affiliated television stations, NewsNet also distributes its programming through a livestream that is available on its website (yournewsnet.com), as well as mobile apps in areas where it does not have a terrestrial TV affiliate. NewsNet also provides an optional turnkey local news production service for stations that do not maintain their own local news departments to produce local news capsule segments or full-length newscasts. NewsNet's primary studio facilities, which also houses master control operations of the network's O&O station WMNN-LD (channel 26) and MyNetworkTV affiliate WXII-LP (channel 12), are located on West 13th Street and 3rd Avenue in Cadillac, Michigan.

Background and history

On September 28, 2017, Eric Wotila – who founded low-powered all-news station WMNN-LD in Cadillac, Michigan, and oversaw the studio design and construction for News Channel Nebraska, a Norfolk, Nebraska-based quasi-state network of five low-powered stations that also maintained an all-news programming format – started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to fund the launch of a 24-hour national news channel – under the working title, the Local News Network (LNN) – intended for broadcast, online and mobile distribution.[2][3][4][5]

Citing favorable opinions from viewers about the "straight-to-the-facts, no-nonsense and commentary-free" coverage provided by WMNN-LD, the Local News Network proposed to offer a news wheel format (similar in structure to the 1982–2005 format of HLN, and the formats of defunct all-news networks such as All News Channel and Satellite News Channel) that would eschew the often-politically focused panel discussion programs that have populated the afternoon, nighttime and weekend schedules of cable news channels (particularly CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel) since the early 2000s. The project called for LNN to be based out of WMNN's Cadillac studio facility, with the hope of eventually opening bureaus elsewhere around the United States. The project failed to reach its funding goal of $100,000 needed to develop LNN – which would have been used to pay for equipment and staffing necessary to handle the national broadcasts – by the closure of the 50-day campaign on November 17, 2017, raising only $8,012 from 78 public backers. Wotila subsequently sought to obtain backing from investors to fund the venture.[2][3][4][5]

On March 15, 2018, Wotila and other partners involved in the Local News Network project announced the launch of NewsNet, which would maintain the concept originally developed prior to the commencement of the Kickstarter campaign.[6][7][8]

NewsNet was officially launched on January 1, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, with the Evening Edition serving as the network's inaugural program. On May 8, 2019, ground was broken on new studios. The facility will consist of 3 studios, each with their own control rooms and a new, state-of-the-art master control room overseeing the operations of NewsNet, WMNN-LD and WXII-LP, the new studio went into effect at 4 a.m. on December 9.[9]

Programming

The channel's programming is structured around a rolling news wheel format, providing up-to-date information on the top national and international stories in just 30 minutes. Each half-hour of the wheel format begins with the "A" block, consisting of a short teaser of what's coming up in the next ten minutes (as read on-camera by the news anchor onboard), followed by a nearly two-minute-long look at the top story of the hour (with updated details provided when breaking news develops) and an eight-minute roundup of the latest news stories at 02 and 32 minutes past the hour. The remainder of each half-hour features a national weather forecast summary (at 12 and 42 minutes past the hour), sports news, highlights and scores (at 17 and 47 minutes past the hour), and "Health News", a segment focusing on the latest health updates and information or "Living Well", a segment focusing on news and topics about everyday lifestyle and general well-being (at 24 and 54 minutes past the hour).[10]

To comply with programming guidelines imposed by the Children's Television Act, NewsNet also carries a 90-minute block of educational children's programming on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. ET.

Current programs

Rolling news blocks

• NewsNet Continuing Coverage (December 9, 2019–present)
• NewsNet Evening Edition (January 1, 2019–present)
• NewsNet Midday Edition (January 2, 2019–present)
• NewsNet Mornings (December 9, 2019–present)
• NewsNet Nightside Edition (January 2, 2019–present)

E/I programming

• America's Heartland (January 6, 2019–present)
• Animal Rescue (January 5, 2019–present)
• Biz Kid$ (January 6, 2019–present)
• Dog Tales (January 5, 2019–present)
• Missing (January 5, 2019–present)
• Think Big (January 6, 2019–present)

Former programs

• NewsNet Morning Edition (January 2–December 8, 2019)

On-air staff

Current on-air staff

News anchors

• Christina Aguayo – weekday afternoon and early evening anchor; also fill-in weekday primetime, overnight and Saturday morning anchor
• Benjamin Arie – weekend afternoon, evening, overnight and Sunday morning anchor; also fill-in weekday anchor
• Alfredo Cuadros – weekday morning anchor
• Remington Hernandez – weekday primetime, overnight and Saturday morning anchor; also fill-in weekday morning anchor

Weather team

• Morris Langworthy – chief meteorologist
• Carl Rippy – meteorologist
• Kristian Ruggiero – meteorologist

Sports anchors

• Bejoy Joseph – also sports director
• Jay Phifer
• Derek Tate

Segment hosts

• Andy Hirschfeld – Business Brief segment host
• Eden Lane – Entertainment with Eden segment host

Correspondents

Aside from those mentioned below, NewsNet also utilizes reporters from the local newsrooms of its affiliate stations and CNN Newsource correspondents.

• Danielle Radin – West Coast bureau chief
• Abigail Taylor – national correspondent
• Ryan Thompson – Europe-based international correspondent

Former on-air staff

• Vic McCarty
• Jessica Mojonnier
• Derek Myers
• Dylan Rodenbaugh
• Samana Sheikh
• Charlie Tinker (now at WJRT-TV in Flint)

Controversies

On January 2, 2019, one day after the station launched, TV news industry blog FTVLive.com published a photo of NewsNet primary anchor Remington Hernandez wearing a Make America Great Again hat that Hernandez had published to his public Facebook profile, casting doubt on the station's claim of being politically unbiased.[11] In October 2019, a user of the TV News industry forum TVNewsTalk.net posted a photo taken off of Hernandez's public Instagram page that featured a smiling Hernandez next to conservative political commentator Milo Yiannopoulos.[12] Currently, the station provides news and information consistent with current Republican Party themes and trends. For example, unlike mainstream media news outlets, NewsNet consistently reports about the volume of lawsuits filed by the Trump Administration and Republican supporters seeking to overturn the 2020 Presidential election without reporting that they have been rejected or dismissed as meritless or without evidence. (See, e.g. NewsNet Broadcast December 16, 2020.)

Affiliates

As of November 2020, NewsNet has current and pending affiliation agreements with 55 television stations in 51 television markets encompassing 27 states, covering 21.65% of the United States.[1] The majority of NewsNet affiliates are low-power stations that are within the geographic boundaries of a particular TV market, but do not cover the entirety of the market. For example, as of March 2020, NewsNet's website lists San Francisco as a city with an affiliate, despite the affiliate station KAAP-LD being a low-power digital station licensed to Santa Cruz whose coverage barely reaches the city of San Jose and San Mateo County.

In addition to allowing affiliates to sell local advertising (offering four minutes of local commercial time per hour to prospective stations), NewsNet provides the option for its broadcast affiliates to pre-empt the "Health News" and "Living Well" segments at the end of each half-hour to allow to carry a five-minute-long local headline "capsule", providing news and weather information focusing on the local viewing area. NewsNet also provides an optional turnkey local news production service for stations that do not maintain their own local news departments to produce local news capsule segments or full-length newscasts.[10][13][6][7][8]

Current affiliates

City of license/market	Station	Virtual channel[1]	Physical channel	Primary affiliation (on main channel)	Owner (Management Company)	Date of affiliation	Notes
Alabama
Cusseta (Columbus, Georgia)	WQMK-LD	18.3	18	Retro Television Network	Ben Jordan Communications Corporation	February 19, 2019	Launched on new subchannel
Dothan	WJJN-LD	49.3	49	Religious	Wilson Broadcasting Company, Inc.	Fall 2019	Launched on new subchannel
Montevallo (Birmingham)	WOTM-LD	47.1	19	Independent	Joseph Earley		Part-time affiliation
Alaska
Anchorage	KYUR	13.1	12	ABC	Vision Alaska, LLC (operated by Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC)	April 25, 2020	Replaced local newscasts
Arizona
Phoenix	KPHE	44.3	12	Tu Canal Familiar	Lotus Communications
California
Barstow (Los Angeles)	K36JH-D	36.3	36	NASA TV	Brent Gaddis	February 14, 2019	Launched on new subchannel
Cathedral City (Palm Springs)	KAKZ-LD	4.4	4	Free Speech TV	Tara Broadcasting LLC	January 1, 2019	Replaced QVC
Los Angeles	KFLA-LD	8.1	8		KFLA Television (Roy William Mayhugh)	April 8, 2019	Replaced Corner Store TV, which moved to 8.3
Reedley (Fresno–Visalia)	KVBC-LP	13.9	26	MeTV	Cocola Broadcasting (operated by Ventura Broadcasting Company)	January 7, 2019	Replaced My Life TV
Ridgecrest (Bakersfield)	KZGN-LD	21.2	42	Heartland	Wiknich Broadcasting Corporation	May 20, 2019	Replaced Classic Shows
Santa Cruz (San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose)	KAAP-LD	24.7	11	Diya TV	Major Market Broadcasting	January 1, 2019	Launched on new subchannel
Florida
Orlando	WSWF-LD	10.5	45	Rev'n	Major Market Broadcasting	January 22, 2019	Replaced Lifehacks DRTV
Miami-Fort Lauderdale	WDFL-LD	18.1	11	Independent	François Leconte	January 2020
St. Augustine (Jacksonville)	WQXT-CD	22.7	28	Retro Television Network	A1A TV, Inc.	January 10, 2019	Replaced The Walk TV
Georgia
Cumming (Atlanta)	WLVO-LD	21.6	21	Diya TV	United Media Network, LLC	March 15, 2019	Launched on new subchannel
Dalton (Chattanooga, Tennessee)	WDNN-CD	49.3	49	Independent	North Georgia Television	January 1, 2019	Replaced Retro Television Network
Valdosta (Albany)	WSWG	44.5	31	CBS	Marquee Broadcasting	TBA	Launches on new subchannel
Illinois
Arlington Heights (Chicago)	WRJK-LP	22.6	24	Diya TV	Major Market Broadcasting	January 1, 2019	Replaced Charge!
Indiana
Marion (Indianapolis)	WNDY-TV	23.3	9	MyNetworkTV	Circle City Broadcasting	March 1, 2020	Launched on new subchannel
Kansas
Kansas City	KCKS-LD	25.2	25	Buzzr	Heartland Broadcasting, LLC	January 1, 2019	Replaced Justice Network
Sublette (Wichita–Hutchinson)	KDGL-LD	23.5	23	Cozi TV	High Plains Broadcasting, LLC	January 1, 2019	Replaced Retro Television Network
Topeka	WROB-LD	25.2	26	Buzzr	Heartland Broadcasting, LLC	January 1, 2019	Replaced Justice Network
Wichita	KCTU-LD	5.2	23	This TV (primary)/ AMGTV (secondary)	River City Broadcasters, Inc.	January 1, 2019	Replaced Estrella TV
Kentucky
Louisville	WBNM-LD	50.6	25	Buzzr	Word Broadcasting Network, Inc. (operated by South Central Communications)	January 1, 2019	Launched on new subchannel
Louisiana
Baton Rouge	WLFT-CD	30.3	30	MeTV	Touch Family Broadcasting	January 1, 2019	Replaced HSN
Lafayette	KXKW-LD	32.1	30	Newsnet	Delta Media Group/Wilderness Communications	As soon as the station switches to DT 30	Replaces Stadium, which will move to KXKW-LD 32.3
Michigan
Detroit	WHNE-LD	3.9	3	Light TV	Tait Broadcasting LLC	January 1, 2019
Mississippi
Holly Springs (Memphis, Tennessee)	WBII-CD	20.4	20	Sonlife Broadcasting Network	Mid-South Broadcasting	January 11, 2019	Replaced Heartland
Missouri
Joplin	KJPX-LP	35.1	35		Gary and Deborah Kenny	February 21, 2019	Replaced Retro Television Network
North Carolina
Lumberton (Myrtle Beach–Florence, South Carolina)	WTNG-CD	33.11	14	The Family Channel	Mercy's Bridge Media, LLC	May 20, 2019	Replaced HSN
Manteo (Norfolk–Portsmouth–Newport News–Virginia Beach, Virginia)	W22EN-D	22.5	22	Classic Shows	Lawrence F. Loesch	January 31, 2019	Launched on new subchannel
Tarboro (Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville)	WNCR-LD	41.2	21	Youtoo America	WNCR Media Group, Inc.	April 28, 2019
New Jersey
Middletown Township (New York, New York)	WJLP	33.8	3	MeTV	PMCM TV	May 20, 2019	Launched on new subchannel
New York
Buffalo	WBXZ-LP	56.11	17	Cozi TV	Steven D. Ritchie	January 1, 2019	Launched on new subchannel
Cobleskill (Albany–Schenectady–Troy)	WYBN-LD	14.8	14	Buzzr	Cable Ad Net New York	January 9, 2019	Replaced The Action Channel
Utica	WVVC-LD	40.6	33	Antenna TV	Northeast Gospel Broadcasting, Inc.	February 1, 2019	Launched on new subchannel
Ohio
Columbus	WCSN-LD	32.8	26	Movies!	Columbus TV, LLC	March 7, 2019	Replaced Youtoo America
Oregon
Cottage Grove (Eugene)	K18LR-D	36.1	18		South Lane Television, Inc.	Fall 2019
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh	WPTG-CD	69.4	30	This TV	Local media tv	September 30, 2019	Launched on new subchannel
State College (Johnstown–Altoona)	WHVL-LD	29.1	27	MyNetworkTV	Channel Communications	January 1, 2019	Nightside Edition only
South Carolina
Beaufort (Savannah)	WSCG-LD	14.11	14	Court TV	Winemiller Television, LLC	Fall 2019	Launched on new subchannel
Tennessee
Nashville	WJDE-LD	31.4	31	Heroes & Icons	Word Broadcasting Network	January 1, 2019	Replaced HSN
Texas
Beaumont	KUMY-LD	22.1	22		SETX Public Television Corporation	May 20, 2019	Replaced Mexicanal
Dallas	KLEG-CD	44.1	28		DV Broadcasting, LLC	April 10, 2020	Replaced Swagat TV (moved to 44.4)
Houston	KBPX-LD	46.12	27	NuestraVisión	Word Broadcasting Network	January 1, 2019	Launched on new subchannel
San Antonio	KGMM-CD	24.1	36		CNZ Communications	August 26, 2019
Utah
Logan (Salt Lake City)	K08QL-D	8.3	8	Youtoo America	Airwaves, Inc.	March 4, 2019	Replaced local programming
Ogden (Salt Lake City)	KCSG-LD	8.2	31	Youtoo America	Airwaves, Inc.	March 4, 2019	Replaced Biz TV
Washington
Seattle	KYMU-LD	6.3	6	Cozi TV	Seattle 6 Broadcasting LLC	2019	Launched on new subchannel
Yakima	KGFZ-LD	31.3	31		Ron Bevins	Fall 2019	Launched on new subchannel
Wyoming
Casper	KTWO-DT	2	17	ABC	Vision Alaska, LLC	August 1, 2020	Replaced some local content

References

1. "Stations for Network – NewsNet". RabbitEars. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
2. "LNN - A News Channel without Pundits, Panels or Shout Shows". Kickstarter. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
3. "Entrepreneur turns to Kickstarter to launch no-nonsense news channel". TVNewsInsider. September 29, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
4. Phil Kurz (October 6, 2017). "Broadcast Entrepreneur Turns To Crowdfunding For New Effort". TVTechnology. Future plc. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
5. "MI News 26 looks to launch Northern Michigan based national news station". Boyne City Gazette. Paine Press. September 29, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
6. Phil Kurz (March 15, 2018). "New 24/7 News Channel To Make National Launch By Year-End". TVTechnology. Future plc. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
7. Adam Jacobson (March 22, 2018). "Now Available For Local TV: A 24/7 News Channel". Radio-Television Business Report. Streamline-RBR, Inc. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
8. "Headline-Driven NewsNet Readies For Launch". Radio-Television Business Report. Streamline-RBR, Inc. October 5, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
9. Staff, B&C. "NewsNet Breaks Ground on New Studios, Expanding Production Capabilities of America's Newest 24/7 News Channel". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2019-05-11.
10. Eric Wotila (October 2, 2018). "Learn More About Our Format". NewsNet. NewsNet, LLC. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
11. "Another National News Service Has Launched". FTVLive.com. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
12. "MI News 26 Founder Starting National News Network". TVNewsTalk.net. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
13. "New 24/7 NewsNet Designed For TV Stations". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. March 20, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018.

External links

• Official website