NewsNation Threatens to Shake Up Cable News [OPINION]

The launch tonight of NewsNation on WGN America has the potential to change the cable-news industry forever. I hope it is successful.

NewsNation is a new primetime news program on the old Chicago-based WGN that promises "fact-based, unbiased news coverage 24/7." The nightly NewsNation broadcast is available on most cable, satellite, and streaming video providers nationwide. The broadcast is only three hours (8 p.m.-11 p.m.) daily, but there is an app as well as Facebook, Twitter, and other social media connections to keep you updated throughout the day and night.

NewsNation by Nexstar is born out of frustration with the traditional but tired cable news channels. Information consumers have found it difficult to decipher fact from fiction and have grown weary of the biased, one-sided news presentation from CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and the alphabet soup of over-the-air broadcast networks.

NewsNation will air its programming in the evening when the big cable guys have abandoned traditional news for talking head opinion programming. These discussions which, often devolve into one-sided shoutfests, have sacrificed information for entertainment. Even news programming during the daylight hours on the cable stations is skewed towards ideology and away from facts. Many people have lost faith in the news biz and the accuracy of its product.

It has become difficult for consumers to find a source of information that is reliable and without a partisan tilt. Let's hope NewsNation is it.

If NewsNation is successful and draws viewers from the likes of Hannity and Cuomo and Maddow it could revolutionize the information business. Imagine, tuning into a cable news network and getting unbiased, straight-forward information that doesn't come with instructions for how you should feel about it.

Barry Richard is the host of The Barry Richard Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from noon to 3 p.m. Contact him at barry@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @BarryJRichard58. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.