Former CNN news personality Chris Cuomo will host a new show on Nexstar’s cable network NewsNation later this year.
The announcement was made toward the end of a wide-ranging interview with television host Dan Abrams on his NewsNation program Tuesday evening, the first time Cuomo has spoken publicly about his firing from CNN and the issues that surrounded it.
“I really believe that this outlet has a chance to reach who I call ‘free agents,'” Cuomo told Abrams on Tuesday, adding that he felt NewsNation viewers were “reasonable” and “willing to listen when someone disagrees.”
For years, Cuomo appeared as a social and political pundit across cable news until ABC News hired him to serve as a co-anchor for their news magazine program “20/20.” While at ABC News, he also appeared on the network’s national morning news show “Good Morning America.”
In early 2013, Cuomo was hired by CNN to host a morning news program that ultimately became “New Day.” He moved to prime time in 2018 after CNN tapped him for a new nightly news and opinion show.
His tenure at CNN came to an end last December when the network learned he provided advice to his brother, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, while the governor was facing accusations of sexual harassment.
Cuomo sued the network earlier this year, with his lawyer alleging that CNN’s firing made him “untouchable in the world of broadcast journalism.”
That is apparently no longer the case, with Nexstar willing to give Cuomo his own show that is set to debut later this year. Discussions between Nexstar and Cuomo were first reported earlier this month by the conservative-leaning pop culture website Outkick, which was purchased by Fox Corporation last year.
NewsNation is distributed by cable and satellite providers in the channel slot that once occupied WGN America, which was a general entertainment channel spun off from Chicago’s WGN-TV (Channel 9). It is also carried on some streaming services like YouTube TV and DirecTV Now, with some syndicated comedy and dramas sandwiched by its morning and late evening news and opinion programming.
The channel’s attempt to rival CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel in the cable news space has been challenged by its limited reach, particularly as consumers ditch expensive cable and satellite packages for on-demand streaming.
NewsNation also faced controversy early in its formation after several key staff members resigned amid a perception that the network was deceptively promoting itself as a neutral platform for news while simultaneously pushing conservative talking points. The resignations temporarily delayed plans for a new morning news show on NewsNation; eventually, the channel launched one with former ABC News journalist Adrienne Bankert.