Nexstar Media Group’s upstart cable news channel NewsNation will launch a political affairs panel show that franchises the brand name of its politics-centric website The Hill.
The show will be fronted by Leland Vittert, who currently hosts a daily opinion show on NewsNation called “On Balance.”
“The Hill” will air at 5 p.m. Eastern Time starting Monday, April 24. The launch of the program continues Nexstar’s buildout of NewsNation, which offers hard news programming during the morning hours and a mixture of current events and commentary shows in the evening. The channel continues to fill the daytime hours with re-runs of “Blue Bloods” as part of a syndication agreement dating back to NewsNation’s time as WGN America.
“As the nation awaits another presidential election, we are incredibly proud to debut a new program that will spotlight the top news headlines coming out of Washington,” Cherie Grezech, the vice president of news and managing editor at NewsNation, said in a statement. “Engaging in powerful discussions with top politicians, thought leaders, and policy makers, will enable us to inform and educate our viewers about the key issues that impact communities across America.”
Each episode of The Hill will feature Vittert interviewing a guest who will dive into the latest news originating from Capitol Hill. The guest will be joined by a regular panel of experts:
- Johanna Maska, former aide to President Barack Obama
- Chris Stirewalt, NewsNation political editor
- Niall Stanage, associate editor of The Hill website
- George Will, senior political contributor to NewsNation
Vittert joined NewsNation in May 2021 after working as a news presenter and foreign correspondent for the Fox News Channel. The Hill will be executive produced by former Cox Media Group Washington bureau editor and digital content strategist Rob Yarin.
NewsNation is available through the Level News streaming news app, which costs $6 a month and includes a handful of other news-centric channels, including the C-SPAN multiplex and Bloomberg TV. The channel is also available across a number of streaming cable TV replacements, including Sling TV, Vidgo, YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, Fubo TV and DirecTV Stream.
Along with NewsNation, Nexstar also operates The Hill TV, a streaming-only channel that is available through the free Plex app for phones, tablets and smart TVs.
