Nexstar Pushes NewsNation Further Right with Latest Hire

Nexstar continues its effort to retool its struggling cable news channel, NewsNation, in the image of its successful, conservative rival, Fox News. The network’s latest staffing decision serves as yet another clear step in this controversial rightward pivot.

In a move that further shifts NewsNation's editorial center, the channel is handing its 10 p.m. hour to Katie Pavlich. Pavlich is a well-known conservative commentator who has been a regular fixture on Fox News for more than a decade. This hire is interpreted as Nexstar's attempt to capture a segment of the audience that favors the heavily conservative perspective dominating cable news.

Pavlich will be replacing Ashleigh Banfield in the primetime slot. Banfield is reportedly "stepping away from the linear show" to focus on a true crime podcast and to lead a NewsNation vertical devoted to crime coverage. However, the replacement of a long-time news host with a prominent conservative pundit reinforces the perception that Nexstar is prioritizing the replication of the Fox News model to boost NewsNation's viewership.

This latest hire continues a pattern of decisions that observers say are designed to make NewsNation more competitive by abandoning its initial strategy of offering a centrist, straight-news alternative and instead aligning itself with the more profitable, opinion-driven, right-leaning programming pioneered by Fox News.