NewsNation can’t be like everyone else in the cable news space. And that couldn’t be more on display than what the network does at 8 PM ET with Cuomo.
And the strategy makes sense. Channels like Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, and even Newsmax are more established than NewsNation. If you’re going to do the same thing as everyone else, what makes you think those viewers will leave those pillars of cable news for your network?
So, NewsNation pushes the Cuomo format to be different.
Yes, Chris Cuomo opens his show with an opening monologue like every other cable news show. Yes, Cuomo features the same basic format of four segments and commercial breaks in the one-hour timeslot. And yes, the NewsNation program features probably too many motion graphics in an effort to keep a viewer’s attention span.
But the content is different from many other shows.
Cuomo exudes opinions. On everything. On Tuesday, he shared a blistering takedown of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for the social media platform’s decision to remove third-party fact-checkers. With his criticism of the mega-billionaire, he spent several minutes of his opening segment blasting the decision and arguing that Zuckerberg was attempting to rival X owner Elon Musk for who can get the closest proximity to Donald Trump’s…well, I let your imagination fill in the rest.
Chris Cuomo’s criticism bites a little harder than others. There’s an authenticity to it that isn’t as present in other primetime cable news shows. He mentioned that he recently inked a contract extension with NewsNation due to its “insurgent” attitude. I believe him. Because Chris Cuomo fits well with an outlet with an “insurgent” attitude. Part calculated, part naivety, and part unafraid, Cuomo isn’t afraid to blast whoever needs blasting. He doesn’t worry about the repercussions of his comments. He doesn’t concern himself with questions about whether or not sharing his opinion will limit his access to party power players or the biggest newsmakers of the day.
Cuomo operates on opinion. Unadulterated takes on the topics of the day. Love him or hate him. And he isn’t afraid to share the stage with others like him.
Frequent guests on the show include ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith and cable news legend Bill O’Reilly. They are both guests who have created their media legacies by — like Cuomo — having strong takes with the ability to, if I can borrow a phrase from my junior high math teacher, “show their work.” You might not like each and every opinion, but they all come with an expressed thought process, which is surprisingly rare.
And those high-profile guests are a rarity. Not that other cable news shows don’t bring on big names, but they rarely compete in the same space as the host. At the end of the day, Chris Cuomo, Stephen A. Smith, and Bill O’Reilly are pundits. They all do the same job. So for them to all appear on Cuomo, sometimes together, makes for something you just don’t see all that often.
When he also has guests on to provide deeper context on a story rather than share opinions, Chris Cuomo doesn’t ask questions that lead the subject to begin their answer with “That’s right, Chris,” or some other statement of affirmation. In fact, the first question he asked his first guest on Tuesday evening, the answer was an immediate disagreement with the host.
There are just things that you don’t often see on cable news happening on the NewsNation show. In the past, I know Cuomo has taken callers on a regular basis from listeners. The back-and-forth between the host, producers, and the viewers was something you only see on the program. While it didn’t happen in the episode I watched, it just further goes to show that Chris Cuomo and NewsNation — the upstart outlet that didn’t complete its 24/7 cable news lineup until 2024 — do things differently and aren’t afraid to experiment.
The counterargument is “It isn’t working. The ratings for the network stink, with only 100,000 viewers on average in primetime.” My rebuttal would be: That might be true. But if you had to choose between someone bucking the norm or just going along with what everyone else is doing, which would you pick?
I’d pick what Chris Cuomo is doing on NewsNation over most everything else from other cable news competitors.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing bi-weekly industry features and a weekly column. He has previously served as Program Director and Afternoon Co-Host on 93.1 The Fan in Lima, OH, and is the radio play-by-play voice of Northern Michigan University hockey. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
