History Creator / WGNAmerica

It started out as a direct feed of WGN-TV, carrying the Chicago station's programming and advertisements, except for certain sports events that had to be blacked out due to league broadcast regulations. Its bread and butter for much of its history (and one of the things that made WGN-TV one of the strongest independent stations in the U.S., and the highest-rated indie station by far in Chicago) was WGN-TV's extensive slate of sports events, and was known for many years (1978 to 2014) as the home of the [[UsefulNotes/MLBTeams Chicago Cubs, White Sox]] and [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation Bulls]] (Tribune incidentally owned a stake in the Cubs for several years until 2008). WGN arguably received a higher profile thanks to the Bulls' dynasty under UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan during the late 1980s to mid-1990s, when the team won several NBA championships. This almost ended in 1996, when cable provider TCI [[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19044057.html nearly dropped the channel]] in five Midwestern states because of a dispute between the NBA and Tribune over WGN's national broadcasts of Bulls games. Both situations resolved themselves: the WGN national feed was allowed to carry a limited schedule of Bulls games outside of Chicago, and [[Main/SavedByTheFans subscriber demand]] led [[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-69571803.html TCI to renege on pulling the channel]]. Although WGN-TV almost lost the Cubs in 2014, until the team reached a deal with the city's Creator/{{ABC}} and Creator/MyNetworkTV stations, WLS-TV, and [[note]]WGN's one-time local indie rival until it joined UPN in 1995[[/note]] WPWR-TV, to split over-the-air rights with WGN, the station's continued extensive carriage of sports (by way of Tribune's contribution to keeping local telecasts of pro sports on broadcast TV on several of its independents-turned-CW affiliates) makes it a unicorn among major-market broadcast stations, which have lost sports rights to regional sports cable networks like Fox Sports and Comcast [=SportsNet=] (which splits the rights to all four teams that WGN-TV carries for its Chicago network).

In January 2021, Nexstar announced they were dropping all pretenses and would rebrand the channel as NewsNation beginning in March of 2021, corresponding with the launch of additional news blocks. Part of the announcement also included that the WGN America brand would live on during daytime general entertainment blocks in between news segments, at least until the syndication contracts expire and the network can launch more news blocks into those time slots.

In January 2021, Nexstar announced they were dropping all pretenses and would rebrand the channel as NewsNation beginning in March of 2021, corresponding with the launch of additional news blocks. Part of the announcement also included that the WGN America brand would live on during daytime general entertainment blocks in between news segments.

In 2017, all of the original drama series were canceled in the lead-up to parent company Tribune Media's announced acquisition by Sinclair Broadcasting. This was part of a "network revamp", with many speculating that Sinclair hoped to turn WGN into a Fox News competitor. Sinclair later stated that WGN America's carriage contracts with cable companies are contingent on it being an entertainment channel. Ultimatly, the Sinclair deal was called-off due to Sinclair basically trying to keep every single Tribune station and not spin anything off. Currently, another mega-group, Nexstar, is currently trying to acquire Tribune.

In 2017, all of the original drama series were cancelled in the lead-up to parent company Tribune Media's announced acquisition by Sinclair Broadcasting as part of a "network revamp", with many speculating that Sinclair hoped to turn WGN into a Fox News competitor. Sinclair later stated that WGN America's carriage contracts with cable companies are contingent on it being an entertainment channel.

However, the Sinclair deal was cancelled due to Sinclair basically trying to keep every single Tribune station and not spin anything off ([[EveryoneHasStandards something not even Ajit Pai's FCC could overlook]]). As of now another mega-group, the much less evil Nexstar, is currently trying to acquire Tribune. Thus, the fate of WGN America is up in the air for the moment.

!!Original Programs aired by the network include:

In 2017, all of the original drama series were cancelled in the lead-up to parent company Tribune Media's announced acquisition by Sinclair Broadcasting as part of a "network revamp", with many speculating that Sinclair hopes to turn WGN into a Fox News competitor.