NewsNet shuts down

NewsNet, a free, over-the-air television network that offered a “news wheel”-style schedule, has shut down abruptly.

About 80 employees were let go as part of the closure announced Aug. 2, 2024. Multiple reports indicate the closure was a surprise to many employees, some of whom learned about the decision last-minute.

NewsNet was primarily owned by Manoj Bhargava, who is also known for the 5-Hour Energy brand, under Bridge News. He purchased the bulk of Freelancer Television Broadcasting’s assets, including NewsNet and low-power stations WMNN-LD and WXII-LD, in January 2022, to create the company.

The company opened a new studio facility in Farmington Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, in May 2022, and later expanded programming.

NewsNet and its sister offering Sports News Highlights aired primarily on digital subchannels of over-the-air stations across the country, selling advertising and sponsorships to make money, though Bhargava indicated the operation was losing money as of its closure date.

NewsNet affiliates are replacing the news feed with ShopHQ and the Sports News Highlights offering with Fun Roads TV. The digital stream remained operational after the shutdown announcement, though it did not appear to provide new content aside from some updates in its ticker.

NewsNet traces its roots back to 2017 when Eric Wotila, the founder of WMNN, attempted to use crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to launch a 24-hour news channel with a national focus that would attempt to replicate a “straight-to-the-facts, no-nonsense and commentary-free” inspired by the original CNN Headline News format.

The campaign sought to raise $100,000 to fund what it called Local News Network, but ultimately only was able to get $8,012 in commitments.

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In 2018, after completing funding rounds from private investors, the NewsNet concept, which retained many of the same ideas as LNN’s proposal, was announced. The channel launched on Jan. 1, 2019. 

Wotilla also had experience producing local news inserts for CNN Headline News in the Northern Michigan market as well as MI News 26, another regional news operation that relied on jukebox technology. 

Bhargava had previously indicated he was looking to combine NewsNet and Sports News Highlights with The Arena Group, which he also owns. Arena operates brands such as Parade, Men’s Journal and The Street. 

He also facing multiple lawsuits tied to a failed bid to acquire the parent of Sports Illustrated.