World News Now (often referred to as WNN) is an overnight news program on ABC. The show features a mix of general and offbeat news stories, along with weather forecasts and sports highlights, as well as repurposed story packages and segments from other ABC News programs; it is often lighthearted, irreverent, or humorous. The program has been seen as a training ground for young television journalists who go on to bigger roles at the network or its local affiliates.
The show typically airs in two half-hour segments each weeknight, from 2:00 to 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time; it is then repeated on a tape delayed loop until Good Morning America First Look begins at 8:00 a.m. in some areas of the country and the world. World News Now often includes some musical performances, with musicians ranging from local jazz groups to singer-songwriters being invited into the studio to perform for the anchors and viewers. Other segments include Insomniac Theater, where the anchors give a rating (on a scale of 1 to 5) of a new movie, and World News Now Kitchen, where the host visits a New York City restaurant for ideas for late-night snacks that viewers can make at home. In addition, some nights the World News Now production credits are accompanied by some version of the “World News Polka” – usually the original recording by comedian Barry Mitchell on accordion.
For some years, the anchors of World News Now would read e-mails from viewers during the broadcast, and on occasion, the anchors would respond to them (usually humorously). During the weekday airing of the program, WNN has also featured some of the earliest video footage of dancing camels (for “Hump Day” on Wednesdays) and various obscurities in which the show’s staff have traveled to. In February 2011, the final broadcast of World News Now paid tribute to departing co-anchor Natalie Nair with a segment that included video of her visiting a camel ranch in Arizona. The following month, the network’s O&O in New York City, WABC-TV, dropped the program and replaced it with a rebroadcast of This Week.