Chris Cuomo to Return to TV News, Joins NewsNation

Chris Cuomo is returning to TV news.

The former CNN anchor, who was fired in December from the network, is joining NewsNation. The outfit is owned by Nexstar Media, which owns television stations across the United States.

Cuomo appeared on the NewsNation airwaves on Tuesday evening and spoke with anchor Dan Abrams in what was touted as Cuomo's first media interview since leaving CNN last year.

In his comments, Cuomo said he believes there should be more middle-of-the-road political coverage because "this binary system is killing us."

"And the media is trapped in it very often. You can’t be criticizing the game that you are a part of,” he said.

Cuomo was terminated from CNN in December after an investigation into his involvement with his brother, then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's defense against sexual misconduct allegations.

Variety reports Chris Cuomo is pursuing a $125 million payment from CNN as part of an arbitration filing. During his Tuesday night interview, he confirmed that's still ongoing.

In his interview, Cuomo said he was "proud" of his time at CNN and that "it mattered more to me than I knew at the time when I was doing the job."

In a prepared statement, he said he plans to cover "news wherever it happens" and to talk "solutions rather than political parties or the political circus."

His comments echo the larger strategy of Nexstar's fledgling cable-news outfit. The company touts itself as a more centrist outlet.

“I don’t think I can make a difference (in traditional network news)," Cuomo said on Tuesday night. "I think we need insurgent media. I think we need outlets that aren’t fringe and just trying to fill their pockets."

He added that he is "going to try very hard to be fair" in his reporting.

In a statement to Variety, the Nexstar Media president of networks, Sean Compton, said that Cuomo is joining "our growing team of seasoned, award-winning journalists and will further our efforts to continue to ensure fairness and transparency in our news reporting and talk shows.”

NewsNation has also recently hired several other big name anchors from the competition — Leland Vittert from Fox, Ashleigh Banfield from CNN and Dan Abrams from ABC News and MSNBC, Variety reported.

Cuomo is slated to return to the airwaves full time in the fall.