Will McAvoy is the well known lead anchor of "News Night", which leads the primetime lineup on Atlantic Cable News (ACN). McAvoy had gained a reputation as a "safe" host, one that didn't play hardball with guests and preferred not to make waves or upset people.

That all changed with the return of Will's old flame (and former executive producer) Mackenzie McHale. Will's boss Charlie Skinner went behind his back and hired "Mac" to head up News Night again after Will's current producer bailed to work on a different ACN show.

Will and Mac parted on bad terms, and he initially resists her attempts to legitimize News Night into a hard hitting journalistic endeavor. Before too long though, Will comes around, and agrees to work towards the goal of making News Night an old-school, no nonsense news program.

Unfortunately, this goal is not shared by ACN head Leona Lansing, and Will soon finds himself under assault from his own employers. Will also gets in trouble due to his constant attacking of the "tea party" movement, and the modern Republican party machine.

Will's personal political affiliation is kept pretty close to the vest, but it's eventually revealed that he's a long-time registered Republican.