From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

WLNE
New Bedford, Massachusetts / Providence, Rhode Island
Branding	ABC 6 ABC 6 News
Channels	Analog: 6 (VHF) Digital: 49 (UHF)
Affiliations	ABC
Owner	Global Broadcasting
Founded	January 1, 1963
Call letters meaning	We Love New England
Former callsigns	WTEV-TV (1963-1980)
Former affiliations	CBS (1977-1995)
Transmitter Power	100 kW (analog) 350 kW (digital)
Height	283 m (analog) 284 m (digital)
Facility ID	22591
Transmitter Coordinates	41°35′48.0″N, 71°11′24.0″W
Website	abc6.com

WLNE-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for the state of Rhode Island and Bristol County (MA). Licensed to New Bedford (MA), the station broadcasts an analog signal on VHF channel 6 from a transmitter located in Tiverton. WLNE broadcasts a digital signal on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter located in Rehoboth (MA). The station is owned by Global Broadcasting and has studios that are located on Orms Street in Downtown Providence. WLNE is known on-air as "ABC 6".

WLNE is one of two major Rhode Island stations (the other one being CW affiliate WLWC) with facilities in Providence even though it is licensed to the Massachusetts side of the market.

The station's analog audio signal transmits on a frequency of 87.76 MegaHertz (+10 kHz shift), and as a result, can be picked up on the lower end of the dial on most FM radios at 87.7 MHz. This is true of all other channel 6 stations in the United States. WLNE regularly mentions this additional way of coverage.

Contents 1 History 1.1 2007 Winter Storm 2 Programming 3 Rhode Island News Channel 4 News Operation 5 News Team 6 Administration 7 References 8 External Links

The station began broadcasting on January 1, 1963 as WTEV-TV. It was the first full-time ABC affiliate and locally-owned station in the Rhode Island market. The station maintained its studios at 430 County Street in New Bedford. The station is licensed to New Bedford because the FCC had allocated only two VHF frequencies to Rhode Island. Although it soon became clear that Providence was big enough to support three television stations, UHF was not considered viable at the time. The decision was then made to seek the channel 6 allocation in New Bedford, the only city on the Massachusetts side of the market with an available VHF allocation.

ABC had a curious history in Rhode Island prior to WTEV's sign-on. WNET-TV had signed on channel 16 in 1953 as an ABC affiliate only to go dark in 1956 due to the aforementioned difficulties facing UHF stations. Until WTEV, ABC programming had been shared between NBC affiliate WJAR-TV and CBS affiliate WPRO-TV (now WPRI-TV).

In 1977, WTEV swapped affiliations with WPRI and became a CBS affiliate after Knight Ridder Television, which had just purchased WPRI, cut an affiliation deal that switched most of the television stations it owned at the time to ABC.

At some point between the late-1960s and the early-1970s, WTEV was purchased by Steinman Stations, who also owned WGAL in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was also a one-time owner of KOAT in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1979, the Steinmans sold both of their television stations to Pulitzer Publishing, who changed channel 6's call letters to the present-day WLNE-TV in 1980. The WTEV call sign is now used on a CBS affiliate in Jacksonville, Florida.

In 1984, Pulitzer sold WLNE to Freedom Communications. This sale was necessary because Pulitzer had acquired WFBC-TV (now WYFF) in Greenville, South Carolina and WXII-TV in the Piedmont Triad in 1983. This left the company one VHF station over the FCC's ownership limit of the time. Around this time, WLNE relocated its studios and offices from New Bedford to its current location in Downtown Providence.

On September 10, 1995, in a reversal of the 1977 affiliation swap, WLNE became an ABC affiliate again when CBS purchased WPRI.

Early in the afternoon of May 4, 2005, WLNE's analog transmitter went off the air due to a faulty section of transmission line on the tower. The transmitter had been running at 80-percent power due to another unrelated technical problem that occurred approximately two weeks earlier. Although cable and Dish Network satellite subscribers continued to receive broadcasts through a fiber optic connection, over-the-air and DirecTV satellite subscribers were unable to receive the channel (DirecTV gets its signal via antenna). The transmitter was operational again late-Thursday evening after 32-1/2 hours off the air.

In August of 2006, the Providence Journal reported that WLNE was for sale. The key reason for the decision was the lack of a second station for Freedom to operate in the market that would improve synergies for the Providence operation.

On March 12, 2007, Freedom announced it was selling WLNE to Global Broadcasting, a Delaware corporation headed by Robinson Ewert and Kevin O'Brien. The FCC granted approval of this sale in mid-September and ownership was officially transferred on October 9, 2007. Freedom continued to operate WLNE's website until November 30, when it was remade by Broadcast Interactive Media.

On December 13, 2007, when a major snow storm hit Southern New England, WLNE was the only area station on the air for 4 continuous hours (from 4 to 8 PM) with local coverage. Newly-acquired weeknight anchor Allison Alexander, who was to make her debut on January 1, 2008, anchored coverage alongside weekend anchor Tom Langford and current weeknight anchor Melissa Mahan. WLNE political analyst Buddy Cianci was also part of their coverage and offered a controversial perspective on the storm, criticizing the city of Providence and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation on their handling of the storm.

Since WLNE is transmitted on 87.7 FM, people that were stranded in their cars and listening at the time were encouraged to call the station to tell of their experiences live on-air. Viewers were also encouraged to go to abc6.com and send in their photos and snowfall amounts.

Despite relatively poor ratings, WLNE was generally considered in the media community to have "owned" the story and some believe this powerful coverage will herald a resurgence competitively. On-air standouts included Allison Alexander, who led the coverage despite being in the station for administrative reasons and pressed into service by circumstance; Tom Langford who anchored for over 15 hours that day; Fred Campagna who is in line to be promoted to Chief Meteorologist with the impending departure of Mark Searles (who also played a major role); and Jim Corbin who was an important supporting player.

The longest-running program on channel 6 is the TV Mass from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River which began in 1963. Originally, it was broadcasted at 8 AM. The TV Mass is currently broadcasted at 11 AM (as it has been since 2004). It is taped at the chapel of Bishop Stang High School in Dartmouth (MA). Easter Mass and Christmas Mass are taped at St. Mary's Cathedral in Fall River (MA).

Prior to its host's retirement, the longest running program on WLNE was The Truman Taylor Show. The Sunday morning public affairs program debuted very early in 1963. Numerous politicians appeared on the show, including two U.S. presidents. In late-2005, Taylor taped his final show. In early-2006, ABC6 News On the Record with host Jim Hummel replaced it. Truman Taylor is now a featured op-ed columnist for the Providence Journal.

The Rhode Island News Channel began broadcasting on November 30, 1998. Operated by WLNE and Cox Communications, it is the first and only 24-hour local news channel in the state. The Rhode Island News Channel provides non-stop news 24-hours a day, seven days a week. A weekend morning newscast is produced exclusively for The Rhode Island News Channel. The station can be found on Cox cable channel 5.

RINC also provides live, continuing coverage of breaking news and other newsworthy events. When severe weather strikes, the WLNE weather team provides accurate and up to the minute forecasts.

The cable station, in partnership with the Providence Journal, gives viewers an additional source for local news during the week through reports from the newsroom of the Providence Journal. There is also a news ticker located at the bottom of the screen

Under Freedom Communications ownership, WLNE maintained a distant third rank behind WJAR and WPRI. The majority of news reports originated taped or live from the station's newsroom. There were few live reports done out in the field.

Since Global Broadcasting took over as owners of WLNE, significant changes have been made to the news department. This had included changes in overall image, a remodeled news set, the expansion of ABC 6 News in the Morning to 2 hours and a rebranding to Good Morning Providence (with 2 news anchors for that broadcast and the Noon news), and an increase in live reports in the field. On January 14, 2008, WLNE will be launching a 4PM newscast, the first in the Providence market.^[1] At the start of every newscast, the anchors remind viewers that they are live in their Downtown Providence studios.

You Paid for It is a unit of ABC 6 News that targets corruption and illegal government spending. Chief reporter Jim Hummel has headed this investigative series since it's inception in the mid-1990s.

When the station's ownership changed, it was announced that veteran anchor Walter Cryan was retiring for the second time.^[2]

The station has the distinction as being the only Rhode Island station to be awarded the "Edward R. Murrow Award" for "Investigative Reporting" in 2006 and 2007. Tom Langford won the award in 2006 and chief reporter Jim Hummel won it in 2007.

From 2004 until October of 2007, the station was the market home of Mr. Food. His recipe segments aired during the morning and Noon newscasts. However, with new management at the station, Mr. Food has been pulled.

On October 24, 2007, WLNE announced that infamous former Providence mayor and WPRO-AM personality Vincent "Buddy" Cianci would join the station as Chief Political Analyst and contributing editor starting on November 1.^[3] Cianci was a political analyst at WLNE in the late-1980s. He also moderates a bi-weekly segment on ABC6 News entitled "Your Attention Please" with chief reporter Jim Hummel.

Segments that currently air during the morning and Noon newscasts include "Ask the Pharmacist" where Dr. Kristina Ward, from the University of Rhode Island's College of Pharmacy, answers viewers' medical questions. This segment only airs on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Monday mornings, the "Money Minute with Janet Marcantonio" gives advice on the best ways to save money. Every morning, ABC 6 airs the "Tech Bytes" and "MONEYScope" reports from ABC News during their morning news.

WLNE does not operate a weather radar of its own. Instead, the station uses live NOAA NWS radar data that originates from the National Weather Service's Local Forecast Office in Taunton (MA). This weather system is known on-air in newscasts as "StormTracker".

Due to WLNE's coverage area overlapping with Boston's ABC affiliate WCVB-TV, the two stations share resources for news coverage of Southeastern Massachusetts. Along with ABC News, WLNE is also a CNN affiliate.

Anchors

• John Deluca - weekday mornings and Noon
• Doreen Scanlon - weekday mornings and Noon
• Melissa Mahan - weeknights at 6 and 11 PM
• Allison Alexander - weeknights at 6 and 11 PM (begins January 1, 2008)
  • started as fill-in on 12/13/07 during winter storm coverage
• Josie Guarino - weekend mornings (on RINC)
• Tom Langford - weekend evenings

Storm Tracker Meteorologists

• Mark Searles (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief seen weeknights
• Fred Campagna (CBM certified) - weekday mornings and Noon
• Jim Corbin (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekends
• Matt Lagor - fill-in

Sports

• Ken Bell - Director seen weeknights
  • host of ABC 6 Sports Locker
• Don Coyne - weekend evenings
  • sports reporter
• Brian O'Neill - sports reporter
  • fill-in sports anchor

Reporters

• Jim Hummel - Chief Reporter
  • host of ABC 6 News On the Record
  • "Your Attention Please" segment producer
  • investigative
• Vincent "Buddy" Cianci - Chief Political Analyst
  • contributing editor
  • "Your Attention Please" segment participant
• Loren Petisce - weekday morning traffic
• Julie Ruditzky
• Jeremy Tung
• Jennifer Gannon
• Parker Gavigan
• Erica Ricci

Videojournalists

• Robert Murphy - head
  • Operations Master
• John Guice
• Erling Moe
• Michael Jones

• Stephen Doerr - Vice President, General Manager
• Regent Ducas - News Director
• Mike Brostek - General Sales Manager
• Tricia Rana - National Sales Manager
• Jim Marshall - Assignment Manager
• Bryan Monaghan - Deputy Assignment Manager
• Jim Brown - Director of Engineering and Operation
• Jason Nye - Program Manager
• Chrissy Centazzo - Managing Editor
• Ryan Clifton - Executive Producer

Producers

• Tiffany Case - weeknights at 11 PM
• Matt Touchette - weekday mornings
• Kelly Curtin - Noon
• Jaqueline Palumbo - RINC producer
• Michele Hazlewood - Senior Producer
• Amy Dziobek - special coverage

Video Editors

• Bobby Dow
• Mary Vega
• McKenzie Kotuby
• Jim Hughes
• Jim Pine

• Paul Grimaldi and Timothy C. Barmann (May 7, 2005). "Channel 6 off air for over a day". The Providence Journal, p. B1–2.
• Deacon James N. Dunbar (November 11, 2005). "Fall River diocese's TV Mass is favorite of region's shut-ins". The Anchor (the newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River, MA), pgs. 1 and 12.
• Paul Edward Parker (October 12, 2007). "Cryan retires as Channel 6 is sold". The Providence Journal.
• (October 24, 2007). "ABC6 names "Buddy" Cianci Chief Political Analyst & Contributing Editor". abc6.com.

• WLNE "ABC 6"
• ABC
• WTEV Archive
• Query the FCC's TV station database for WLNE

v • d • e Broadcast television in the Providence / New Bedford market  (Nielsen DMA #52)

WLNE 6 (ABC) - WJAR 10 (NBC) (WX+ on DT2) - WPRI 12 (CBS) - WLWC 28 (The CW) - WSBE 36 (PBS) - WRIW 50 (TEL) - WNAC 64 (FOX / MNTV) - WPXQ 69 (ION) Significantly Viewed Out-of-Market Broadcast Stations WGBH 2 (PBS) - WUNI 27 (UNI) - WSBK 38 (Ind) - WGBX 44 (PBS) - WEDN 53 (PBS / CPTV) Cable television channels Eyewitness News Pinpoint Weather Station - CN8 - NECN - NESN - CSN New England - Rhode Island News Channel

v • d • e Radio stations in the Providence-Warwick-Pawtucket, Rhode Island market (Arbitron #39)
By AM frequency	550 · 630 · 790 · 920 · 990 · 1110 · 1220 · 1290 · 1320 · 1450 · 1590
By FM frequency	88.1 · 88.7 · 90.3 · 91.3 · 92.3 · 93.3 · 94.1 · 95.5 · 97.3 · 98.1 · 99.7 · 100.3 · 101.5 · 102.7 · 103.7 · 105.1 · 106.3
By callsign	WALE · WARL · WARV · WBRU · WCTK · WDDZ · WDOM · WEEI-FM · WELH · WHJJ · WHJY · WJFD-FM · WJMF · WKKB · WLKW · WPMZ · WPRO · WPRO-FM · WRIU · WRNI · WRNI-FM · WSKO · WSKO-FM · WSNE · WSTL · WWBB · WWKX · WWLI
Rhode Island Radio Markets: Providence Other Rhode Island Radio Regions: Newport See also: List of radio stations in Rhode Island

v • d • e ABC Network Affiliates in the state of Massachusetts
WCVB 5 (Boston) - WLNE 6 (New Bedford) - WCDC 19 (Adams) - WGGB 40 (Springfield)
See also: CBS, CW, Fox, MyNetworkTV, NBC, PBS and Other stations in Massachusetts

v • d • e Global Broadcasting
WLNE 6 (Providence / New Bedford)