WLNE-TV
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| WLNE-TV | |
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| New Bedford, Massachusetts / Providence, Rhode Island |
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| Branding | ABC 6 ABC 6 News |
| Slogan | Always On |
| Channels | Analog: 6 (VHF) |
| Affiliations | ABC (1995-Present; also from 1963-1977) |
| Owner | Global Broadcasting (Global Broadcasting of Southern New England, LLC) |
| Founded | January 1, 1963 |
| Call letters’ meaning | We Love New England |
| Former callsigns | WTEV (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 | (analog) (digital) |
| Website | www.abc6.com |
WLNE-TV, channel 6, is the ABC-affiliated television station for the state of Rhode Island and Bristol County, Massachusetts. Its analog transmitter is located in Tiverton, Rhode Island. The station's digital transmitter is located in Rehoboth, Massachusetts. Owned by Global Broadcasting, WLNE has studios on Orms Street in downtown Providence. It is one of two major Rhode Island stations (the other being CW affiliate WLWC) whose facilities are located in Providence but it is licensed to the Massachusetts side of the market. The stations analog video is broadcast at a frequency of 83.26 MHz AM. The station's analog audio is broadcast at a frequency of 87.76 MHz FM (+10 kHz shift from standard Ch. 6 freq.), 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 analog channel 6 stations in the United States. WLNE regularly mentions this additional way of coverage.
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[edit] Digital television
WLNE-TV began broadcating on digital channel 49 (680 MHz) in March of 2004. WLNE-DT rebrands Channel 49 as 6, and currently carries two subchannels; 6.1 broadcating in 720p (HD simulcast of WLNE-TV, upconverted local content, pass through ABC Network HD), and 6.2 broadcating in 480i (SD simulcast of WLNE-TV). In February 2009, WLNE will return analog channel 6 to the FCC for reallocation and will broadcast only on digital channel 49. [1]
| Channel | Programming |
|---|---|
| 6.1 | main WLNE programming / ABC HD |
[edit] History
The station began broadcasting on January 1, 1963 as WTEV-TV from studios on 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.
Immediately upon taking to the air, WTEV became Rhode Island's ABC affiliate. 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. That station is now Fox affiliate WNAC-TV. For the seven years prior to channel 6's sign-on, 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.
[edit] 2007 Winter storm
On December 13, 2007, when a major snow storm hit Southern New England, WLNE was the only area station on the air for four 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 then weekend anchor Tom Langford and former weeknight anchor Melissa Mahan. WLNE political analyst Buddy Cianci was also part of their coverage and offered a controversial perspective on the storm, harshly criticizing the city of Providence, its mayor, police chief, and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation on their handling of the storm.
Since WLNE's audio signal can be heard 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 and was promoted to morning and noon co-anchor; Fred Campagna, who was promoted to Chief Meteorologist with the recent departure of Mark Searles (who also played a major role); and meteorologist Jim Corbin, who was an important supporting player.
[edit] Programming
The longest-running program on channel 6 is TV Mass from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River which began in 1963. Originally, it was broadcast at 8 AM. TV Mass is currently broadcast at 11 AM (as it has been since 2004). It is taped at the chapel of Bishop Stang High School in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Easter Mass and Christmas Mass are taped at St. Mary's Cathedral in Fall River, Massachusetts.
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.
Syndicated programs aired on WLNE include Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. On weekends and overnights, WLNE airs reruns of Frasier and COPS.
[edit] Rhode Island News Channel
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, consisting rebroadcasts of the the main newscasts on WLNE. A weekend morning newscast is produced exclusively for the Rhode Island News Channel. The station can only 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 its newsroom. On the channel, there is a news ticker located at the bottom of the screen.
[edit] News operation
Under Freedom Communications ownership, WLNE was ranked a distant third in the market 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. For all broadcasts, there was only one anchor. Since Global Broadcasting took over as owners of WLNE, several significant changes have been made to the news department. This included changes in overall image and a remodeled news set. ABC 6 News in the Morning was expanded to two hours and had a rebranding to Good Morning Providence. There were two news anchors assigned to that broadcast as well as the Noon news. Finally, there was an increase in live reports out in the field. 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 or irresponsible government spending. Chief reporter Jim Hummel has headed this investigative series since its inception in the mid-1990s.
When Global took over, it was announced that veteran anchor Walter Cryan was retiring for the second time. 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 weekday morning and Noon newscasts. However, with new management at the station, Mr. Food was 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. Cianci was a political analyst at WLNE in the late-1980s. He also moderates a bi-weekly segment on ABC 6 News entitled "Your Attention Please" with chief reporter Jim Hummel.
On December 17, WLNE announced it would launch ABC 6 First At 4, the market's first-ever 4 o'clock newscast on January 14, 2008. Described as a "hard newscast" and not morning-show style fluff, First at 4 gives WLNE a head start in coverage of weather and politics. This newscast competes head to head with Oprah that airs on WJAR. The hour-long broadcast is anchored by Allison Alexander and Paul Mueller. Additional anchor changes were also made. 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 National Weather Service radar data that originates from the National Weather Service's Local Forecast Office in Taunton, Massachusetts. This weather system is known on-air in weather segments as "Storm Tracker". 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.
[edit] News team
Anchors
- Tom Langford - weekday mornings and Noon
- Doreen Scanlon - weekday mornings and Noon
- Paul Mueller - Monday through Thursday at 4
- Sunday nights and reporter
- Allison Alexander - weeknights at 4, 6, and 11
- John Deluca - weeknights at 6 and 11
- Fridays at 4
- Jeremy Tung - Saturday nights
- reporter
- Erica Ricci - weekend mornings (on RINC)
- reporter
ABC 6 Storm Tracker Meteorologists
- Fred Campagna (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist) - Chief seen on weeknights
- Steve Cascione (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekday mornings and Noon
- Matt Lagor (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekend mornings (on RINC)
- fill-in
- Jim Corbin (AMS Seal of Approval) - weekend evenings
Sports
- Ken Bell - Director seen on weeknights
- host of ABC 6 Sports Locker
- Don Coyne - weekend evenings
- sports reporter
- Brian O'Neill - sports reporter
- fill-in
Reporters
- Jim Hummel - chief reporter
- host of ABC 6 News On the Record
- You Paid For It investigation
- Vincent "Buddy" Cianci - chief political analyst
- contributing editor
- host of The Buddy Cianci Show on WPRO-AM 630
- Loren Petisce - weekday morning traffic
- Malini Basu
- Parker Gavigan
- Julie Ruditzky
- Jennifer Gannon
- John Guice
- Kimberly Bookman
- Colleen Harry
- Robert Goulston
[edit] News/Station Presentation
[edit] Newscast Titles
- Channel 6 News (198?-1987)
- WLNE 6 News (1987-1990)
- 6 News (1990-1994)
- ABC 6 News (1995-Present)
[edit] Newscast Music
- Move Closer To Your World, Mayoham Music (1980-1981)
- WLNE 1981 News Theme, Unknown (1981-1983)
- CBS News Ticker, Unknown (1983-1987)
- WRGB 1986 News Theme, Unknown (1987-1990)
- Shock, John Tesh (1990-1992)
- WLNE 1992 News Theme, Unknown (1992-1994)
- WLNE 1995 News Theme, Star Trak Music (1995-1999)
- WLNE 1999 News Theme, Unknown (1999-2001)
- WLNE 2001 News Theme, Unknown (2001-Present)
- High Velocity (V.1, V.2), 615 Music (2008-Present)
[edit] References
- Paul Grimaldi and Timothy C. Barmann (May 7, 2005). "Channel 6 off air for over a day". The Providence Journal, pp. 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), pp. 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.
[edit] External links
- WLNE-TV/DT "ABC 6"
- ABC
- Query the FCC's TV station database for WLNE
- BIAfn's Media Web Database -- Information on WLNE-TV
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