WLNE-TV

WLNE-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station that is licensed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, but is headquartered in and operates from studios at 10 Orms Street in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. The station was originally founded as WTEV and headquartered in New Bedford, but has identified as "New Bedford-Providence" for most of its history. It is one of two major Rhode Island stations (the other being CW affiliate WLWC) whose facilities are located in Providence despite its primary city of license being on the Massachusetts side of the market. WLNE broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 49 from a transmitter inRehoboth, Massachusetts, and is operated by Bronxville, New York-based Citadel Communications under a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Global Broadcasting and attorney Matthew McGowan as receiver in a joint venture under the name Global Communications LLC., as Citadel's full acquisition of WLNE awaits Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval. Citadel Communications is unrelated to Citadel Broadcasting, which owns several radio stations in the Providence market Syndicated programming on WLNE includes: The Insider, Inside Edition, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Forget_the_Lyrics! Don't Forget the Lyrics!], and The 700 Club''.

History
The station began broadcasting on January 1, 1963 as WTEV from studios on 430 County Street in New Bedford. It operated an analog signal on VHF channel 6 from a transmitter in Tiverton.

ABC had a curious history in Rhode Island prior to WTEV's sign-on. In the earliest years of television in Providence, WJAR-TV (channel 10), at that time the market's only TV station, carried a handful of ABC programs (while at the same time carrying a little more than half ofNBC's program schedule and about half of the CBS schedule). WNET launched on channel 16 in 1953 as an ABC affiliate. However, it was forced off the air in 1956 due to the difficulties faced by UHF startups at the time. Since television manufacturers weren't required to include UHF tuning capability on TV sets, viewers needed an expensive converter (or an all-channel set, the latter being very rare at the time) to watch WNET, and the picture was marginal at best even with one. For the seven years prior to channel 6's sign-on, WJAR and CBS affiliate WPRO-TV (channel 12, now WPRI-TV) aired ABC programming, sometimes pre-empting their primary network but usually airing ABC shows on a delayed basis in off-hours. However, of Rhode Island could get the full ABC schedule from Boston stations—WHDH-TV (channel 5, frequency now occupied by WCVB-TV) prior to January 1, 1961, and WNAC-TV (channel 7, now WHDH) from 1961 to 1963.

Even though Providence was a big enough market to support three full network affiliates, it soon became apparent that channel 16 would not be resurrected in the near future. The owners of the future WTEV thus decided to seek a license for channel 6 in New Bedford, since it was the only available VHF allocation in the region, albeit on the Massachusetts side of the market.

New Bedford and Bristol County are part of the Rhode Island market due to Rhode Island's small geographic size, even though the rest of southern Massachusetts is in the Boston market. This was merely a technicality until satellite television, but is a point of irritation to some Massachusetts subscribers of services such as DirecTV and Dish Network who are unable to receive Massachusetts news and sports from Boston stations. The FCC allows network affiliates to prevent satellite subscribers from receiving network stations from outside the station's designated market. Bristol County is the only part of Massachusetts associated with Rhode Island for television purposes. Neither Bristol County television station actually operates in Massachusetts.

WTEV was founded by a group that was 55-percent owned by the E. Anthony and Sons, publisher of the New Bedford Standard-Times and owner of WNBH radio (1340 AM and 98.1 FM, now WCTK); the remaining 45 percent was held by New England Television, the holder of the license for the old WNET.[1] In 1966, shortly after E. Anthony and Sons sold the Standard-Times and WNBH, WTEV was purchased by Steinman Stations of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.[2] WTEV moderately preempted ABC shows, in most every case a low-rated program. This didn't pose as much of a problem as it may seem, since most viewers could still get the full schedule from Boston's WNAC until 1972, and on WCVB afterward. During afternoon hours, WTEV ran a blend of cartoons and classic sitcoms. Late nights were devoted to movies.

Switch to CBS
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 two of the three television stations it owned at the time to ABC. At the time, ABC was aggressively pursuing strong NBC and CBS affiliates to switch, and succeeded in persuading some longtime NBC and CBS stations to switch (as an example, KSTP-TV in Minneapolis-St. Paul and WSB-TV in Atlanta, both longtime NBC affiliates, switched to ABC during that period).

In 1979, the Steinmans sold WTEV and their flagship station, WGAL-TV in Lancaster, to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer,_Inc. Pulitzer Publishing]. This sale reunited them withKOAT-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which had been sold to Pulitzer in 1969. Pulitzer changed channel 6's call letters to the present-dayWLNE in 1980. The WTEV call sign is now used on a CBS affiliate in Jacksonville, Florida. Beginning in 1980, WLNE ran an afternoon movie from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. By 1982, the station was also running a movie weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. These movies were known as "the Dialing For Dollars Movie". WLNE also continued to preempt moderate amounts of programming, particularly the offerings from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. (to accommodate the morning movie), at noon, and late night programming. Throughout much of the 1980s, WLNE was known for running two movies a day.

In 1983, 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 Winston-Salem, North Carolina that same year, leaving 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. By the fall of 1988, WLNE was only running an afternoon movie weekdays and began clearing CBS' 10:00 a.m. hour. In the fall of 1989, WLNE dropped CBS' Guiding Light, moving the movie to 3:00 p.m. and adding more syndicated programming in the 5:00 p.m. hour; by mid-1990, the afternoon movie was dropped in favor of additional syndicated programming. In the fall of 1990, WLNE dropped the CBS Saturday morning cartoons in favor of several movies in that time slot. In 1991, Guiding Light was reinstated. By 1993, the Saturday morning movies were replaced with educational children's programs and infomercials.

Return to ABC
Then-ABC affiliate WPRI was sold to CBS in the spring of 1995, making it a CBS owned and operated station (and one of the last such acquisitions prior to the Westinghouse Electric Corporation's purchase of the network). As a result, at midnight on September 10, 1995, WPRI reversed the 1977 swap with WLNE and officially rejoined CBS. WLNE then became an ABC affiliate again, and soon afterward began calling itself "ABC6". As an ABC affiliate, WLNE runs virtually the entire ABC schedule of programming, with the Saturday morning infomercials replaced with ABC's Saturday morning cartoons.

Early in the afternoon of May 4, 2005, WLNE's analog transmitter was knocked off the air due to a faulty section of transmission line on the tower. The transmitter had been running at 80% power due to another unrelated technical problem that occurred approximately two weeks earlier. Although Dish Network satellite and some cable systems continued to receive broadcasts through fiber optic connections, over-the-airand DirecTV satellite subscribers were left without a local ABC affiliate (DirecTV gets its signal via antenna). Some cable providers made special temporary arrangements to carry Boston ABC station WCVB-TV during this outage. The WLNE transmitter was operational again late Thursday evening after 32 hours off the air.[3]

Sale to Global Broadcasting
In August 2006, The Providence Journal reported that WLNE was put up for sale.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[4] 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[5] The FCC granted approval of this sale in mid-September and ownership was officially transferred on October 9.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[6] Freedom continued to operate WLNE's website until November 30, 2007 when it was revamped by Broadcast Interactive Media. In April 2010, abc6.com was updated by WorldNow.

Financial struggles, bankruptcy
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">For many years, WLNE carried the syndicated shows Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray, Entertainment Tonight, The Insider, and Inside Edition fromCBS Television Distribution. However, in mid-2009, the station was unable to reach a carriage agreement with the syndicator, successor toKing World Productions and Paramount Domestic Television. At that time, the station was carrying Dr. Phil, Entertainment Tonight, andInside Edition. As a result of the situation, the shows were dropped on June 5 and q uickly moved to WNAC-TV (channel 64, and the legal successor to the former WNET).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[7] Temporarily put in their place were Cristina's Court, Family Court with Judge Penny, and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[8] On June 16, CBS filed a lawsuit against Global Broadcasting for failing to fully pay license fees for the shows and a breach of contract. The syndicator is seeking $5 million from the company.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[9] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[10] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[11]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">On June 23, NewsBlues reported that Global Broadcasting co-owner Robinson Ewert had left the company amidst the dispute with CBS. He was replaced by Rob Holtzer, general sales manager at Sunrise Sports and Entertainment, owner of the NHL's Florida Panthers and theBankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida. He is also a former national sales manager at the YES Network in New York. Holtzer's official title at Global is vice president and director of sales.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[12]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">Global Broadcasting filed for receivership (Rhode Island's equivalent to bankruptcy) on July 29, 2010 due to declining advertising revenues. Providence attorney Matthew McGowan was appointed receiver and will operate the station as normal.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-b.26c-wlnereceivership_12-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[13] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-wpri-wlnereceivership_13-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[14] A month later, the station was put up for sale for the second time in four years. According to The Providence Journal, several groups had expressed interest in purchasing the station and a deal was projected to be reached by the end of the year.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-pj-forsaleagain_14-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[15] On December 13, 2010, rumors surfaced that WLNE would be acquired by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.H._Belo_Corp. A.H. Belo Corp.], and that its operations would be merged with those of the The Providence Journal. However, it was also noted that A.H. Belo Corp. was formed by the spin-off of the non-broadcasting assets of Belo Corporation. Belo itself was considered a likelier candidate due to the strength of its operations in southern and western markets, and its operation of regional news channels much like WLNE's own Newschannel 5.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-fybush-wlnebeloprojo_15-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[16]

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">On February 10, 2011, Citadel Communications of Bronxville, New York was chosen as the stalking horse bid in the sale of the station with a bid of $4 millon. Five other groups (including one led by former Providence mayor Joseph Paolino) were also interested in purchasing the station and had until March 18 to submit competing bids prior to auction.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-pbn-wlnecitadelstalkinghorsebid_16-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[17] On March 17, ABC notified potential buyers that WLNE's affiliation with the network beyond March 31, 2011 is not assured, which Global Broadcasting CEO Kevin O'Brien said could depress the final price WLNE is sold for at auction.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-wpri-wlneabcthreat_17-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[18] Some observers feared that this could prompt one or more of the six companies believed to be bidding for WLNE to withdraw from bidding for the station, which may even force it off the air if no sale is made.

Sale to Citadel Communications
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">On March 22, Citadel Communications was approved as the new owner of WLNE by receiver Matthew McGowan.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-abc6-wlnecitadelsale_18-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[19] The company met the approval of ABC, and took over station operation on May 1 under an LMA with McGowan and Global as Global Communications LLC. until the sale is approved by the FCC, at which point Citadel will assume full ownership.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-wpri-wlnecitadelsaleindepth_19-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[20] On April 5, WLNE revealed programming changes made in light of the sale, which included the returns of CBS Television Distribution shows The Insider and Inside Edition.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-WLNE040511_20-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[21] Global CEO Kevin O'Brien is in the process of appealing the sale in court,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-o.27brienappeal_21-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[22] arguing that attorney McGowan did not try hard enough to achieve a higher sale price for the station.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-o.27brienappeal2_22-0" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[23]

Digital television
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The station's analog video broadcast at a frequency of 83.26 MHz AM. The station's analog audio was aired at a frequency of 87.76 MHz FM. Both frequencies were +10 kHz shift from the center channel 6 frequency to prevent interference with stations in Albany, New York, Portland, Maine, and Philadelphia who were also on channel 6. WLNE's analog audio could be picked up on the lower end of the dial on most FM radios at 87.7 MHz. WLNE regularly mentioned this additional way of coverage. This was true of all analog channel 6 stations in the United States. After February 17, 2009, channel 6 audio on WLNE was no longer available on the radio. (It was still available on most other full-powered channel 6 stations in the United States through June 12.)

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">WLNE-TV shut off its analog transmitter on February 17, it offered a nightlighting service on its analog signal for 60 days following the shutdown. The station aired a looping DTV education program as well as all of its newscasts. Due to this service being broadcast on analog channel 6, audio was still available on 87.7 FM. When this period ended, the station remained on its pre-transition channel 49 using PSIP to display its virtual channel as 6.

Programming
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">The longest-running program on channel 6 is TV Mass from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fall River which began in 1963. Produced by WLNE, the show was originally aired at 8:00 AM. TV Mass is currently aired at 11:00 AM as it has been since 2004. It is normally taped at the chapel of Bishop Stang High School in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Easter Mass and Christmas Mass are normally taped at St. Mary's Cathedral in Fall River, Massachusetts.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23" style="line-height: 1em; font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; ">[24] 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. He is now a featured op-ed columnist for The Providence Journal. In early-2006, ABC6 News On the Record replaced Truman Taylor, with Jim Hummel hosting the program until his departure from the station in July 2008. Following his departure, On the Record was temporarily taken off-the-air and replaced with infomercials. The show returned in October 2008 with weeknight anchor John DeLuca and Chief Political Analyst Buddy Cianci as hosts. On the Record currently airs at 7:30 AM. Fishing the Ocean State airs on Saturday mornings at 6:00 AM and is hosted by WLNE sports reporter Don Coyne. The show, which focuses on angling adventures in Rhode Island, is produced by Coyne's own company, On the Outs Productions, Video Expedition, and the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Association.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">WLNE has been the market home of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon since 1993. As WTEV, it was one of the first affiliates of the "Love Network" when it was formed in 1968. Local cutaways had been broadcast from the Warwick Mall for years. In 2007, the telethon relocated to the Providence Marriott hotel in downtown which is on the same street as WLNE's studios. Once again, the location was changed in 2008 to the Twin River Casino in Lincoln. This is where the current pledge record was established. In total, $755,705 in local donations was raised. The 2009 telethon returned to Twin River and was simulcast on sister station NewsChannel 5 and WALE radio (990 AM). $731,573 in local donations was raised that year. WLNE became the first station in Rhode Island to broadcast a local program in high-definition when it airedBristol's 4th of July Parade in 2008 live with production facilities provided by Comcast. It was hosted by John DeLuca, Allison Alexander, Fred Campagna, and Paul Mueller of WLNE and Todd Newton of Comcast. In 2009, the station won an Emmy Award for its pre-parade special,Reflections of the Fourth: Celebrating Bristol, from the Boston/New England chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. The 2009 parade was also broadcast in high-definition, with production facilities provided by CSP Mobile Productions. The parade was also simulcast on NewsChannel 5 and streamed live on abc6.com, the site's first offering of a live video web stream. The station has been the official television home of the parade since 2006.

NewsChannel 5
<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">NewsChannel 5, formerly known as the Rhode Island News Channel (RINC) 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. It provides non-stop news 24-hours a day seven days a week mainly consisting of rebroadcasts of news that airs on WLNE. The station can only be found on Cox cable channel 5.NewsChannel 5 also provides live, continuing coverage of breaking news and other events. When severe weather strikes, the WLNE weather team provides accurate and up to the minute forecasts. There are also three live newscasts that air exclusively on the cable station. Since its launch, a weekend morning newscast has been seen exclusively on the station. On September 29, 2008, WLNE began offering an extra hour of local news on weekday mornings at 7. Airing exclusively on NewsChannel 5, an extended hour of Good Morning Providence is one of two 7 o'clock local newscasts in the market the other being an extended hour of WPRI's Eyewitness News This Morning on WNAC-TV. The 5 to 7 edition on the main channel is simulcast on NewsChannel 5. WLNE occasionally airs a 10 o'clock newscast on NewsChannel 5 during major news events or when sports programming pre-empts the 10 o'clock news on competitor WNAC. The future of NewsChannel 5 hinges on the decision of Citadel executives.

<p style="margin-top: 0.4em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em;">For a brief period in September 2009, an audio feed of NewsChannel 5 was broadcast on radio station WALE in various timeslots; this included a start-to-finish simulcast of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.

News operation
WLNE presently broadcasts 27 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with five hours each weekday and one hour each on Saturdays and Sundays). For most of its history, WLNE has placed a distant third in the market, behind WJAR and WPRI. The station has been known for numerous turnovers in format, talent and management over the years for the purpose of increasing its newscast ratings and sales revenue, all having little or no effect. Under Global Broadcasting's ownership, changes in image and news coverage resulted in a marginal ratings increase and for a time, ABC6 News was promoted as "New England's Fastest Growing News". The ratings surge did not last for long. However, on March 29, 2011, WLNE scored its first late news victory in years, finishing number one at 11:00 p.m. following the series premiere of network medical drama Body of Proof, which was filmed entirely in Rhode Island for its first season. On October 24, 2007, WLNE announced that infamous former Providence mayor and WPRO 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. As part of his duties at the station, he moderated a daily segment on ABC6 News. It was first entitled Your Attention Please and was co-moderated in-studio by former Chief Reporter Jim Hummel. Following Hummel's departure from the station in July 2008, it was changed to Buddy TV and weeknight anchor John DeLuca became co-moderator. The segment aired live during the former ABC6 News First At Four with Cianci first appearing in-studio and then from the East Providence studios of WPRO, where the segment was simulcast during his weekday show that aired from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. In October 2008, he started co-hosting the Sunday morning public affairs program ABC6 News On the Record with DeLuca. With the change in station ownership in May 2011, the segment name was changed to The World According to Buddy with a solo Cianci in the ABC6 studios. The segment was taped live during the noon newscasts and re-aired during the 5 o'clock news. He also became a solo host of On the Record. On June 25, 2014, Cianci announced that he would be seeking a third term as mayor of Providence as an Independent candidate. As a result, he had to step down from his position at WLNE as well as WPRO for the duration of the campaign. Former chief political reporter Mark Curtis took over as host of the program while Cianci campaigned for office. He lost the bid to Democrat Jorge Elorza and returned to his previous positions shortly after the 2014 general elections. On January 27, 2016, Cianci was taken from the WLNE studios to Miriam Hospital after falling ill during the taping of On the Record and was pronounced dead on January 28 at age 74. The episode did not make air, with a special on Cianci airing in its place on January 31. The Sunday morning public affairs program was then put on hiatus until June 2016 when In the Arena with Joe Paolino debuted. On December 17, 2007, WLNE announced it would launch ABC6 News First at Four, the market's first-ever 4 o'clock news on January 14, 2008. Described as a "hard newscast" and not morning-show style fluff, First at Four gave WLNE a head start in coverage of weather and politics. The hour-long newscast aired for just over three years and competed head to head with The Oprah Winfrey Show airing on WJAR. First at Four last aired in April 2011 prior to the sale of the station to Citadel. In March 2020, under Standard Media, WLNE began airing a special half-hour 4 o'clock newscast with extended coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic. This newscast became a regular part of the schedule on April 13, 2020 and the First at Four title was revived. In May 2009, WLNE launched a 10 o'clock newscast on Sunday mornings. Previously, it had only produced weekend morning newscasts for NewsChannel 5. It was the only Providence station with a local news broadcast airing at that time. In May 2011, Citadel moved the newscast to 7:30 a.m. and added Saturday morning broadcasts in addition to Sunday mornings. The weekend morning newscasts were cancelled in 2012. In June 2009, the station launched the market's first (since the 1980s) 7 o'clock newscast on weeknights, filling the spot vacated by Entertainment Tonight, which was taken off the schedule due to the station's dispute with CBS Television Distribution. In March 2011, this newscast was replaced with infomercials, with the newscast airing only in the event they could not sell the time slot on a given day. After the station's sale to Citadel, this newscast was officially replaced with syndicated programming the following month. On April 5, 2011, WLNE announced a new programming lineup that included the addition of a 5:00 p.m. newscast on April 25. The station then began to shift towards video journalism, and all remaining reporters and future hires were required to be one-person bands. On September 13, WLNE became the second station in the market to broadcast news in high-definition, behind WJAR and just a week ahead of WPRI/WNAC. Along with the transition came a standardized graphics package used by other Citadel stations. The station received the company's standardized news set in August 2012. In weather segments, WLNE uses live regional radar from the National Weather Service local office in Taunton, Massachusetts, along with high-resolution satellite. The segments are presented on-air under the Stormtracker label. From 2012 to 2017, the Stormtracker Weather Team was certified as providing Southern New England's most accurate forecast by WeatheRate, an independent weather research firm. On July 19, 2012, WLNE became the first station in Southern New England to be recognized as StormReady by the National Weather Service. WLNE won the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Associated Press News Station of the Year award four years in a row from 1997 to 2000 and again in 2002. The station also won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting two consecutive years. Due to its coverage area overlapping with Boston's ABC affiliate WCVB, the two stations share resources for coverage of southeastern Massachusetts.

Newscast titles

 * News Journal
 * Newscope 6 (1973–1980)
 * Action News (1980–1981)
 * Channel 6 News (1981–1983)
 * WLNE News (1983–1987)
 * WLNE 6 News (1987–1990)
 * 6 News (1990–1995)
 * ABC 6 News (1995–present)

Station slogans

 * 6 Country is Your Country and 6 Country is You (mid–late 1970s)
 * We Love New England at WLNE (early–mid 1980s)
 * We've Got the Touch, WLNE (1983–1984, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Share the Spirit on WLNE (1986–1987, localized version of CBS ad campaign)
 * Share the Experience (early 1990s)
 * We're Looking Out For You (1999-2001)
 * See It Tonight or Hear About It Tomorrow (2001-2002)
 * Your Nonstop News Source (2002–2004)
 * New England's Fastest Growing News (2008-2008)
 * Fast. Accurate. Reliable. (2008–2009)
 * Honest. Fair. Everywhere. (2010–2011)
 * Your Town, Your Life, Your News (2011-present)

Anchors

 * John DeLuca - weeknights at 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00 p.m.
 * Doreen Scanlon - weekday mornings and noon
 * Darren Botelho - weekend evenings
 * K.C. Kantz - weekday mornings
 * Tiffany Murphy -

StormTracker Weather Team

 * Jeff Desnoyers - chief meteorologist;
 * Chelsea Priest - meteorologist; weekday mornings
 * Tim Studebaker - meteorologist;

Sports team

 * Nick Coit - sports director;
 * Ian Steele -

Reporters

 * Alexa Serowik
 * Dan Coates
 * Darren Botelho
 * Dominique Turner
 * Emmalyn Reid
 * Hector Molina
 * Olivia DaRocha
 * Tim Studebaker
 * Yanni Tragellis

Notable former on-air staff

 * George Allen - Weather 1970s/Dialing for Dollars host 1979-1989 (deceased)
 * Jim Armstrong - Reporter 2002-2003
 * Issa Arnita - Anchor 2002-2004
 * Bill Baer - Sports 1991-1993 worked at KSDK
 * Buddy Cianci - (deceased; January 28, 2016)
 * Sorboni Banerjee - Reporter 2003-2006 Now at WHDH
 * Bob Bassett - Sports 1963-1981 (deceased)
 * Kelly Bates - Weather 2000-2004 Now at WJAR-TV
 * Joe Becker - Sports 1979-1983 Now at KGW-TV
 * Paul Burton - Reporter 2003-2006 Now at WBZ-TV
 * Wendy Cicchetti - Anchor 2001-2007
 * George Colajazzi - Anchor/Reporter 1970's-1983
 * Chris Congnala - News Anchor 1979-1983
 * Kathy Connolly - Reporter 1994-2000
 * Ann Conway - Anchor 1981-1990
 * Robin Costello - Anchor/reporter 1988-2000
 * Sean Daly - Reporter 1981-1993, 1996-1999 Now at WPRI-TV
 * Jeff Dederian - Reporter 1994-1997
 * Amy DeLuca - Anchor 1999-2000
 * Ann Dougherty - Anchor 1985-1993
 * Larry Estepa - Anchor 1994-1998
 * Brad Field - Meteorologist 1980-1983 Now Chief Meteorologist at WVIT-TV
 * Sharon Fogaren - Anchor/reporter 1999-2002, Morning Radio co-host at WFHN-FM 2002-2009 (deceased)
 * Dan Fabrizio - Reporter 1985-88 Now WLNE News Director
 * Tim Furlong - Reporter 1998-2002, Now with WCAU-TV (NBC Philadelphia)
 * Parker Gavigan - Investigative Reporter 2006 - 2010 Now at WJAR-TV
 * Mike Gaynes - Sports 1987-91, now a PR consultant in California
 * John Ghiorse - Meteorologist 1983-1998
 * Bob Goosmann - Weather 1985-1988
 * Tara Granahan - Anchor/reporter 1993-2001 Now at WPRO-AM
 * Jerry Green - Sports 1979-1983
 * John Greenwood - Anchor 1970's-1983
 * Kyle Meenan - Reporter 1982-1983 Now at WTLV Jacksonville, FL
 * Kathryn Grey - Anchor/Reporter early-1980s
 * Jack Groh - Anchor 1988-1990
 * Josie Guarino - Reporter 2002-2008 Now at WPRO-AM
 * Ron Harbaugh - Anchor 1999-2000
 * Magee Hickey - Anchor 1979-1983 Now at WCBS-TV
 * Mario Hilario - Reporter 1992-1995 Now at WJAR-TV
 * Gail Huff - (later with WCVB-TV in Boston; WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C.; and WBIN-TV/NH1 News in Derry, New Hampshire; retired)
 * Jim Hummel - Reporter 1995-2008 Now at WPRO-AM
 * Tim Kelly - Weather 1988-1991 Now at NECN
 * Tom Langford - Anchor/Reporter Now at NECN
 * Jeff Latham - Weather 1998-2001
 * Gene Lavanchy - Sports Anchor 1988-1993 Now Morning co-anchor at WFXT-TV
 * Dave Layman - News Anchor/director 1983-1992
 * Donna LeBeouf - News Anchor 1978-1984
 * Mike Lyons - Sports 1970's.
 * Thom McGair - Reporter 1988-1990
 * Amy McHugh - Reporter 2001-2002
 * John McIntyre - News Anchor 1990-1992
 * Barbara Meagher - Reporter/ Anchor 1983-2001
 * Paul Moniz - Anchor/Reporter 1990-1993 (formerly WCBS-TV)
 * Melissa Montoya (formerly Melissa Mahan) - Anchor 2007-2008 Now Morning Anchor at KOAT-TV
 * Barbara Morse - Reporter 1980s. Now at WJAR-TV
 * Paul Mueller - Reporter/Anchor 2001-2003, 2008–2009, 2010 Now at WGGB
 * April O'Dell - Anchor/Reporter 2001-2007 Now at WFXT
 * Irene O'Connor - Reporter/anchor 2003-2004 Now at WFSB-TV
 * Suzanne Pajot - Reporter 2002-2006 Now at KMIR-TV
 * Walt Perkins - Sports 1985-1988 Now at WBZ Radio
 * Bill Rappleye - Reporter 1986-1992 Now at WJAR-TV
 * Julie Ruditzky - Reporter 2005-2009 Now at WPRI-TV
 * Marilyn Schairer - Reporter/weather/anchor 1994-2001 (now at WPRI-TV)
 * Mark Searles - Meteorologist 1994-2007 (now at WJAR-TV)
 * Tony Silvia - Reporter/ anchor 1982-1989
 * Vernon Shaw - Reporter 1992-1993
 * John Sweeney - Anchor 1979-1982 Worked at CNN
 * Truman Taylor - (now with the Providence Journal, semi-retired)
 * Jeremy Tung - Reporter 2001-2008 (now freelance producer at WPRI-TV)
 * Al Vaughters - Reporter/ anchor 1982-1989 Now at WIVB-TV
 * Pamela Watts - News Anchor/reporter 1984-1999 (now in Public Relations)
 * Kristen Welker - (now with NBC News in Washington; co-anchor of Weekend Today)
 * Tom Werme - Sports 1995-1996