Global Broadcasting - History

History

When Global took over WLNE, they initiated a major overhaul on the station's lagging news operation. They began by updating the station's logo and construting a new set. They also introduced new faces in talent and management from around the country. Steve Doerr, a former NBC News executive, was named vice president and general manager. Infamous former Providence mayor Vincent "Buddy" Cianci was brought on as Chief Political Analyst. Allison Alexander was hired from WOIO in Cleveland, Ohio as the new main anchor. Also, anchor/reporter Paul Mueller and veteran meteorologist Steve Cascione returned to the station.

There was also an increase in the hours of news per week. On January 14, 2008, WLNE launched ABC6 News First At Four, the market's first 4 o'clock newscast. It also featured the market's only 3-person anchor team of Allison Alexander, Melissa Mahan, and Paul Mueller, which was later cut down to 2. With the departure of Chief Meteorologist Mark Searles to WJAR, morning/noon meteorologist Fred Campagna was promoted to Chief, with Steve Cascione taking his place on the renamed Good Morning Providence, which was increased from 1 hour to 2, plus an extra hour on NewsChannel 5, formerly the Rhode Island News Channel (RINC), available only on Cox Cable systems in Rhode Island. Morning anchor John DeLuca was also promoted to co-anchor of the 6 and 11 o'clock newscasts with Alexander. The station's corner "bug" was updated to include time and temperature and a news ticker was added to newscasts. In April 2008, new updated graphics were introduced, a music package from 615 Music began being used, and Bill Ratner was added as station voiceover.

Ratings steadily increased. WLNE promoted its news as "New England's Fastest Growing News" and put more emphasis on hard news coverage and feature reporting than ever before. Some argued that the station was putting too much sensationalism in its news, which was a key factor in Chief Reporter Jim Hummel's decision to leave the station in July 2008 after over a decade with the station. In 2009, the station launched a 10 o'clock Sunday morning newscast in May and a 7 o'clock weeknight newscast in June. They also occasionally aired a 10 o'clock newscast on NewsChannel 5 on nights when sports or other special programming pre-empted the 10 o'clock news on WNAC. At its peak, the station was offering 37 hours of news per week on both ABC6 and NewsChannel 5.