WPRI-TV - News Operation

News Operation

Traditionally, WPRI has been runner-up in the ratings to longtime dominant WJAR. For the February and May 2010 Nielsen ratings period, that station was number one in all time slots. Its newscast weeknights at 6 reached a reported 71,000 households which was an advantage of nearly 20,000 over WPRI. For the key audience measure of adult 18-49 and adult 25-54 viewers, WJAR out-delivered the competition in virtually all of the local news time slots. More recently, however, WPRI has mounted a spirited challenge to that channel's dominance.

Specifically, its broadcast weeknights at 11 has gained enormous popularity. As of the November 2010 sweeps period, this newscast on WPRI is the most watched in Rhode Island while WJAR continues its dominance in all other time periods. For most of its history, WLNE has been and continues to be ranked at a distant third place. This is despite numerous significant format and personnel changes designed to make a run at WPRI and WJAR.

In 1996, WPRI began producing the market's first nightly prime time newscast at 10 on WNAC called Eyewitness News First on Fox Providence. This was joined in April 1997 by a WJAR-produced show seen weeknights on WLWC entitled TV 28 News at 10. However, that was dropped in September when the WJAR LMA with WLWC ended. In 2004, an hour-long extension of WPRI's weekday morning show was added to WNAC at 7 branded as Eyewitness News This Morning on FOX Providence. It was eventually cancelled, but was brought back early in 2009 to precede The Rhode Show.

On October 1, 2007, WJAR began airing 10 at 10 on its NBC Weather Plus second digital subchannel. This was a live ten minute update consisting of the top stories of the day along with a current weather forecast. When WJAR-DT2 switched to the Retro Television Network (RTV), the show expanded to a half-hour format and renamed 10 at 10 on RTV. A third prime time newscast at 10 aired on WLNE's Cox-exclusive NewsChannel 5 from October 22, 2008 until March 2011. However, it was only occasionally shown, primarily when Fox Sports programming pre-empted the prime time broadcast on WNAC. WLNE's contract with Cox channel 5 ended on February 1, 2012 and is now operated by WJAR as Ocean State Networks (OSN).

WPRI and WNAC received an on-air overhaul introducing a new news set and updated graphics on March 17, 2008. It operated a Bell 206L3 Long Ranger helicopter known as "News Chopper 12" until December 2008. This was shared with sister stations WTNH and WCTX in New Haven, Connecticut but known separately as "Chopper 8". The helicopter is currently being stored in Indianapolis as a backup for sister station WISH-TV. Footage previously shot from the chopper is still used for B-Roll as stories warrant or at the end of a newscast. Although not owned by the same company, WPRI maintains a content sharing partnership with The Providence Journal (a Belo-owned newspaper).

On February 18, 2009, WNAC launched an hour-long lifestyle and entertainment magazine-type program called The Rhode Show that aired weekday mornings at 8AM. A new secondary set for the show was built with a fully functional kitchen. The show was previously hosted by the weekday morning news anchor teams (Vince DeMentri & Elizabeth Hopkins from February 2009 - March 2010, Patrick Little & Elizabeth Hopkins from March 2010 - November 2010, and Patrick Little & Danielle North from November 2010 - December 2011). A third host for a period of one year was found annually through open audition in a contest titled The Rhode Show Search for a Star. In 2008, Boston-area radio deejay Shawn Tempesta won the contest out of over 140 people. In 2009, Cranston comedian Ben Hague beat out over 100 other hopefuls. Bridgewater State University graduate Michaela Johnson of East Providence won the honor in 2010. During the week, The Rhode Show was streamed live on WNAC's website. The main channel re-aired the show weekday afternoons at 1PM with WNAC-DT2 (MyRITV) doing the same at 4PM.

In December 2011, it was announced that on January 9, 2012, The Rhode Show would move to WPRI and would now begin at 9AM. Michaela Johnson and former WPRO-FM (92 PRO-FM) personality Will Gilbert became permanent hosts of the show and Mary Larsen was selected as the third host in the 2011 Search for a Star contest. MyRITV now re-airs the show at 2PM on weekdays. In addition, Eyewitness News This Morning on FOX Providence was extended to fill the hour previously occupied by The Rhode Show. The newscast now airs from 7-9.

WPRI operated a 24-hour local weather channel, known as the "Eyewitness News Pinpoint Weather Station", on Cox digital channel 125. It also aired on the second digital subchannels of WPRI and WNAC until 2007, when new FCC regulations for educational programming forced the stations to make the weather channel cable-only. It was then simulcast on weekends when the main channels of WPRI and WNAC signed off overnight. The weather channel was eliminated in 2010, and now during sign off hours on weekend overnights, a loop of the stations' Doppler radar is shown.

Along with its own weather radar at its transmitter site in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, the station also features live NOAA National Weather Service radar data from the Local Forecast Office on Miles Standish Boulevard in Taunton. Together, this is known in weather segments as "Live Pinpoint Doppler 12". It shares resources with WBZ-TV for coverage of Southeastern Massachusetts. In return, WPRI does the same for its coverage of the same area. During the week, Eyewitness News This Morning (on WPRI and WNAC), The Rhode Show, and Eyewitnesses News Live at Noon are all streamed live on WPRI's website.

Eyewitness News has won the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Associated Press News Station of the Year award nine years in a row since 2004, its most recent coming in May 2012.

WPRI and WNAC are the last stations in the market to upgrade their newscasts to high definition, though they were first to experiment with the format through promotional materials and debates during the election season in 2010. Set reconfiguration started on July 22, 2011. Newscasts in the interim aired from The Rhode Show studio. WJAR was the first in Rhode Island to have made the upgrade, on May 16, 2011, followed by WLNE on September 13, 2011. They debuted the new set and modified graphics on September 20, 2011 during their 5pm newscast.