“Our station was just bought by the station that I worked for previously,” said Bates, who previously worked at WJAR, known as NBC10. “That parent company decided that I’m a redundancy and needed to go.”
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NBC10 is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, a large television ownership group that owns or operates at least 180 local stations in 85 markets throughout the country. The company has a history of slashing staff and has previously made headlines for running conservative political commentary on local stations. Generally, news decisions are made locally, not by the station’s owner.
The deal reshapes the Providence-New Bedford television landscape, eliminating one of the market’s three competitors and raising questions about how Sinclair, one of the nation’s largest owners of local television stations, will consolidate operations. For viewers, it could signal the end of ABC6 as a separate newsroom. The acquisition illustrates the financial and structural pressures facing Rhode Island’s media landscape.
It was not immediately clear how the stations would operate together moving forward, or how many employees would be retained. Meetings were held with staff at both stations Thursday to announce the sale, multiple employees told the Globe.
WJAR separately eliminated nine jobs in what’s called master control this week, according to an email obtained by the Globe, as the operations are being consolidated at a centralized hub in Flint, Mich.
Master control is the central nerve center of a television station, where operators handle the technical operations of getting programming on air. Multiple companies, including Nexstar, have started consolidating these operations at centralized hubs.
The consolidation of WJAR and WLNE marks a dramatic change for the local television market, which has long been defined by three stations covering Rhode Island and Bristol County, Mass.
WPRI 12, the CBS affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group, and WJAR are frequently in tight competition to be the top-rated station. (Locally, most people call the stations Channel 10 and Channel 12.)
While ABC6 has lagged behind in ratings in recent years, the station was a mainstay for decades, and has launched the careers of countless broadcasters, including NBC White House correspondent Kristen Welker. Numerous staffers at both WPRI 12 and NBC 10 got their starts in the market at ABC6.
Vincent A. Buddy Cianci Jr., the late former mayor of Providence, hosted a weekly television show on ABC6 after serving time in prison following his conviction on federal racketeering conspiracy charges.
Bellucci said that “Sinclair acquired all of the station assets other than the licensed assets.” She said the stations will be under a Joint Sales Agreement and Shared Services Agreement, contractural arrangements where two TV stations begin operating together. Such agreements often allow stations to survive by reducing costs.
WPRI has a similar agreement with FOX Providence, which is technically owned by Mission Broadcasting, but is operated by Channel 12. FOX Providence and WPRI share the same newsroom. The process to fully acquire a television station’s license requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission.
WLNE was purchased by Standard Media Group in 2019 in a $52 million deal that included the acquisition of eight other stations. Previously based in New Bedford, it is the only commercial television station located in the city of Providence. Deb McDermott, Standard’s chief executive officer, did not respond to the Globe’s request for comment.
In recent years, the station has been described by its own employees as troubled and dysfunctional. In 2024, staffers at ABC6 voted to unionize, citing low pay, bare-bones resources, and a lack of respect from management. A series of other challenges — including a studio fire, the aborted sale of the station to Cox Media Group in 2023, and the tumultuous tenure of a former news director — helped send the station over a tipping point, workers there say.
Earlier this year, former news director Allison Gaito filed a federal lawsuit accusing the station and Standard Media of “unlawful retaliation, gender discrimination, and maintaining a sexually hostile workplace.”
“WJAR and WLNE represent the best of local broadcasting in the region, and we look forward to building on that legacy to continue to serve viewers across Southern New England,” said Bellucci.
The layoffs and apparent merger of the two stations come during a tumultuous week in Rhode Island news media. Employees at the newly-merged Rhode Island PBS and The Public’s Radio, now called Ocean State Media, had to decide by Sept. 5 whether to take buyouts, or face potential layoffs. And the Providence Journal also offered buyouts, resulting in the departure of at least three veteran journalists this week.
Globe Rhode Island previously had a partnership with Rhode Island PBS, and currently has a partnership with WPRI 12.
Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado. Alexa Gagosz can be reached at alexa.gagosz@globe.com. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.