WLNE’s 7 p.m. newscast has been relegated to backup status as of this Tuesday. On that night, the early-prime newscast was shelved in favor of a thirty minute infomercial for the GenieBra. According to TVSpy, the station made the move to bump the newscast whenever they can sell the space. This means that in the wake of higher revenues from media companies, viewers in Providence can expect to see many more ads and far fewer broadcasts before primetime begins at 8 p.m.
ABC6, which will be auctioned off next week, has been for sale since late last year. Its owner, Global Broadcasting, purchased the station in 2007 for $14 million. Since then, the ABC-affil has struggled to make headway in Providence ratings.
It gets better:
http://blogs.wpri.com/2011/03/17/abc-threatens-to-drop-ch-6-owner-fights-price-tag/
The news that ABC might yank affiliation from WLNE may also mean one or more bidders might drop out.
It’s even possible that all the potential bidders may drop out, which could result in WLNE going off the air.
The management at the small CW affiliate WLWC should be preparing to become an ABC affiliate and begin spending lots of $$$ to promote that fact.