Loyal viewers of WLNE/ABC 6 might have been surprised in recent months to see former Providence Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci giving his inimitable take on politics as an analyst for the station during the 6 p.m. newscast.
After all, the former mayor – who served almost five years in federal prison for corruption – in the past had derided WLNE/ABC 6 for its low ratings.
The station, however, is trying to shed its image as a doormat in the perennial three-way battle for television ratings supremacy in the Providence market. And Cianci is both well-known and knowledgeable about Rhode Island politics, a combination that made it easy to overlook his past attitude.
“Elected officials and the news media have been critical of one another forever,” explained Steve Doerr, the station’s general manager.
“Nobody knows [politics] as well as Buddy does,” he added. “And he’s a little controversial too. I don’t mind throwing out some ideas that might get people talking.”
Hiring Cianci is one of several changes the station has made since Global Broadcasting LLC bought it from Freedom Communications for $14 million on Oct. 9. (READ MORE) The moves have helped raise WLNE’s profile in a market long dominated by WJAR/NBC 10.
Last month, the station launched the state’s first 4 p.m. newscast, with newly hired anchors Allison Alexander and Paul Mueller joining anchor Melissa Mahan on the three-anchor news team. The station also expanded its morning newscast to two hours.
Though it is unclear whether those changes have made a long-term impact, WLNE hopes they can build on winning nights such as Nov. 4, when WLNE beat WJAR with a 9.5 rating, 18 share for its late-night newscast. (WJAR had a 7.1 rating, 17 share on the same night.)
Lisa Churchville, general manager and president of WJAR, said the result was likely due to the fact that WJAR had a late-running football game, therefore wasn’t airing its late-night newscast at the same time.
In addition, she noted that WLNE last month maintained its long-standing third rank behind WJAR and WPRI/CBS 12 in sweeps ratings for its 6 p.m. newscast. But Churchville acknowledges some improvement in the station’s ratings.
“Their 6 p.m. news has been growing,” she said.
According to WLNE’s research department, the station’s 6 p.m. newscast experienced a 30-percent increase to 30,240 in the number of households tuning in, when comparing sweeps ratings from November 2006 to the same period last year.
The station has experienced major gains in the number of households for its morning and noon newscasts as well. WLNE doubled the number of households to 10,710 last November for its morning newscasts. Its noon newscasts saw a 58-percent increase, from 7,560 to 11,970.
“This is before we had our new anchor lineup in place and before 4 p.m. news,” Doerr said. “We’re excited about the results so far. But, again, it’s very early. We’re just getting started.”
Ed Valenti, founder and COO of the Warwick-based media buying agency PriMedia Inc. and former sales manager for television stations in the market, said it is too early to tell if the changes made at WLNE will have an impact on the other stations’ efforts to protect or improve ratings.
“It’s not unlike any business that opens its doors for the first time,” he said, adding that Global Broadcasting is like a new business in the market. “It always has the intention to do well and get more business from existing businesses … but the public has the last word.”
But whether WLNE moves up in rank or not, Tina Castano, station manager for WLWC/CW 28, said it’s exciting after 20 years she’s been in the market to see some heightened competition in the local news arena.
“Any time you have competition it’s good, because you have people making sure they are dedicating the best content for air,” she said.
And WLNE isn’t the only station in the market shaking things up. In July last year WPRI beat WJAR in sweep ratings for the 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts, said Jay Howell, president and general manager of WPRI and WNAC/Fox Providence.
“That had not happened in 15 years,” he said.
Howell thinks one reason WJAR has dominated the market for so long is because it has had only two owners since the mid-1990s.
Howell also noted that LIN TV invested more than $10 million in new staff and equipment, including a helicopter, during the past six years to try and narrow the ratings gap with WJAR.
He added that during the past year and a half LIN TV, owner of WPRI and WNAC, has beefed up the stations’ Internet staff as well, to seven people who are focused solely on interactive and new media.
Last month, LIN TV announced the launch of a local Web site, www.ripolitics.tv, which contains videos, maps and blogs related to the primary elections, in addition to information about the candidates. The company also sent an Internet journalist to the Super Bowl to produce stories that will appear only on the stations’ Web sites, Howell said.
Internet development is an important part of the station’s growth strategy because “that’s where the viewers are, the younger viewers,” he said. “They get news from the Internet. If we’re going to be around in 20 years we have to get news to them in a way they want to get it.”
WLNE’s Doerr is focused on the challenge of getting people to switch channels for news. It’s an especially difficult task in a state where viewers – some of whom have been watching the same anchors on Channel 10 and Channel 12 since they were children – tend to be loyal.
“Our challenge is to … get people to sample us and when they do, to make sure we give them something they’ll like so they come back,” he said. “We think we have kind of … a new, fresh approach.” •
