WLNE-TV (channel 6) is a television station licensed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, serving as the ABC affiliate for the Providence, Rhode Island, area.

The station is owned by Standard Media, and maintains studios in the Orms Building in downtown Providence; its transmitter is based in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.

[2] The station's inaugural broadcast actually began at 11:58 p.m. on December 31, 1962, with the playing of "Auld Lang Syne" by Mitch Miller, followed by greetings from local political and religious leaders.

However, WTEV could not build a tower in Rehoboth due to the risk of interference with WRGB in Schenectady, New York, WCSH-TV in Portland, Maine, and WFIL-TV in Philadelphia, which all broadcast on channel 6 in the analog era.

Before cable arrived in Rhode Island in the early 1970s, this resulted in viewers experiencing reception problems with WTEV because of its signal being sent from a different direction than WJAR-TV and WPRO-TV/WPRI-TV.

For the seven years prior to channel 6's sign-on, WJAR and CBS affiliate WPRO-TV cherry-picked ABC programming, usually airing it in off-hours but occasionally preempting their primary network's schedule.

[10] Early in the afternoon of May 4, 2005, WLNE's analog transmitter was knocked off the air due to a faulty section of transmission line on the tower.

On March 12, 2007, Freedom announced it was selling WLNE to Global Broadcasting, a Delaware corporation headed by Robinson Ewert and Kevin O'Brien.

[14] Freedom continued to operate WLNE's website until November 30, 2007, when control was shifted to Broadcast Interactive Media, and later WorldNow in April 2010.

On June 23, NewsBlues reported that Global Broadcasting co-owner Robinson Ewert had left the company amidst a dispute with CBS over licensing fees for programs originating from its syndication unit.

[15] Global Broadcasting filed for receivership (Rhode Island's equivalent to bankruptcy) on July 29, 2010, due to declining advertising revenues.

According to The Providence Journal, several groups had expressed interest in purchasing the station and a deal was projected to be reached by the end of the year.

Five other groups (including one led by former Providence mayor Joseph Paolino, Jr.) were also interested in purchasing the station and had until March 18 to submit competing bids prior to auction.

[28] In September 2011, as had been promised by Citadel upon its acquisition of the station, WLNE-TV began broadcasting newscasts and syndicated programming in full high-definition.

[29][30] After the sale of WOI-DT, WHBF-TV and KCAU-TV to the Nexstar Media Group was completed on March 13, 2014, WLNE and ABC affiliate KLKN in Lincoln, Nebraska, would become the only stations with a major network affiliation still owned by Citadel; the company also owns a news-intensive independent station, WSNN-LD (Suncoast News Network) in Sarasota, Florida.

WLNE carries the nationally syndicated public affairs program Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien on Sunday mornings.

However, in mid-2009, the station was unable to reach a carriage agreement with the syndicator, successor to King World Productions and Paramount Domestic Television.

[34] On June 16, CBS filed a lawsuit against Global Broadcasting for failing to fully pay license fees for the shows and a breach of contract.

In early 2006, ABC6 News On the Record replaced Truman Taylor, with Jim Hummel hosting the program until his departure from the station in July 2008.

WLNE became the first station in Rhode Island to broadcast a local program in high-definition when it aired Bristol's 4th of July Parade in 2008 live with production facilities provided by Comcast.

In 2009, the station won an Emmy Award for its pre-parade special, Reflections of the Fourth: Celebrating Bristol, from the Boston/New England chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Produced and directed by Judge Caprio's brother Joseph and his company Citylife Productions, the program originated on PEG access television in Rhode Island and was first picked up by WLNE in 2000, initially airing in late night on Saturdays.

[44] In December 2017, it was announced that Debmar-Mercury had picked up Caught in Providence for daily national syndication, this as clips from the program eclipsed one billion views.

The station has been known for numerous turnovers in format, talent and management over the years for the purpose of increasing its newscast ratings and sales revenue, all having little or no effect.

However, on March 29, 2011, WLNE scored its first late news victory in years, finishing number one at 11 p.m. following the series premiere of network medical drama Body of Proof, which was filmed entirely in Rhode Island for its first season.

On October 24, 2007, WLNE announced that infamous former Providence mayor and WPRO personality Vincent "Buddy" Cianci would join the station as chief political analyst and contributing editor starting on November 1.

Following Hummel's departure from the station in July 2008, it was changed to Buddy TV and weeknight anchor John DeLuca became co-moderator.

In March 2020, under Standard Media, WLNE began airing a special half-hour 4 o'clock newscast with extended coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For a brief period in September 2009, an audio feed of NewsChannel 5 was broadcast on radio station WALE in various timeslots; this included a start-to-finish simulcast of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon.

Still, due to the fact it now operates from Rehoboth with the other major Rhode Island stations, it has a signal comparable to WJAR and WPRI for the first time ever.