WRIW-CD's parent station maintains studios on Kenney Drive in Cranston (shared with NBC affiliate WJAR [channel 10], owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group).

[5][6] On July 29, 2012, WRIW-CA began broadcasting its signal in digital from the WJAR tower in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and subsequently changed its call sign to WRIW-CD on January 7, 2013.

[9] In October 2019, WRIW-CD began simulcasting low-power WYCN-LD in order to reach the entire Providence−New Bedford market (the latter station changed its city of license to Providence and moved its transmitter to Norton, Massachusetts).

WRIW-CD began simulcasting the newscasts of Boston sister station WNEU on July 20, 2018, immediately following the completion of the sale to NBCUniversal.

In the announcement, WNEU president and general manager Mike St. Peter stated his intention to hire a Providence-based reporter for the newscast.