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WNAC-TV
WNAC-TV (channel 64), branded Fox Providence, is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with Fox and The CW. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Nexstar Media Group, owner of dual CBS/MyNetworkTV affiliate WPRI-TV (channel 12), for the provision of certain services. The two stations share studios on Catamore Boulevard in East Providence, Rhode Island; WNAC-TV's transmitter is located on Homestead Avenue in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.
The license history of WNAC-TV stretches back to WNET (channel 16), the second TV station in Providence, which operated from 1954 to 1955 amid an unsuccessful multi-year fight to prevent channel 12 from going on the air. The station successfully appealed a 1969 action to delete its construction permit, but in that time it lost its call letters and its channel and was reassigned to channel 64. The permit was acquired by Subscription Television of America in 1978 and returned to air as WSTG in 1981. The new owners intended to broadcast part-time subscription television service but never did so; the station operated on a very limited basis while a buyer was sought.
Providence Television acquired WSTG in 1984 and relaunched it that September as the Providence market's first independent station. It struggled to attract viewers used to watching the independents from the adjacent Boston market and filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 1986. Sudbrink Broadcasting purchased it out of bankruptcy and affiliated it with the Fox network when it launched; the new owners raised channel 64's local profile by airing University of Rhode Island Rams men's basketball and benefited from the growth of Fox. Ratings and revenue improved under Sudbrink and the next three owners: Price Communications, Northstar Television Group, and Argyle Television.
In 1996, Argyle entered into a local marketing agreement with Clear Channel Communications, then-owner of WPRI-TV. A 10 p.m. newscast for the station debuted the following January; the news offering expanded with the creation of morning and early evening newscasts in the late 2000s. After several changes in ownership of WPRI-TV, the license for WNAC-TV was transferred to a family member of an executive of Providence-based LIN Broadcasting, which owned channel 12 in the 2000s and early 2010s, and to Mission Broadcasting in 2021. The CW moved to a subchannel of WNAC-TV in 2017.
The broadcast license of WNAC-TV is the second-oldest in Rhode Island television and dates to the launch of WNET (channel 16), which began offering network programs on April 5, 1954, and local programs on May 2. It was owned by Channel 16 of Rhode Island, a merger of two applicants that had applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the channel. WNET provided programs from CBS, ABC, and the DuMont Television Network, as well as local programs from its studios at the transmitter site in Rehoboth.
As an ultra high frequency (UHF) station, WNET was at a significant economic disadvantage. When it went on the air, only about 25,000 homes could tune its signal compared to the 217,000 Rhode Island families that had TV sets. Many televisions needed converters to view WNET. This economic reality led Channel 16 of Rhode Island to vigorously protest and seek to block the construction of a second very high frequency (VHF) television station in Providence on channel 12. In October 1953, the FCC barred Cherry & Webb, the permittee of WPRO-TV, from beginning broadcasting until it conducted a hearing on the economic injury claims made by Channel 16 of Rhode Island. WNET stated it was losing $11,000 ($101,641 in 2025 dollars) a month.
In early 1955, the FCC approved construction of WPRO-TV, which went on the air on March 27. WNET cut all of its local programs in May and folded on July 10, citing a lack of viewer and sponsor interest in UHF. An attempt to have a VHF channel inserted at Westerly for its use failed; litigation with Cherry & Webb stretched into 1957 before the parties reached a settlement.
Despite being off the air, Channel 16 of Rhode Island continued maintaining the Rehoboth transmitter facility. Harold Arcaro acquired the facility in 1965 as well as an adjoining 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land. The FCC deleted WNET's construction permit and call letters in April 1969 after it determined that the company's refusal to build in light of a ruling on cable television signals was a business decision. Channel 16 of Rhode Island successfully appealed the deletion in court and had its permit reinstated in 1971. During that two-year period, the FCC awarded the WNET call letters to the educational TV station serving New York City, and it assigned channel 16 for land mobile radio system use in the Boston area, resulting in an order moving it to channel 64.
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WNAC-TV
WNAC-TV (channel 64), branded Fox Providence, is a television station in Providence, Rhode Island, United States, affiliated with Fox and The CW. It is owned by Mission Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) with Nexstar Media Group, owner of dual CBS/MyNetworkTV affiliate WPRI-TV (channel 12), for the provision of certain services. The two stations share studios on Catamore Boulevard in East Providence, Rhode Island; WNAC-TV's transmitter is located on Homestead Avenue in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.
The license history of WNAC-TV stretches back to WNET (channel 16), the second TV station in Providence, which operated from 1954 to 1955 amid an unsuccessful multi-year fight to prevent channel 12 from going on the air. The station successfully appealed a 1969 action to delete its construction permit, but in that time it lost its call letters and its channel and was reassigned to channel 64. The permit was acquired by Subscription Television of America in 1978 and returned to air as WSTG in 1981. The new owners intended to broadcast part-time subscription television service but never did so; the station operated on a very limited basis while a buyer was sought.
Providence Television acquired WSTG in 1984 and relaunched it that September as the Providence market's first independent station. It struggled to attract viewers used to watching the independents from the adjacent Boston market and filed for bankruptcy reorganization in 1986. Sudbrink Broadcasting purchased it out of bankruptcy and affiliated it with the Fox network when it launched; the new owners raised channel 64's local profile by airing University of Rhode Island Rams men's basketball and benefited from the growth of Fox. Ratings and revenue improved under Sudbrink and the next three owners: Price Communications, Northstar Television Group, and Argyle Television.
In 1996, Argyle entered into a local marketing agreement with Clear Channel Communications, then-owner of WPRI-TV. A 10 p.m. newscast for the station debuted the following January; the news offering expanded with the creation of morning and early evening newscasts in the late 2000s. After several changes in ownership of WPRI-TV, the license for WNAC-TV was transferred to a family member of an executive of Providence-based LIN Broadcasting, which owned channel 12 in the 2000s and early 2010s, and to Mission Broadcasting in 2021. The CW moved to a subchannel of WNAC-TV in 2017.
The broadcast license of WNAC-TV is the second-oldest in Rhode Island television and dates to the launch of WNET (channel 16), which began offering network programs on April 5, 1954, and local programs on May 2. It was owned by Channel 16 of Rhode Island, a merger of two applicants that had applied to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the channel. WNET provided programs from CBS, ABC, and the DuMont Television Network, as well as local programs from its studios at the transmitter site in Rehoboth.
As an ultra high frequency (UHF) station, WNET was at a significant economic disadvantage. When it went on the air, only about 25,000 homes could tune its signal compared to the 217,000 Rhode Island families that had TV sets. Many televisions needed converters to view WNET. This economic reality led Channel 16 of Rhode Island to vigorously protest and seek to block the construction of a second very high frequency (VHF) television station in Providence on channel 12. In October 1953, the FCC barred Cherry & Webb, the permittee of WPRO-TV, from beginning broadcasting until it conducted a hearing on the economic injury claims made by Channel 16 of Rhode Island. WNET stated it was losing $11,000 ($101,641 in 2025 dollars) a month.
In early 1955, the FCC approved construction of WPRO-TV, which went on the air on March 27. WNET cut all of its local programs in May and folded on July 10, citing a lack of viewer and sponsor interest in UHF. An attempt to have a VHF channel inserted at Westerly for its use failed; litigation with Cherry & Webb stretched into 1957 before the parties reached a settlement.
Despite being off the air, Channel 16 of Rhode Island continued maintaining the Rehoboth transmitter facility. Harold Arcaro acquired the facility in 1965 as well as an adjoining 10 acres (4.0 ha) of land. The FCC deleted WNET's construction permit and call letters in April 1969 after it determined that the company's refusal to build in light of a ruling on cable television signals was a business decision. Channel 16 of Rhode Island successfully appealed the deletion in court and had its permit reinstated in 1971. During that two-year period, the FCC awarded the WNET call letters to the educational TV station serving New York City, and it assigned channel 16 for land mobile radio system use in the Boston area, resulting in an order moving it to channel 64.
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