('''''"NBC10"''''') is the
NBC Owned And Operated Television Station in
Providence, Rhode Island and
New Bedford, Massachusetts . While
Licensed to
Providence , the station's studios are located in
Cranston, Rhode Island , and its transmitter is in
Rehoboth, Massachusetts .
The station's main news anchors are
Doug White and
Patrice Wood . Frank Coletta has anchored the station's morning newscast (''Sunrise'') for 20 years.
The station signed on air for the first time on
July 10 ,
1949 , as Rhode Island's first television station. It was sister station to WJAR radio (now
WHJJ ), which came on the air on
September 6 ,
1922 . Both the television and radio stations were originally owned by
The Outlet Company , a
Department Store once located in Providence, which also purchased other stations across the nation. WJAR received national attention early on for its coverage of
Hurricane Carol .
While officially an NBC affiliate, WJAR often aired shows from other networks which did not have affiliates in Rhode Island, such as
ABC and
DuMont . This practice came to an end as additional television stations signed on in the state.
The Outlet Company was sold in 1980, by which time the company had left the department store business. In 1996,
NBC acquired the station in a group deal.
WJAR was one of four NBC O&Os in smaller markets that were put up for sale on
January 9 ,
2006 , along with stations in
Columbus, Ohio ,
Birmingham, Alabama , and
Raleigh, North Carolina . Except for the Birmingham station, these stations were also Outlet stations. On
April 6 2006 ,
NBC Universal and
Media General announced that Media General would purchase WJAR as part of a $600 million four station deal between the two companies
{Link without Title} . If the sale goes through, WJAR would become Media General's first TV station in New England.
WJAR offers
NBC Weather Plus on Digital 10.2. This is the closest NBC Weather Plus station to the Boston area because as of
April 2006 , the Boston NBC affiliate,
WHDH-TV , does not yet have the 24-hour weather channel.
