Troubled WLNE-TV, the ABC affiliate serving the Providence RI-New Bedford MA DMA, has been looking for a way to deal with its financial woes. According to reports, the $14M price tag paid by Global Broadcasting of Southern New England LLC came just as the bottom was starting to fall out of the advertising market.
It went into receivership over the summer, the Rhode Island equivalent of a bankruptcy filing, with the intention of stabilizing the business and then looking for a buyer. The receiver is Matthew McGowan, principal at Salter, McGowan, Sylvia & Leonard.
Now a firm has been retained to try to sell it: CobbCorp.
According to CobbCorp, Global also has a 50% interest in a cable news channel, Newschannel 5, which repurposes WLNE news content.
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