Sinclair Set to Make Mark on WJAR

It's been almost 5 months since Sinclair Broadcast Group took over control of WJAR-TV NBC 10 in Providence. Sinclair agreed to purchase the station from Media General when they decided to keep WPRI-TV in its merger with Lin Media.

So far, things have remained status quo for the most part at WJAR - quite the opposite of what happened when Sinclair took over WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. There have been no major shakeups on-air or behind the scenes, and the news product has only gone through minimal changes.

That's about to change.

In a visit to the station last Wednesday, Sinclair executives announced some big changes coming to the station. Unlike WJLA, the changes at WJAR all seem to be positive steps in upgrading facilities and on-air presentation.

Here's what you can expect with these changes:

By Mid-June:

• The station will be switching to Sinclair for email and Internet services, expect a revamped website ending their relationshop with WorldNow.
• Master Control, which was moved to Columbus, OH when Media General took over the station in 2006, will be installed and launched back at the stations studios in Cranston.
• New news graphics will launch, replacing the current graphics that launched last year by Media General (the newest Sinclair graphics package "Curves" recently launched at KEYE and WJLA, video below)

By end of summer:

• Station will install and launch a new HD news editing system
• News video will be HD from all sources
• Over-the-air digital channel changing from channel 51 to channel 50, viewers will have to re-scan their TV's to pick up new channel

By end of year:

• For the first time since WJAR moved to its Cranston studios in 1993, newscast production will move out of Studio A and into the larger 2,100 square-foot Studio B
• A brand new set, including new cameras and lights will be installed in Studio B
• News production in Studio B will be controlled by a new (and hopefully better) automation system
• Studio A will remain intact for some future use

WJAR has not had a brand new news set since 1993. Over the years the station has modified the set in several refreshes, topped off with a larger refresh in 2011 for its launch in high definition.

 

Sinclair launched their "Curves" graphics package on KEYE-TV in Austin, TX in April 2015

Wikipedia List of Sinclair television stations, if you want to browse their image brands.

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