New England Cable News

New England Cable News (NECN)
New England Cable News
Launched	March 2, 1992
Owned by	NBCUniversal
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Slogan	Real News. Right Now.
Country	United States
Language	English
Broadcast area	Massachusetts eastern Connecticut central Connecticut Vermont Maine New Hampshire Rhode Island
Headquarters	Newton, Massachusetts
Sister channel(s)	Comcast SportsNet New England
Website	New England Cable News
Availability
Cable
Available on select cable systems	Check local listings for channels

New England Cable News (NECN) is a regional 24-hour cable news television network owned and operated by NBCUniversal serving the New England region of the United States. It is very similar to CNN in structure and style, but focuses more on regional news. The channel is also similar to Northwest Cable News, which covers the Pacific Northwest. Its main studios are located in Newton, Massachusetts (near Boston), but operates several news bureaus in the New England area, including Manchester, New Hampshire; Hartford, Connecticut; Worcester, Massachusetts; Portland, Maine; and Burlington, Vermont. New England Cable News maintains a remote camera in the Boston Globe building in the Dorchester section of Boston as well as a camera in the television studio of Suffolk University in downtown Boston. New England Cable News is available across New England in 3.7 million homes and produces several original programs. The station launched its own website on January 1, 2008, although it still provides video to Boston.com, which had hosted the station's site.

Overview

NECN was launched March 2, 1992, as a joint partnership between Continental Cablevision (now part of Comcast) and the Hearst Corporation.^[1] On June 18, 2009, Hearst sold its stake in NECN to Comcast, which made NECN part of their Comcast SportsNet subsidiary.^[2]

When Hearst owned a stake in NECN, it used the resources of several New England stations owned and operated by Hearst Television to assist in news coverage of the region. The Hearst stations include Boston ABC affiliate WCVB-TV (for a period early in NECN's existence, the network rebroadcast WCVB's 6 p.m. newscast at 8 p.m.^[1]); New Hampshire's ABC affiliate WMUR-TV; ABC affiliate WMTW in Portland (NECN and WMTW both maintain bureaus in the Time and Temperature Building in downtown Portland, though the operations are physically separate, and NECN uses its own news vehicles in Maine); and WPTZ and WNNE, Vermont's two NBC affiliates. It is unclear how long this partnership with Hearst for additional resources will continue; additionally, Comcast's ownership of NECN was contributed to NBCUniversal following Comcast's purchase of a 51-percent stake in that company.

NECN is a training ground for local news reporters. Some of the better-known reporters who got their start at NECN include ABC's Dan Harris, CNN's Suzanne Malveaux, and CNBC's Maya Kulycky. Several of Boston's current television reporters and anchors also began at NECN. Conversely, NECN has also employed some of the long-lived veterans of the Boston television market, including R. D. Sahl and Chet Curtis.

In addition to its cable production operations, NECN began to produce an 10 p.m. newscast for Boston Fox affiliate WFXT, known as Fox 25 News at Ten, on September 7, 1993.^[3] Shortly after Fox Television Stations bought WFXT from the Boston Celtics, it chose not to renew the contract with NECN upon its expiration on October 1, 1995 (the station would launch its own news operation a year later)^[4]; the next day, the newscast moved to UPN affiliate WSBK-TV and was renamed UPN 38 Prime News.^[5] The 10 p.m. newscast left the air on October 4, 1998, when WSBK canceled it to focus on sports and entertainment programming.^[6] Currently, NECN helps produce Worcester News Tonight on Charter TV3 in Worcester.

Comcast systems generally carry NECN as part of the limited basic tier, usually on a VHF channel (channel 6 in most Metro Boston communities). It is also seen on Verizon FiOS on channel 115 as part of its Prime HD tier, and on RCN on channel 318 as part of its Signature package. Most other cable TV systems in New England carry it, with the exception of Cox. The service is not available on satellite.

On January 18, 2010, NECN launched an HD version on Comcast systems. Although NECN-SD is generally part of limited basic, it appears one needs to subscribe to the Digital Starter tier to get NECN-HD. Other systems that currently carry NECN-SD do not have NECN-HD. Most Boston area viewers that subscribe to Comcast's Digital Starter tier can get NECN-HD on Channel 810.

Newscasts

• NECN Morning - Monday-Friday 4:30-7:00 a.m.

An early look at all the day's headlines, plus interviews with top news-makers, real-time Metro Traffic reports, and weather.

• The Morning Show - Monday-Friday 7:00-9:00 a.m.
• NECN Today - Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.
• NECN Today - Monday-Friday 4:00-6:00 p.m

"Broadside" host Jim Braude is a regular contributor, offering opinion and analysis on the most important stories of the day.

• Broadside with Jim Braude - Monday-Friday 6:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m.

Jim Braude explores all angles of the news that affects New Englanders. Also covered are topics relating to culture, business, education and technology.

• News at 7 - Monday-Friday 7:00 p.m.

A look at the news from a New England view.

• NECN Tonight - Monday-Friday 9:00-10:00 p.m., 10:00-11:00 p.m., 12:00-1:00 a.m.

NECN's signature and primary newscast is a 60-minute show exploring the latest from New England, the nation and the world.

• NECN Weekend - Saturday-Sunday 6:00a.m. & 12:00p.m.
• NECN Weekend - Saturday-Sunday 5:00p.m., 6:00p.m., 8:00 p.m. & 10:00 p.m.

Other programming

• NECN Business - Monday-Friday 6:30 & 8:30 p.m.

Anchors R.D. Sahl, Beth Shelburne and Chet Curtis examine the state of the markets, news of New England businesses and the local economy. Personal finance, investing, consumer news, advertising, mutual funds, the web, high technology, bio-technology, emerging industries, and established New England companies will all be examined in the larger context of the national and international economic landscapes.

• TV Diner - Weekdays (except Wed.) 7:30 p.m. & Saturdays 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

TV Diner reviews interesting restaurants in New England. Guest chefs and celebrities whip up goodies, and the Crusin' segment takes you into the field to visit restaurants and learn some tricks of the food trade. Plus, one lucky viewer each week becomes a "Diner for a Day", reviewing a restaurant and appearing on the show to tell all the delicious details.

• CEO Corner - Mondays 8:30-9:00 p.m.

Maryanne Kane hosts this half hour program which features interviews and discussion with New England’s key business leaders.

• SportsNet Central - Monday-Sunday 11:00-11:30 p.m.

A sports news and daily wrap up program similar to ESPN's SportsCenter. The program is rebroadcast from sister network Comcast SportsNet New England.

• This Week in Business - Sundays 12:30 p.m.

This Week in Business examines the business stories affecting the region. Co-hosted by NECN anchor Mike Nikitas and Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce CEO Paul Guzzi, this program also showcases many of New England's most important and influential business, technology and government leaders.

News team

Anchors Bridget Blythe - NECN First Thing in the Morning (4:30-5a), NECN Morning (5-7a, 9-10a) Erick Weber - NECN First Thing in the Morning (4:30-5a), NECN Morning (5-7a, 9-10a) Steve Aveson - The Morning Show (7-9a), NECN Today (12-1p) Mike Nikitas - NECN Today (4-4:30), NECN Business (6-6:30p), co-host This Week in Business with Paul Guzzi John Daly - NECN Today (5-6p), The News at 7 (7-7:30p), NECN Tonight (9-10p) Latoyia Edwards - NECN Today (5-6p), The News at 7 (7-7:30p), NECN Tonight (9-10p) Leslie Gaydos - NECN Weekend (mornings), weekday reporter for morning shows Kristi Lee - NECN Weekend (evenings) Weather Tim Kelley - weekends, mornings and evenings Danielle Niles — weekdays, NECN First Thing in the Morning (4:30-5a), NECN Morning (5-7a), The Morning Show (7-9a) Matt Noyes — weekdays, NECN Today (4-4:30p, 5-6p), The News at 7 (7-7:30p), NECN Tonight (9-10p) Nelly Carreno- weekdays, NECN Morning (9-10a), NECN Today (12-1p) Talk Show Hosts Jim Braude - Broadside: The News with Jim Braude Paul Guzzi - co-host, This Week in Business Reporters Josh Brogadir Brian Burnell, CT reporter Lauren Collins, NH reporter Chet Curtis Ally Donnelly Jennifer Eagan, morning reporter Peter Howe, business reporter Alison King, political reporter Marnie MacLean, ME reporter Scott Montminy, morning traffic reporter John Moroney Alysha Palumbo Brad Puffer R.D. Sahl, special correspondent Amy Sinclair, ME reporter Jack Thurston, VT reporter Greg Wayland Scott Yount Shows Billy Costa - TV Diner Jenny Johnson - TV Diner, New England Dream Home Vicki Croke - The Secret Life of Animals References ^ a b Associated Press (August 26, 1993). "New England's CNN — Here To Stay". Times-Union (Warsaw, Indiana): pp. 3C. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FpI_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=3lUMAAAAIBAJ&dq=new-england-cable-news&pg=4253%2C5158321. Retrieved February 18, 2011.  ^ Comcast assumes full ownership of NECN ^ Bickelhaupt, Susan (August 4, 1993). "WFXT brings you the news at 10". The Boston Globe. http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8239381.html. Retrieved February 13, 2011.  (subscription content preview) ^ "The Boston TV Dial: WFXT(TV)". The Archives @ BostonRadio.org. March 27, 2005. http://www.bostonradio.org/stations/6463. Retrieved February 18, 2011.  ^ "The Boston TV Dial: WSBK-TV". The Archives @ BostonRadio.org. March 27, 2005. http://www.bostonradio.org/stations/73982. Retrieved February 18, 2011.  ^ Fybush, Scott (October 1, 1998). "WNNZ Sold to Clear Channel". North East RadioWatch. http://www.bostonradio.org/nerw/nerw-981001.html. Retrieved February 13, 2011.  External links Official website NECN Weather NECN Programming Schedule Matt Noyes' Website Association of Regional News Channels