After just four months as the station’s news director, Irene Mahoney-Paige is out at WLNE.

Vice president and general manager Chris Tzianabos confirmed her exit to TVSpy today.

Mahoney-Paige, who came to WLNE after three years as an executive producer at WTIC in Hartford, is departing the station following a November ratings book that was not up to Tzianabos’s expectations.

Tzianabos says that WLNE is now searching for someone with “enough experience” to make the news department “competitive and relevant in the market.” Read more

New owner Citadel Communications has made good on its promise to swiftly upgrade WLNE to HD.  The Providence ABC-affiliate is now broadcasting all of its newscasts in high definition.

“Citadel Communications has made a major investment in upgrading the entire station to HD,” WLNE vice president and general manager Chris Tzianabos said recently.  “We are extremely pleased to offer viewers of WLNE-TV/ABC6 a crisp, high quality picture and  dramatically different sound.”

Along with the HD conversion, WLNE debuted a revamped logo and redesigned website this month. Read more

Irene Mahoney-Paige has been named news director of Providence’s WLNE. She is set to join the ABC-affiliate on July 15th.

“Irene brings years of experience along with fresh, innovative ideas,” said WLNE vice president and general manager Chris Tzianabos, who joined the station himself just two months ago. “We are thrilled to have her lead the team during this critical time.”

The hiring of Mahoney-Paige, who comes to WLNE after three years as executive producer at WTIC in Hartford, is seemingly the last piece of a dramatic overhaul at WLNE by the station’s new owner Citadel Communications. In addition to bringing Tzianabos on-board, WLNE introduced a new weekday evening anchor team and hired a new weekend evening anchor. The station also issued a significant round of layoffs in April.

In a press release, Mahoney-Paige said that she is “extremely excited” to be joining the WLNE news team. Read more

Citadel Communications announced today that its acquisition of WLNE has been finalized.

In March, a judge accepted Citadel’s $5.8 million bid for the financially troubled ABC-affiliate in a Superior Court auction.

“The Federal Communications Commission approved the license transfer quickly and we are thrilled to take ownership,” said Citadel owner and CEO Phil Lombardo.

WLNE vice president and general manager Chris Tzianabos, who Citadel hired in April to execute the company’s vision for improving the station, described the occasion as “a great day for the employees of WLNE.”

Lombardo also took the opportunity to announce that WLNE plans to be broadcasting in full HD by September, which represents a $1 million investment by Citadel.

Providence’s WLNE is announcing its second on-air hiring of the week. Days after introducing Karen Meyers as the new face of the ABC-affiliate’s 5, 6, and 11 p.m. newscasts, WLNE announced today that Liz Tufts would join the station as an anchor, reporter, and producer.

Tufts comes to WLNE from WSHM in Springfield, MA, where she’s worked the last six years as a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter.

“Liz is a rare find,” said WLNE vice president and general manager Chris Tzianabos, in announcing the move. “She is a talented multimedia journalist, with experience anchoring, reporting, producing, shooting and editing stories for air and online.”

Before joining WSHM, where she’s worked on a diverse array of stories including one in which she posed as a prostitute, Meyers served as an MMJ for Lincoln’s KLKN. She will anchor WLNE’s weekend newscasts beginning June 13th.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the WLNE,” said Tufts, a native New Englander. “I look forward to bringing our viewers stories and newscasts that remind them why where we live is so special.”

WLNE has made its biggest on-air talent move since being bought by Citadel Communications earlier this year. The Providence ABC-affiliate announced this week that Karen Meyers (right) would anchor the station’s 5, 6, and 11 p.m. newscasts, replacing Allison Alexander, whose contract was not renewed.

Alexander had been with WLNE since 2007 and, according to NewsBlues, was the highest paid newsroom employee.

Meyers, a graduate of Boston College, has spent the last four years working as an anchor for NECN, the regional cable news channel owned by Comcast.

“Karen’s journalistic experience, anchoring/reporting skill and her knowledge of New England make her an outstanding choice for this critical position in our news department,” said Chris Tzianabos, WLNE’s newly appointed president and general manager, in making the announcement. Read more

Citadel Communications has named Chris Tzianabos vice president and general manager of WLNE.

Citadel is set to officially take over management of the Providence ABC-affiliate May 1st and the company expects to receive FCC approval of its acquisition of WLNE this summer.

Earlier this month, Steve Doerr, who has been with WLNE since 2007, announced that he was stepping aside as vice president and general manager.

Tzianabos has significant experience working in the region. He served as vice president and general manager of Boston’s WFXT from 2000 to 2009. Prior to that, he held sales management positions at WHDH and the New England Sports Network. Read more