Spectrum News 1 acquires NECN, will move base to Needham

• Posted by Mark Henderson Feb 11 - Filed in News - #Worcester  #Charter Communications  #Higgins Street  #Spectrum News 1  - 2,965 views

  
  File photo (Mark Henderson)

  Spectrum News 1 will move its New England base from Worcester to Needham as part of Charter Communications’ newly announced acquisition of New England Cable News, a deal that will merge the outlets into a single regional network serving five New England states.

  The company did not say whether the move will result in job losses or whether Spectrum News 1 will retain its current studios on Higgins Street in Worcester, where the network has been based, nor did it provide a timeline for the transition.

  Under the agreement announced Wednesday, Spectrum News will acquire substantially all of the assets of NECN from NBCUniversal. In the coming months, Spectrum News networks in Massachusetts and Maine will combine with NECN and rebrand as Spectrum News NECN, serving viewers in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

  The announcement comes less than a year after Charter said it would close its Worcester customer service call center, resulting in the loss of 174 jobs. At the time, the company said it would retain its operations staff and Spectrum News 1 employees in the city while transitioning call center work to other U.S.-based locations.

  The new combined news network will be based in NECN’s studios in Massachusetts and will continue to be available through NECN’s existing distribution agreements throughout New England. Spectrum News said the rebranded network will also be carried by Spectrum customers in Massachusetts and Maine, as well as Comcast Xfinity TV customers across all five states.

  Charter did not address how the NECN acquisition or the move to Needham could affect its Worcester news operations, which have been located on Higgins Street, or whether any newsroom positions would be relocated or eliminated.

  “This agreement represents a significant milestone for Spectrum News as we grow our operation in New England and expand our viewership to additional markets across the country,” said Mike Bair, executive vice president of Spectrum Networks. He said the company plans to build on NECN’s local news brand while continuing to focus on regional journalism.

  Charter highlighted its recent national expansion of Spectrum News, which includes the launch of additional local linear television networks, a streaming news service known as Spectrum News+, a Spanish-language network, Spectrum Noticias, and mobile and connected-TV news apps available on platforms including Roku, Apple TV and Xumo.

  No timeline was announced for the completion of the transaction or for the full transition to the Spectrum News NECN brand.