Bill Binnie, a former Republican U.S. senate candidate, is planning to significantly expand local news programming at his eponymous station WBIN.
“We see a real opportunity for another important media voice in New Hampshire,” Binnie told the New Hampshire Business Review recently. “In spite of the fact that there is a great deal of media nationwide, countrywide and even in Boston, there are very few voices here in New Hampshire and we intend to be one of them.”
Binnie purchased WZMY this spring for $9.25 million, renaming it WBIN and dropping the MyNetworkTV affiliation. The station recently debuted a half-hour newscast at 10 p.m. anchored by Martin Lawrence and Amanda Decker.
In addition to acquiring WZMY, Binnie has bought up a handful of low-power stations throughout the Granite State, ensuring that WBIN reaches the majority of New Hampshire residents as well as the Boston market.
The station recently announced that it would be teaming with Bloomberg TV and the Washington Post to present the upcoming Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire. And it’s clear that Binnie plans to build on the exposure from the debate and debut a slate of local news programming in the near future.
“We anticipate local sports as well as local programming as well as local political shows in the coming months and into next year,” said Binnie.
In 2010, Binnie lost in the Republican primary for one of New Hampshire’s U.S. senate seats.