Quick Answer
Kelly Bates, a Providence, Rhode Island meteorologist for nearly three decades, left WJAR NBC 10 in September 2021 after a contract dispute. She publicly asked her supporters not to direct anger at the station’s remaining staff. She landed at ABC6 (WLNE) in June 2022. Then, in December 2025, the same situation happened again: ABC6 was acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the same company that owned WJAR when she left in 2021, and Bates lost her job a second time.
Her 2021 Exit From WJAR NBC 10
Kelly Bates announced on September 7, 2021, that she was no longer employed at WJAR NBC 10, the Providence-based NBC affiliate where she’d worked for nearly 17 years. She broke the news on social media: “So friends. This is it. I wanted to let you know that I am no longer employed by NBC10. Thank you for everything over the nearly 20 years of having the privilege of being a trusted person in the community. It has been one hell of a ride!”
The station’s account of what happened differed from how many fans understood it. WJAR general manager Vic Vetters said in a statement that Bates “ultimately decided it was time to move on and elected not to renew her contract with us.” Bates and her supporters told a different version. She’d been offered a contract, they said, that she felt she had no real choice but to decline. She later told Newsweek that television news is “unequivocally unfair” to women, pointing to double standards she said were common across the industry, not unique to her own situation.
Why She Asked Fans to Be Kind to Her Former Colleagues
The backlash from viewers was immediate and, in some cases, aimed at the wrong people. Thousands signed a petition demanding WJAR reinstate her. Some of that anger landed directly on the meteorologists who stayed behind. Christina Erne, a colleague still at the station, publicly shared a message she’d received claiming she would “never be better than Kelly Bates.” She responded on social media: “I have no tolerance for cruelty and rudeness.”
That’s the specific context behind Bates’ public plea. In a Facebook post, she wrote: “I’d respectfully ask that if you are motivated to advocate for me, please be kind to the newsroom staff of WJAR. I appreciate all of you, and I can’t express how much your devotion to me has rocked my world.” She also acknowledged having “disagreements with management.” But she made clear that many people at the station had stood by her throughout her time there, drawing a clear line between the decision-makers and the coworkers who had nothing to do with it.
Where She Went Next: ABC6 (WLNE)
Bates didn’t stay off the air for long. In June 2022, she joined ABC6 (WLNE) as a weekend meteorologist and science reporter, returning to the station where her broadcasting career had actually begun decades earlier.
The 2025 Update Most Coverage of This Story Misses
Here’s the part that changes the entire arc of this story, and it’s recent enough that most existing articles about Bates don’t include it. In December 2025, ABC6 was acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the same company that owned WJAR NBC 10 back in 2021. Bates announced she was losing her job for a second time, telling her audience, “So it happened again… it happened again.”
The parallel is hard to miss: the same ownership group connected to her first departure was now connected to her second. This story originally centered on one meteorologist’s difficult exit and her call for grace toward her former coworkers. The 2025 development reframes it as something bigger: a pattern tied to how Sinclair’s ownership has affected local news staffing in the Providence market, not just one station’s individual decision.
A Career Spanning Three Decades in Providence Broadcasting
Bates began her television career in 1996 at WLNE ABC6, the same station she’d eventually return to in 2022. She moved to WJAR NBC10 in 2004, where she became a fixture of weekday morning and noon broadcasts for the next 17 years. Her career total, across both stations and two separate tenures at ABC6, spans close to three decades in Rhode Island television, making her one of the more recognizable meteorologists in the market’s recent history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Kelly Bates leave NBC 10? She left WJAR NBC 10 in September 2021 following a contract dispute. The station said she declined to renew her contract; Bates and her supporters described it as a situation where she felt she had no real choice but to leave.
What did Kelly Bates ask her supporters to do? She publicly asked fans not to direct anger or hostility at WJAR’s remaining newsroom staff, after a colleague, meteorologist Christina Erne, received hostile messages from viewers upset about Bates’ departure.
Where did Kelly Bates go after leaving NBC 10? She joined ABC6 (WLNE) in June 2022 as a weekend meteorologist and science reporter, the same station where her broadcasting career originally began in 1996.
Did Kelly Bates lose her job again in 2025? Yes. In December 2025, ABC6 was acquired by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the same company that owned WJAR when she left in 2021, and Bates announced she was out of a job for a second time.
How long was Kelly Bates’ career in Providence television? Close to three decades, starting at WLNE ABC6 in 1996, moving to WJAR NBC10 in 2004 for 17 years, and returning to ABC6 in 2022 before her second departure in late 2025.
Bottom Line
Kelly Bates’ story didn’t end with her 2021 departure from WJAR, and treating it as a closed chapter, the way most existing coverage does, misses what actually happened next. Her original plea for kindness toward her former colleagues said something real about how she handled a difficult professional moment. The December 2025 news that she lost her second job, to the same ownership group tied to her first departure, adds a layer to that story that’s still unfolding. It’s worth knowing if you’re searching for what happened to her, not just how it started.
Sources: The Boston Globe, Newsweek, GoLocalProv
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