Was this in overall viewers, or in a certain demographic??
Maybe WLNE-6 should consider ending their 5-6:30 P.M. local news block, run entertainment programming in that slot, and instead launch an hour-long local newscast from 7 to 8 P.M.
Yes, WJAR-10 does run a local newscast at 7 on it's primary channel, but WLNE may have much less competition with a "later" early-evening news, and WLNE can promote it as "The Early-Evening Newscast That's Ready When You Are!".