WBAN (The CW Plus)
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| WBAN-TV | |
|---|---|
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| Bangor, Maine | |
| Branding | Eastern and Central Maine's CW |
| Slogan | CW TV For Me & Eastern and Central Maine's Only Live 10 O'Clock News |
| Channels | cable (various) analog, WABI-DT 5.2 (VHF) digital |
| Affiliations |  The CW (via The CW Plus) |
| Owner | Diversified Communications |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Call letters meaning | BANgor |
| Former affiliations | The WB (via The WB 100+ until 9/06) |
| Website | cwtvforme.com |
"WBAN-TV" is the CW network affiliate for Bangor, Maine. The call letters are fictional as it is a cable-only station. As a result of being a cable-only CW affiliate, the station is part of The CW Plus, a special CW cable feed that serves smaller television markets with a DMA rank below 100 (the Bangor television market has a rank of 152). WBAN is owned by Diversified Communications and operated by Bangor's CBS affiliate WABI-TV. The station is known on-air as "Eastern and Central Maine's CW".
On Time Warner cable systems, the station is located on channel 10. Channel placement on other cable providers is variable. WBAN can also be seen on WABI's DT2 subchannel.
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[edit] History
WBAN started in 1998, when The WB required over-the-air affiliates above the top 100 markets to be on cable, gradually replacing WBGR-LP as the WB affiliate in Bangor. WBAN was part of The WB 100+, which is similar to the current CW Plus. On Adelphia cable systems, the station was located on channel 4.
On January 24, 2006, the UPN and WB networks announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge to create a new broadcast television network. The new network would be called The CW, the letters representing the first initial of its corporate parents CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner.
UPN network programming in the Bangor area was provided by cable via WPME from Portland and WSBK from Boston. WPME is now Portland's MyNetworkTV affiliate while WSBK has become an independent station.
On July 28, 2006, an announcement on WABI's website said that Time Warner Cable, which was in the process of taking over coverage in the Bangor area for bankrupt Adelphia, would keep WBAN on the system when The CW commenced programming, as part of a three year deal with WABI, which also keeps the main WABI channel on the system as well. It was also announced that WABI would create a second digital subchannel to simulcast WBAN and offer over-the-air viewers access to CW network programming.
On September 18, 2006, The CW debuted on WBAN and WABI's DT2 digital subchannel. WBAN relocated from channel 4 to channel 10 in order to be carried on Time Warner cable systems. On January 10, 2007, WABI introduced a redesigned website for WBAN and WABI DT2.
[edit] Newscasts
Like most WB 100+ affiliates, WBAN offered The Daily Buzz weekday morning newscast. When WBAN became a CW Plus affiliate and began to be operated by WABI, the cable station added two weekday newscasts, both produced by WABI. Also, local news and weather updates were added during The Daily Buzz.
The WABI-produced WBAN weekday 10 PM newscast is not the only one in the market. Bangor's primary FOX and secondary MyNetworkTV affiliate WFVX-LP also airs one, produced by the area's ABC affiliate WVII. However, in mid-October of 2006, that newscast became taped with only the sports segment live. This has resulted in the WABI-produced WBAN newscast being the only one that is live. One of WBAN's current station slogans confirms that.
- The Daily Buzz (6 to 9 AM)
- with local news and weather updates from Joy Hollowell and Meteorologist Todd Simcox
- WABI TV 5 News at Noon (12 to 12:30 PM)
- simulcast of WABI's main channel
- with Sharon Pelletier and Meteorologist Todd Simcox
- WABI TV 5 Prime Time News on The CW (10 to 10:30 PM)
- seen only on WBAN and WABI DT2
- with Craig Colson, Chief Meteorologist Chris Ewing, and Sports Director Tim Throckmorton
during WABI-produced newscasts, WBAN uses additional news staff from WABI, see the main WABI article for a listing of all news personnel
[edit] Logos
 WBAN's previous logo as a WB 100+ affiliate located on cable channel 4. |
 WBAN's current logo. |
 Ad for WABI-produced 10 PM WBAN newscast. |
[edit] External Links
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WLBZ 2 (NBC) (WX+ on DT2) - WABI 5 (CBS) (The CW via "WBAN" on DT2) - WVII 7 (ABC) (FOX / MNTV via WFVX-LP on DT2) - WMEB 12 / WMED 13 (PBS / MPBN) - |
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| Cable television channels | |||
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NECN - NESN - FSN New England - CBMT (CBC, Montreal) - WSBK (Ind, Boston) - "WBAN" (The CW) See also Broadcast television in the Presque Isle, ME market
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WABI-DT 5.2 / "WBAN" (Bangor) - "WBPQ" (Presque Isle, cable-only) - WPXT 51 (Portland) |
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| See also: ABC, CBS, Fox, My Network TV, NBC, PBS, and Other stations in Maine | |
