WPXT
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WPXT | |
|---|---|
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| Portland, Maine | |
| Branding | The CW Portland |
| Slogan | Free To Be Together |
| Channels | 51 (UHF) analog, 43 (UHF) digital |
| Affiliations | The CW |
| Owner | CP Media, LLC |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Call letters meaning | Portland's EXciting Television |
| Former affiliations | FOX (1986-2001) The WB (2001-2006) |
| Website | thecwportland.com |
WPXT is the CW affiliate for Northern New Hampshire and Southern Maine. Licensed to Portland, the station broadcasts its analog signal on UHF channel 51 and its digital signal on UHF channel 43. WPXT's transmitter is located in South Gray. The station shares studios in Westbrook with sister station WPME, the area's MyNetworkTV affiliate. WPXT is owned by CP Media, LLC and is known on-air as "The CW Portland".
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[edit] History
The station first went on the air in 1986 as an independent then quickly became an affiliate of the FOX network. In 2001, when WPXT's owner Pegasus Broadcasting had a monetary dispute with FOX, WPXT switched to The WB, leaving Portland with no over-the-air FOX affiliate until early 2003 when WPFO took the affiliation. Pegasus declared bankruptcy in June of 2004 over a dispute with DirecTV, which is co-owned with FOX by News Corporation, over marketing of the direct broadcast satellite service in rural areas. The Pegasus station group was sold in August of 2006 to private investment firm CP Media, LLC of Wilkes-Barre, PA for $55.5 million.
Both WPXT and WPME cross promote ourmaine.com, an advertising and promotional website for the two broadcast channels. For many years WPXT produced its own newscast, which ended on June 15, 2002. Until 2001, when WPXT lost the FOX affiliation, the newscast was known as FOX 51 News at 10. The newscast made national headlines a week before the 2000 presidential election when reporter Erin Fehlau revealed that Republican candidate George W. Bush had been convicted for DUI 24 years earlier. One of the more well known members of the news team, meteorologist Pete Bouchard, relocated to Boston's NBC affiliate WHDH soon after, where he currently serves as Chief Meteorologist. Jamie Kenneally, the sports anchor for WPXT, also relocated to Boston to work at WB affiliate WLVI. J.C. Monahan, the weekend meteorologist for WPXT, is now the weekday morning and midday meteorologist for WCVB, Boston's ABC affiliate.
A few months later, the station began airing a newscast produced by the two NBC affiliates in the state of Maine: Portland's WCSH and Bangor's WLBZ, called News Center At 10 on Maine's WB. On September 18, 2006, the newscast was renamed News Center at 10 on The CW Portland to correspond with WPXT's affiliation switch to The CW. During the weekdays, the newscast is hosted by WCSH anchor Shannon Moss and WLBZ Chief Meteorologist Steve McKay. The newscast is aired from the WCSH studios in Portland with weather originating from WLBZ in Bangor. On the weekends, Jennifer Rooks anchors and meteorologist Todd Gutner provides weather forcasts. This weekend program is broadcasted entirely from Portland. The look of the newscasts on WPXT are similar to the regular "News Center" programs on WCSH and WLBZ, except that transitions are flashier. The newscasts take on a regional feel with news coverage from Portland and Bangor.
[edit] The CW
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN networks announced that they would end broadcasting and merge. The newly combined 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. The merger took effect on-air on September 18, 2006.
On March 9, 2006, it was announced that WPXT would become Portland's CW affiliate and, on May 1, it was announced sister station WPME will affiliate with another broadcast television network, MyNetworkTV. With CW affiliation, WPXT's web address changed to "thecwportland.com", and the station branding became The CW Portland.
WPXT, as a WB affiliate, was originally branded on-air as Maine's WB 51, but in 2004 changed to just Maine's WB as the old WB logo shows. The station's coverage area includes the area from Southern Maine to Portland. Bangor did have a WB affiliate of its own, "WBAN", although it was only offered on cable. The Presque Isle area also had a cable-only WB affiliate, "WBPQ". Therefore, WPXT was the only WB affiliate in Maine to broadcast over analog television. Like WPME's current logo with MyNetworkTV, the logo for WPXT under The CW affiliation has "Portland" in it, which refers to the Portland market that the station covers. For Bangor, the CW affiliation has gone to WABI's DT2 digital subchannel, and is offered on cable station WBAN as well.
[edit] Local Programming
WPXT produces and airs several local programs:
- Hot Squad - renovation of a local home with an "energy makeover" adding insulation, windows, lighting, and a furnace
- The Maine Poker Showdown - a poker show with local players
- Kick Start - a game show involving 8th grade students competing for a college scholarship
- Our Maine Magazine - tours local businesses in five-minute segments; variations include Our Maine Health, Our Maine Restaurants, Our Maine Careers, and Our Maine Destination (town name).
[edit] Newscasts
Although the news ad below says that WPXT has the only 10 PM newscast in the state of Maine, this is not the case. Two stations in Bangor: WABI DT2 / "WBAN" and WFVX-LP also air one. Also, WAGM DT1 in Presque Isle shows one as well. Until February 5, 2007, the WPXT newscast was the only 10 PM newscast in Portland. On that date, the area's CBS affiliate WGME began to produce a daily 10 PM newscast on WPFO. Viewers with atomic or internet clocks can verify that WPXT's "10:00" news begins at 9:59:50, when network programming ends. WPFO puts several commercials between the end of their network and news start at approximately 10:01:30. So although there are two 10 PM newscasts in Portland, WPXT's will generally start first. Also, there is no local sports report done during the WPXT newscasts.
News Center at 10 on The CW Portland (10 to 10:30 PM)
Weekdays
- Anchor:
- Shannon Moss
- Meteorologist:
- Steve McKay (based at WLBZ in Bangor)
Weekends
- Anchor:
- Jennifer Rooks
- Meteorologist:
- Todd Gutner
the WPXT newscasts use additional news personnel from WCSH and WLBZ, see each article for a complete listing
[edit] Logos
 Secondary WPXT WB logo, used 2003 to September of 2006. The original included the #51 to the right of the WB logo. |
 Current WPXT CW logo. |
 Ad for News Center at 10 from WPXT's website. |
[edit] External Links
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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 | |
