WPXT
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| WPXT | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Portland, Maine | |
| Branding | WPXT |
| Slogan | Home of The CW |
| Channels | Analog: 51 (UHF) Digital: 43 (UHF) |
| Affiliations | The CW |
| Owner | New Age Media, LLC (New Age Media of Maine License, LLC) |
| First air date | September 14, 1986 |
| Call letters’ meaning | Portland's EXciting Television |
| Sister station(s) | WPME |
| Former affiliations | Independent (1986) Fox (1986-2001) The WB (2001-2006) |
| Transmitter Power | 3,020 kW (analog) 137.4 kW (digital) |
| Height | 280 m (analog) 254 m (digital) |
| Facility ID | 53065 |
| Transmitter Coordinates | |
| Website | ourmaine.com |
WPXT, channel 51, is the CW-affiliated television station for Portland, Maine. Its transmitter is located on Dutton Hill in South Gray. The station is owned by New Age Media as part of a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate WPME. The two stations share studios on Ledgeview Drive in Westbrook.
Contents |
[edit] History
The station first went on the air in 1986 as the first new commercial station to sign on in the Portland market in over 30 years. After a few months as an independent, it became a charter affiliate of the Fox network. In 2001, when WPXT's owner Pegasus Broadcasting had a monetary dispute with Fox, WPXT switched to The WB. This left 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, Pennsylvania for $55.5 million dollars.
As a WB affiliate, WPXT was originally branded on-air as Maine's WB 51, but in 2004, changed to Maine's WB. Bangor had a WB affiliate of its own, "WBAN", although it was only offered on cable. Presque Isle also had a cable-only WB affiliate "WBPQ". Therefore, WPXT was the only WB affiliate in Maine to broadcast over-the-air.
On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would end broadcasting and merge. The new 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.
On February 22, News Corporation announced that they would start up another new network called MyNetworkTV. This new service, which would be a sister network to Fox, would be operated by Fox Television Stations and its syndication division, Twentieth Television. MyNetworkTV was created in order to give UPN and WB stations, not mentioned as becoming CW affiliates, another option besides becoming independent. It was also created to compete against The CW.
On March 9, it was announced that WPXT would become Portland's CW affiliate. On May 1, it was announced that sister station WPME would affiliate with MyNetworkTV. WPXT began broadcasting The CW on September 18, 2006. With CW affiliation, its branding became The CW Portland. In 2007, WPXT changed its on-air branding to reflect its call letters rather than Portland. The website of WPXT had been out-of-date and was inaccessible for long periods of time. However, it was updated by early-October 2007.
[edit] Local programming
WPXT produces and airs several local programs:
- The Rundown - local high school sports highlights
- 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)
- Maine Model - based on America's Next Top Model
- it is essentially a localized version of the show
- originally aired on WPME because America's Next Top Model was a UPN show
[edit] News operation
[edit] WPXT operation
For many years WPXT operated a news department and produced its own newscasts (a practice which ended on June 15, 2002). Until 2001, when WPXT lost the Fox affiliation, its 10 P.M. news was known as Fox 51 News at 10. At that point, it became known as Our Maine News at 10. For a time, the 10 o'clock news was simulcasted on sister station WPME. Also during that year, WPXT produced a 7 P.M. newscast that aired on WPME (it was soon canceled due to poor ratings, however).
WPXT 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.
[edit] WCSH & WLBZ production
A few months later in 2002, the station began airing newscasts produced by Maine's two NBC affiliates, Portland's WCSH and Bangor's WLBZ. First known as NewsCenter At 10 on Maine's WB 51, the title dropped the number "51" reference in 2004. On September 18, 2006, the newscast was renamed News Center at 10 on The CW Portland to correspond with WPXT's affiliation switch. With updated branding, the news is now referred to as NewsCenter at 10.
During the week, news and sports are broadcasted from WCSH's studios (with some Bangor area stories featuring WLBZ reporters and photojournalists) while weather forecasts originate from Steve McKay at WLBZ in Bangor. On the weekends, the program is broadcasted entirely from Portland (again with some Bangor stories being shown). As is the case with the WLBZ simulcasts of WCSH news, WPXT's news programs take on a regional feel with news coverage from Portland, Bangor, and the state of Maine. The combination of WCSH & WLBZ offers the largest and most extensive coverage of news from Maine.
Until February 5, 2007, WPXT's newscast was the only 10 o'clock broadcast in Portland. On that date, CBS affiliate WGME-TV began to produce a nightly 10 o'clock newscast on Fox affiliate WPFO.
[edit] News team
[edit] Current
NewsCenter at 10
Weeknights (10 to 10:35 P.M.)
- Anchor:
- Pat Callaghan
- Weather:
- Steve McKay
- Sports:
- Bruce Glasier
Weekends (10 to 10:30 P.M.)
- Anchor:
- Caroline Cornish
- Weather:
- Roger Griswold
- Sports:
- Lee Goldberg
WPXT uses additional news personnel from WCSH and WLBZ. See each article for a complete listing.
[edit] WPXT production
These personalities were part of WPXT's own in-house news team when the station produced its own newscasts.
Anchors and Reporters
- Joe Palmieri - main anchor
- now a panelist on WJJB-AM
- Susan Christensen - anchor & reporter
- now anchor at WTIC-TV
- Pat McGonigle - weekend anchor & reporter
- now weekday morning anchor at WHEC-TV
- Mollie Halpern - weekend anchor & reporter
- now producer at WPXI
- Tina Detelj - anchor & reporter
- now reporter at WTNH
- Erin Fehlau - reporter
- now weekday morning and Noon anchor at WMUR-TV
Meteorologists
- Pete Bouchard - weeknights
- now chief meteorologist at WHDH-TV
- J.C. Monahan - weekends
- entertainment reporter
- now weekday morning & Noon meteorologist at WCVB-TV
- Ed Muir - weekends
- weekday reporter
- now fill-in meteorologist & reporter at NWCN
- Heather Tesch - now at The Weather Channel
Other Former Personalities
- Jamie Kenneally - sports anchor
- Patricia Washburn - website producer
- now editor of OrganizedWisdom.com
[edit] External links
|
|||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|||||
