WLBZ
Encyclopedia
WLBZ is the NBC
-affiliated television station
for Central
and Eastern
Maine
licensed to Bangor
. It broadcasts a high definition
digital signal on VHF channel 2 from a transmitter on Rider Bluff in Holden
. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
channel 3 and in high definition on digital channel 702. Owned by Gannett, the station has studios on Mount Hope Avenue in Bangor.
in Portland
. While that station airs all network programming provided through WCSH, it clears most of that station's syndicated programming but there are some shown at a different time. There are also programs that only air on WLBZ while some are only seen on WCSH. Syndicated programming exclusive to this station includes Dr. Phil
. WLBZ also airs separate station identifications and commercials. Although WLBZ and WCSH are based in different locations and technically serve separate markets
, the two essentially operate as one station. With their combined resources, the stations provide statewide coverage not offered by any other outlet in Maine.
On Time Warner Cable and Dish Network
, WLBZ serves as the default NBC affiliate for the Presque Isle
market because the area does not have an affiliate of its own. In addition to its main signal, WLBZ operates low-powered digital repeater WGCI-LD on VHF channel 4. Licensed to Skowhegan
, this has a transmitter in Norridgewock's Larone section. WGCI is used to transmit WLBZ programming to Time Warner Cable systems in Skowhegan, Millinocket
, and Lincoln. Unlike the main WLBZ signal, it does not air NBC programming in high definition.
Cable digital channel 166 is a 24-hour local news and weather channel.
The station began broadcasting on September 12, 1954 as WTWO (sometimes rendered as "W-TWO"), an independent station locally-owned by Murray Carpenter. The following January, it began carrying some CBS
programming, becoming a full affiliate by September 1955 (prior to this, CBS programming was seen on WABI-TV
(channel 5), which became a primary NBC affiliate). In 1958, WTWO was sold to the Rines family's Maine Broadcasting System, owner of WLBZ radio (620 AM), WCSH-AM
-TV
in Portland, and WRDO
in Augusta
. The new ownership changed the station's call letters to WLBZ-TV that June to match its new radio sister (which the Rines had owned since 1944). The following year, channel 2 swapped affiliations with WABI-TV and joined NBC in order to match WCSH-TV; the two stations also began to share a secondary ABC
affiliation (previously, ABC programming was only cleared on WABI). The ABC arrangement remained in place until 1965, when WEMT (channel 7, now WVII-TV
) signed on as a full-time ABC affiliate.
In its first decades on the air, channel 2 was best known as the home of Eddie Driscoll. He hosted many programs on the station including: Weird, Dialing for Dollars
, The Great Money Movie, and My Backyard. Driscoll was also known for his improvisation skills and sense of humor. He retired from WLBZ-TV in 1986, and died on September 24, 2006 after suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
.
In the 1970s, WLBZ-TV added a repeater in Calais
, W57AQ on channel 57, with a transmitter in Meddybemps
shared with W61AO (which repeated WABI-TV). W57AQ allowed cable systems in Atlantic Canada
to distribute WLBZ by a microwave link from the border, doubling or even tripling the station's coverage area and viewership. Most Canadian cable systems dropped WLBZ after 1996 once American
television signals became available to them by satellite, with the last one doing so in 2010. Although a "flash-cut
" to digital on VHF channel 8 was considered, it was instead decided to return the W57AQ license to the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), which deleted it on April 29, 2010.
In 1981, WLBZ radio was sold-off, eventually becoming WZON; in 1997, the -TV suffix was dropped. In 1998, the Maine Broadcasting System (by this time controlled by the Rines-Thompson family) sold WLBZ and WCSH to current owner Gannett. At this point, the station, for all intents and purposes, began serving as a semi-satellite of WCSH. However as early as 1989, WLBZ had been reducing its personnel and consolidating some internal operations with WCSH.
In 2002, WLBZ signed on a digital signal on UHF channel 25, bringing NBC's high definition programming to Eastern and Central Maine. On June 12, 2009
, the station terminated its analog operations on channel 2. However, the station kept its digital operations on channel 25 until September 10, when it was moved to the VHF channel 2 space previously occupied by the analog service.
Originally, WLBZ operated its own news department and produced local newscasts from its Bangor studios. The station was a very distant second in Nielsen ratings
behind dominant WABI. In 1989, when it began consolidation with WCSH, WLBZ began simulcasting some of that station's news shows prepared with a statewide view. This has progressed to the current arrangement where WLBZ only airs separate shows covering Bangor weeknights at 5 and 6 (which are locally produced at its facilities), with all other newscasts originating from the WCSH studios in Portland. As mentioned, these statewide programs tend to take on a regional feel with coverage from Portland, Bangor, or wherever news occurs around the state. During the 5:30 and 11 p.m. newscasts, WLBZ still produces its own weather forecast segments from Bangor with meteorologist Steve McKay. On August 9, 2010, there was an expansion of the statewide weekday morning show to 4:30 with the new segment being called News Center Early Morning Report.
WLBZ and WCSH have used News Center branding since the 1970s, even before consolidating. Additionally, both stations featured Frank Gari
's "Good News" music package from 1986 until October 22, 2008 when it was dropped (except during "Storm Center" coverage) in favor of standardized music and graphics seen on other Gannett stations.
After then-WB affiliate WPXT
in Portland shut down its news department in Fall 2002, WLBZ and WCSH entered into a news share agreement with that station resulting in a nightly prime time newscast. Originally called News Center at 10 on Maine's WB 51, it was seen every night for thirty minutes. On weeknights, news and sports segments originated from WCSH's facilities while WLBZ produced the weather segment from its studios. Weekend broadcasts aired entirely from Portland. News Center at 10 was formatted in a similar manner to the statewide shows simulcasted on WLBZ and WCSH except for having a slight Portland focus since WPXT was that market's WB affiliate. In September 2006, the production became known as News Center at 10 on The CW Portland after WPXT switched to The CW. WLBZ's role in the newscast was eliminated on November 6, 2008 when WCSH moved the prime time broadcast to its "News Center Weather Plus" feed and entirely reoriented the newscast to the Portland market (with WLBZ no longer doing the weather forecast). The "News Center Weather Plus" feed on WLBZ-DT2 and the live video on their websites was replaced with the national Weather Plus service. News Center at 10 was eventually canceled by WCSH after a six year run.
An outdoors and human-interest program called Bill Green's Maine airs Saturday nights at 7 on WCSH and WLBZ. In 2003, WCSH launched 207 (a local lifestyle/entertainment magazine-type show which airs weeknights at 7 only on that station. The "207" name comes from Maine's telephone area code
. Although the program was initially replayed at 4:30 in the morning Tuesday through Saturdays on WLBZ, the program is no longer seen on this station.
In October 2005, WLBZ and WCSH began offering NBC Weather Plus
on new second digital subchannel
s. Known as "News Center Weather Plus", the service could also seen on the websites of both stations through live streaming video and digital cable. In late-December 2008 as a result of Weather Plus closing on a national level, WLBZ-DT2 and WCSH-DT2 shifted to a format featuring a loop of local news headlines and weather forecasts. The service retained the "News Center Weather Plus" branding and digital cable carriage but the online live video was dropped. WCSH's weeknight meteorologist Joe Cupo can sometimes be seen on "News Center Weather Plus" providing statewide weather forecasts. Like the main signal, WGCI offers "News Center Weather Plus" on its second digital subchannel.
In addition to the main studios in Bangor and Portland, WLBZ and WCSH share two bureaus in the state. This includes the Midcoast Bureau (on Camden Street/US 1
) in Rockport
and the Lewiston
/Auburn
Bureau (on Main Street/ME 11/ME 100/US 202
) in Lewiston.
NewsCenter Meteorologists
Sports (all seen on 5th Quarter)
Reporters
Multimedia journalists
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
-affiliated television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
for Central
Maine Highlands
The Maine Highlands is now a term used in the Maine tourism industry for a centrally located region that constitutes a large portion of the state of Maine. The Highlands are made up of Piscataquis and Penobscot counties...
and Eastern
Down East
In New England, the term Down East is applied in several different ways. In the narrowest sense, Down East refers to the coast of the U.S. state of Maine from Penobscot Bay to the Canadian border....
Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
licensed to Bangor
Bangor, Maine
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States, and the major commercial and cultural center for eastern and northern Maine...
. It broadcasts a high definition
High-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
digital signal on VHF channel 2 from a transmitter on Rider Bluff in Holden
Holden, Maine
Holden is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,827 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable
Time Warner Cable is an American cable television company that operates in 28 states and has 31 operating divisions...
channel 3 and in high definition on digital channel 702. Owned by Gannett, the station has studios on Mount Hope Avenue in Bangor.
Overview
Although identifying as a separate station in its own right, WLBZ is considered a semi-satellite of sister station WCSHWCSH
WCSH is the NBC-affiliated television station for Southern Maine and Northern New Hampshire. Licensed to Portland, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter on Winn Mountain in Sebago. The station can also be seen on Comcast and Time Warner Cable channel 6...
in Portland
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
. While that station airs all network programming provided through WCSH, it clears most of that station's syndicated programming but there are some shown at a different time. There are also programs that only air on WLBZ while some are only seen on WCSH. Syndicated programming exclusive to this station includes Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil (TV series)
Dr. Phil is a reality/talk television show hosted by Phil McGraw. After McGraw's success with his segments on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr. Phil debuted on September 16, 2002...
. WLBZ also airs separate station identifications and commercials. Although WLBZ and WCSH are based in different locations and technically serve separate markets
Media market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
, the two essentially operate as one station. With their combined resources, the stations provide statewide coverage not offered by any other outlet in Maine.
On Time Warner Cable and Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
, WLBZ serves as the default NBC affiliate for the Presque Isle
Presque Isle, Maine
Presque Isle is the commercial center and largest city in the sparsely populated Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,692 at the 2010 census...
market because the area does not have an affiliate of its own. In addition to its main signal, WLBZ operates low-powered digital repeater WGCI-LD on VHF channel 4. Licensed to Skowhegan
Skowhegan, Maine
Skowhegan is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 8,824. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuous state fair in the United States...
, this has a transmitter in Norridgewock's Larone section. WGCI is used to transmit WLBZ programming to Time Warner Cable systems in Skowhegan, Millinocket
Millinocket, Maine
Millinocket is a former mill town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,203 at the 2000 census. Millinocket is both a forest products and recreational area.-History:...
, and Lincoln. Unlike the main WLBZ signal, it does not air NBC programming in high definition.
Digital programming
On WLBZ-DT2 and Time WarnerTime Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
Cable digital channel 166 is a 24-hour local news and weather channel.
| Channel | Video Display resolution The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It can be an ambiguous term especially as the displayed resolution is controlled by all different factors in cathode ray tube , flat panel or projection... |
Aspect Aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,... |
Programming |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | 1080i 1080i 1080i is the shorthand name for a high-definition television mode. The i means interlaced video; 1080i differs from 1080p, in which the p stands for progressive scan. The term 1080i assumes a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, implying a frame size of 1920×1080 pixels... |
16:9 16:9 16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ... |
main WLBZ programming/NBC (HD) |
| 2.2 | 480i 480i 480i is the shorthand name for a video mode, namely the US NTSC television system or digital television systems with the same characteristics. The i, which is sometimes uppercase, stands for interlaced, the 480 for a vertical frame resolution of 480 lines containing picture information; while NTSC... |
4:3 | WLBZ-DT2 "News Center Weather Plus" (SD) |
History
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
programming, becoming a full affiliate by September 1955 (prior to this, CBS programming was seen on WABI-TV
WABI-TV
WABI-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Central and Eastern Maine licensed to Bangor. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 13 from a transmitter on Peaked Mountain in Dixmont. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable channel 6 and in high definition...
(channel 5), which became a primary NBC affiliate). In 1958, WTWO was sold to the Rines family's Maine Broadcasting System, owner of WLBZ radio (620 AM), WCSH-AM
WZAN
WZAN is a radio station broadcasting talk radio format. Licensed to Portland, Maine, USA, it serves southern Maine. The station is currently owned by Saga Communications.- History :...
-TV
WCSH
WCSH is the NBC-affiliated television station for Southern Maine and Northern New Hampshire. Licensed to Portland, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 44 from a transmitter on Winn Mountain in Sebago. The station can also be seen on Comcast and Time Warner Cable channel 6...
in Portland, and WRDO
WJZN
WJZN and WTVL collectively known as Kool AM 1400 and 1490 are AM Radio stations located in Maine. WJZN, AM 1400 is licensed to Augusta, and WTVL, AM 1490 is licensed to Waterville. The station carries an Adult Standards format, and has since Christmas 2004...
in Augusta
Augusta, Maine
Augusta is the capital of the US state of Maine, county seat of Kennebec County, and center of population for Maine. The city's population was 19,136 at the 2010 census, making it the third-smallest state capital after Montpelier, Vermont and Pierre, South Dakota...
. The new ownership changed the station's call letters to WLBZ-TV that June to match its new radio sister (which the Rines had owned since 1944). The following year, channel 2 swapped affiliations with WABI-TV and joined NBC in order to match WCSH-TV; the two stations also began to share a secondary ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliation (previously, ABC programming was only cleared on WABI). The ABC arrangement remained in place until 1965, when WEMT (channel 7, now WVII-TV
WVII-TV
WVII-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central and Eastern Maine licensed to Bangor. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 7 from a transmitter on Black Cap Mountain along the Penobscot and Hancock County line. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable...
) signed on as a full-time ABC affiliate.
In its first decades on the air, channel 2 was best known as the home of Eddie Driscoll. He hosted many programs on the station including: Weird, Dialing for Dollars
Dialing for Dollars
Dialing for Dollars was a franchised format local television program in the United States and Canada, popular in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.-Format:...
, The Great Money Movie, and My Backyard. Driscoll was also known for his improvisation skills and sense of humor. He retired from WLBZ-TV in 1986, and died on September 24, 2006 after suffering from Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
.
In the 1970s, WLBZ-TV added a repeater in Calais
Calais, Maine
Calais is a city in Washington County, Maine, United States. The city has three United States border crossings or also known as a Port of entry with the busiest being on the St. Croix River bordering St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada...
, W57AQ on channel 57, with a transmitter in Meddybemps
Meddybemps, Maine
Meddybemps is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 150 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
shared with W61AO (which repeated WABI-TV). W57AQ allowed cable systems in Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
to distribute WLBZ by a microwave link from the border, doubling or even tripling the station's coverage area and viewership. Most Canadian cable systems dropped WLBZ after 1996 once American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television signals became available to them by satellite, with the last one doing so in 2010. Although a "flash-cut
Flash-cut
A flash-cut, also called flash-cutover, is an immediate change in a complex system, with no phase-in period.Some telephone area codes were split immediately, rather than being phased in with a permissive dialing period. An example is telephone area code 213, which was split into 213 and 714 all at...
" to digital on VHF channel 8 was considered, it was instead decided to return the W57AQ license to the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC), which deleted it on April 29, 2010.
In 1981, WLBZ radio was sold-off, eventually becoming WZON; in 1997, the -TV suffix was dropped. In 1998, the Maine Broadcasting System (by this time controlled by the Rines-Thompson family) sold WLBZ and WCSH to current owner Gannett. At this point, the station, for all intents and purposes, began serving as a semi-satellite of WCSH. However as early as 1989, WLBZ had been reducing its personnel and consolidating some internal operations with WCSH.
In 2002, WLBZ signed on a digital signal on UHF channel 25, bringing NBC's high definition programming to Eastern and Central Maine. On June 12, 2009
DTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
, the station terminated its analog operations on channel 2. However, the station kept its digital operations on channel 25 until September 10, when it was moved to the VHF channel 2 space previously occupied by the analog service.
News operation
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
behind dominant WABI. In 1989, when it began consolidation with WCSH, WLBZ began simulcasting some of that station's news shows prepared with a statewide view. This has progressed to the current arrangement where WLBZ only airs separate shows covering Bangor weeknights at 5 and 6 (which are locally produced at its facilities), with all other newscasts originating from the WCSH studios in Portland. As mentioned, these statewide programs tend to take on a regional feel with coverage from Portland, Bangor, or wherever news occurs around the state. During the 5:30 and 11 p.m. newscasts, WLBZ still produces its own weather forecast segments from Bangor with meteorologist Steve McKay. On August 9, 2010, there was an expansion of the statewide weekday morning show to 4:30 with the new segment being called News Center Early Morning Report.
WLBZ and WCSH have used News Center branding since the 1970s, even before consolidating. Additionally, both stations featured Frank Gari
Frank Gari
Frank Gari is a popular singer and songwriter from the late 1950s and early 1960s. His best known songs as a performer are "Utopia" , "Lullaby of Love" and "Princess" , all of which hit the U.S. Top 40 in 1961. He co-wrote with Roger McGuinn the song Beach Ball for Bobby Darin...
's "Good News" music package from 1986 until October 22, 2008 when it was dropped (except during "Storm Center" coverage) in favor of standardized music and graphics seen on other Gannett stations.
After then-WB affiliate WPXT
WPXT
WPXT is the CW-affiliated television station for Southern Maine and Northern New Hampshire licensed to Portland. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 from a transmitter in South Gray along I-95/Maine Turnpike/Gold Star Memorial Highway...
in Portland shut down its news department in Fall 2002, WLBZ and WCSH entered into a news share agreement with that station resulting in a nightly prime time newscast. Originally called News Center at 10 on Maine's WB 51, it was seen every night for thirty minutes. On weeknights, news and sports segments originated from WCSH's facilities while WLBZ produced the weather segment from its studios. Weekend broadcasts aired entirely from Portland. News Center at 10 was formatted in a similar manner to the statewide shows simulcasted on WLBZ and WCSH except for having a slight Portland focus since WPXT was that market's WB affiliate. In September 2006, the production became known as News Center at 10 on The CW Portland after WPXT switched to The CW. WLBZ's role in the newscast was eliminated on November 6, 2008 when WCSH moved the prime time broadcast to its "News Center Weather Plus" feed and entirely reoriented the newscast to the Portland market (with WLBZ no longer doing the weather forecast). The "News Center Weather Plus" feed on WLBZ-DT2 and the live video on their websites was replaced with the national Weather Plus service. News Center at 10 was eventually canceled by WCSH after a six year run.
An outdoors and human-interest program called Bill Green's Maine airs Saturday nights at 7 on WCSH and WLBZ. In 2003, WCSH launched 207 (a local lifestyle/entertainment magazine-type show which airs weeknights at 7 only on that station. The "207" name comes from Maine's telephone area code
Area code 207
207 is the North American telephone area code for the state of Maine. It is Maine's sole area code, except for an extension of Quebec province's area code 418. Area code 207 was created as one of the original area codes in 1947. The hamlet of Estcourt Station uses 418, rather than 207.- External...
. Although the program was initially replayed at 4:30 in the morning Tuesday through Saturdays on WLBZ, the program is no longer seen on this station.
In October 2005, WLBZ and WCSH began offering NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus
NBC Weather Plus was a 24-hour, commercially sponsored, weather-oriented broadcast/cable television network jointly owned by NBC Universal and the local affiliates of the NBC network. It debuted on November 15, 2004 and shut down on December 31, 2008...
on new second digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
s. Known as "News Center Weather Plus", the service could also seen on the websites of both stations through live streaming video and digital cable. In late-December 2008 as a result of Weather Plus closing on a national level, WLBZ-DT2 and WCSH-DT2 shifted to a format featuring a loop of local news headlines and weather forecasts. The service retained the "News Center Weather Plus" branding and digital cable carriage but the online live video was dropped. WCSH's weeknight meteorologist Joe Cupo can sometimes be seen on "News Center Weather Plus" providing statewide weather forecasts. Like the main signal, WGCI offers "News Center Weather Plus" on its second digital subchannel.
In addition to the main studios in Bangor and Portland, WLBZ and WCSH share two bureaus in the state. This includes the Midcoast Bureau (on Camden Street/US 1
U.S. Route 1 in Maine
In the U.S. state of Maine, U.S. Route 1 is a major north–south state highway serving the eastern part of the state. It parallels the Atlantic Ocean from New Hampshire north through Portland, Brunswick, and Belfast to Calais, and then the St. Croix River and the rest of the Canadian border...
) in Rockport
Rockport, Maine
Rockport is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,209 at the 2000 census. Rockport is a popular tourist destination and art colony.-History:...
and the Lewiston
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...
/Auburn
Auburn, Maine
Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population was 23,055 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan...
Bureau (on Main Street/ME 11/ME 100/US 202
U.S. Route 202
U.S. Route 202 is a highway stretching from Delaware to Maine, also passing through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire....
) in Lewiston.
Newscast titles
- Channel 2 News Digest (1960s-1970s)
- NewsCenter 2 (1970s-2001)
- News Center (1990s-present, featured during simulcasts with WCSH and overall name for news operation)
- WLBZ News Center 2 (2001-present, used weeknights at 5 and 6)
Station slogans
- "Come Home To The Best, Only On WLBZ 2" (1988-1990; localized version of NBC ad campaign)
- "Count On Us!" (1990-1997)
- "Live. Local. Latebreaking." (early-2000s)
- "People You Know, News You Can Trust" (mid 2000s-2008)
- "Maine's Information Center" (2008-present)
News team
Anchors- Amanda Hill - Monday mornings (4:30 to 5) and weekend mornings (also multimedia journalist)
- Lee Nelson - Monday mornings (5 to 7) (also Tuesday through Friday mornings 4:30 to 7)
- Sharon Rose - Monday mornings (5 to 7) (also Tuesday through Friday mornings 4:30 to 7)
- Chris Facchini - weeknights at 5 and 6
- Rob Caldwell - weeknights at 5:30
- Cindy WilliamsCindy Williams (journalist)Cindy Williams is an award winning news anchor with WCSH6 in Portland, Maine. Williams has won several awards from the Associated Press and the Maine Association of Broadcasters for her anchoring and reporting.She has been with WCSH since 1989...
- weeknights at 5:30 - Pat Callaghan - weeknights at 11
- Kathleen Shannon - weeknights at 11
- Brian Yocono - weekend evenings and Lewiston/Auburn Bureau reporter
NewsCenter Meteorologists
- Kevin Mannix - weekday mornings
- Kelly LaBrecque - weekend evenings and fill-in
- Keith Carson - weekend mornings and fill-in
- Joe Cupo - seen occasionally on "NewsCenter Weather Plus"
- Steve McKay --weeknights @ 5, 5:30, 6 and 11
Sports (all seen on 5th Quarter)
- Bruce Glasier - DirectorSports DirectorA sports director is an individual at a television or radio station who is in charge of the sports department. In local news, the sports director is typically the station's primary sportscaster, and often anchors the primetime newscasts on weekdays. They are in charge of sports programming and...
seen weeknights at 6 and 11 - Lee Goldberg - weekend evenings and sports reporter
- Melissa Kim - sports multimedia journalist
Reporters
- Bill Green - Bill Green's Maine host
- Don Carrigan - Midcoast Bureau and general assignment
- Caroline Cornish - fill-in news anchor
- Chris Rose - fill-in news anchor
- Vivien Leigh
Multimedia journalists
- Max Cole
- Bob Evans
- Max Cole
- Mike DeSumma
- Audry Amann
- John Zierow
- Jackie Ward
- Sarah Delage
- Tim Goff