WGME-TV (channel 13) is a

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth ...

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

, United States, affiliated with

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. It is owned by

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...

, which provides certain services to Waterville-licensed

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

affiliate

WPFO WPFO (channel 23) is a television station licensed to Waterville, Maine, United States, serving the Portland area as an affiliate of the Fox network. It is owned by Cunningham Broadcasting, which maintains a local marketing agreement (LMA) wit ...

(channel 23) under a

local marketing agreement In North American broadcasting, a local marketing agreement (LMA), or local management agreement, is a contract in which one company agrees to operate a radio or television station owned by another party. In essence, it is a sort of lease or tim ...

(LMA) with

Cunningham Broadcasting Cunningham Broadcasting Corporation is an owner of broadcast television stations in the United States. The company currently owns fifteen stations – eight affiliated with Fox, three affiliated with The CW, two affiliated with ABC, and two affili ...

. However, Sinclair effectively owns WPFO as the majority of Cunningham's stock is owned by the family of deceased group founder Julian Smith. Both stations share studios on Northport Drive in the

North Deering Portland, Maine, is home to many neighborhoods. Arts District Portland's Arts District is based around Congress Street in downtown Portland. The District includes the Portland Museum of Art, the Children's Museum of Maine, the Maine College of ...

section of Portland, while WGME-TV's transmitter is located on Brown Hill west of

Raymond Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

. The station also maintains regional studios in the Lewiston/

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

area, and the state capital in Augusta.

History

The station's first broadcast was on May 16, 1954, as WGAN-TV, owned by

Guy Gannett Communications Guy Gannett Communications was a family-owned business consisting of newspapers in Maine and a handful of television stations in the eastern United States. The company was founded by its namesake, Guy P. Gannett, in 1921, and was managed by a fa ...

(no relation to the

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Tegna Tegna Inc. (stylized in all caps as TEGNA) is an American publicly traded broadcast, digital media and marketing services company headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia. It was created on June 29, 2015, when the Gannett Company split into t ...

, which owns

WCSH WCSH (channel 6) is a television station in Portland, Maine, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Congress Square in Downtown Portland, and its transmitter is located on Winn Mountain in ...

, channel 6) along with

WGAN WGAN (560 AM broadcasting, AM) is an commercial radio, commercial radio station City of license, licensed to Portland, Maine. The station is owned by Saga Communications and it airs a talk radio, news/talk radio format. The station calls itself ...

(AM 560) and the ''

Portland Press-Herald The ''Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram'' is a morning daily newspaper with a website that serves southern Maine and is focused on the greater metropolitan area around Portland, Maine, in the United States. Founded in 1862, its roots e ...

'' daily newspaper. (An FM station, 102.9 WGAN-FM was added in 1967.) The transmission tower, situated near Route 121 in Raymond, was built during 1959. It was, according to the 1999 ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'', the world's tallest architectural structure at the time. This record was surpassed in 1960 by

KFVS-TV KFVS-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States, serving Southeastern Missouri, the Purchase area of Western Kentucky, Southern Illinois, and Northwest Tennessee as an affiliate of CBS and The CW. ...

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

Cape Girardeau, Missouri Cape Girardeau ( , french: Cap-Girardeau ; colloquially referred to as "Cape") is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. At the 2020 census, the population was 39,540. The city is one of two principal citie ...

, but the tower remained the tallest structure in Maine until the construction of WMTW's tower during 2002. When the radio stations were sold during 1983, the WGAN

call letters In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

were sold with them. WGAN-TV then changed its call sign to the current "WGME-TV" on December 15 of that year. It remained the

main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...

station of Guy Gannett Communications until 1998, when it was sold with most of the company's television stations to the Sinclair Broadcast Group. The Gannetts earned a handsome return on their original investment into WGAN radio in 1938. WGME owner

and

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...

disputed the terms of their

retransmission consent Retransmission consent is a provision of the 1992 United States Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act that requires cable operators and other multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to obtain permission from commercia ...

agreement that expired on December 31, 2010. The agreement was extended to January 14, 2011 while the parties continued to negotiate. An agreement in principle to resolve the dispute followed soon thereafter and was finalized in February 2011. On January 8, 2016, Sinclair announced that

American Sports Network American Sports Network (ASN) was a sports brand owned by the U.S. television station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group through its Sinclair Networks subsidiary. Formed in July 2014, the multicast network component of ASN produced broadcasts of sp ...

would begin on January 16 as a dedicated digital-multicast network in 10 cities, including Portland on WGME.

News operation

Historically associated with a newspaper, channel 13's newscasts dominated the ratings in Portland for many years. However, since 1989, WCSH overtook WGME and has dominated in the ratings. WGME produced 24 hours and 30 minutes of produced news content every week, including early-morning, noon, afternoon drive-time, and late-night news programs. WGME also produced 17 hours of weekly news content for partner station WPFO. When taking both stations into account, WGME produced the most local news content in the Portland market, though its primary station carries the least amount of local news content among the market's three major network affiliates. Former news team for ''Live At 5'' and ''News 13 at 6'', Kim Block and Doug Rafferty were a news team from the mid-1990s until the mid-2000s. Kim Block is one of the most recognized television journalists in both the Portland market and in the State of Maine/New Hampshire. Block has been the lead anchor at WGME for more than three decades, starting in 1981 until her retirement in 2020, recovering from a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

in May 2018. Rafferty reduced his reporting hours after suffering a stroke during a live cut-in of a syndicated program on January 19, 2006, quitting the anchor desk for a behind-the-scene technical job at the station. He retired during 2012 to become the Public Relations and Education Head at the Maine State Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Other longtime anchors include weeknight announcer Gregg Lagerquist and morning announcer Jeff Peterson. Sports anchor and director Dave Eid has been with WGME since 1996. Longtime meteorologist Charlie Lopresti has been with the station for more than a decade. Starting February 5, 2007, WGME began producing a 10 p.m. newscast on Fox affiliate

after establishing a news-share agreement. Known on-air as ''Fox 23 News at 10'', it is the first prime-time broadcast in the

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market Geography *Märket, an ...

; as of September 2018, there is now a half-hour 10:00 newscast on CW affiliate

WPXT WPXT (channel 51) is a television station in Portland, Maine, United States, affiliated with The CW. It is owned by Hearst Television alongside Poland Spring–licensed ABC affiliate WMTW (channel 8). Both stations share studios on Ledgeview Dri ...

(channel 51). During 2010, due to a revenue-share agreement with WPFO, the station expanded this newscast to an hour and began a two-hour-long morning program on WPFO named ''Good Day Maine''. WPFO pays WGME a fee along with a share of revenue realized from the newscast. ''Good Day Maine'' was shortened to one hour by October 2013. The station began a news partnership with Maine Today Media, owner of its former newspaper sisters: the ''Portland Press Herald'', ''

Kennebec Journal The ''Kennebec Journal'' is a six-day morning daily newspaper published in Augusta, Maine. It is owned by MaineToday Media, which also publishes the state's largest newspaper, the ''Portland Press Herald''. The newspaper covers Augusta and the s ...

'', ''

Morning Sentinel The ''Morning Sentinel'' is an American daily newspaper published six mornings a week in Waterville, Maine. It is owned by MaineToday Media. The newspaper covers cities and towns in parts of Franklin, Kennebec, Penobscot and Somerset counties ...

'', and ''Maine Sunday Telegram''. In addition to its main studios, WGME operates a Lewiston/

Bureau. A second bureau is in Augusta near the

Maine State House The Maine State House in Augusta, Maine, is the state capitol of the State of Maine. The building was completed in 1832, one year after Augusta became the capital of Maine. Built using Maine granite, the State House was based on the design of the ...

. News 13 also has a partnership with the ''Lewiston/Auburn Sun Journal'', using the source very frequently for stories in the twin cities. WGME also shares newsgathering material with WPFO, gaining WGME access to both CBS Newspath and FOX News video footage for the use of all newscasts on both WPFO and on WGME. WGME meteorologists provide the weather forecasts for the ''Portland Press Herald'', the ''Maine Sunday Telegram'', and a variety of radio stations in the Portland market. When providing regional and state coverage, WGME and ABC affiliate

WVII-TV WVII-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Bangor, Maine, United States, affiliated with ABC and Fox. The station is owned by Rockfleet Broadcasting, and has studios on Target Industrial Circle in West Bangor; its transmitter is located ...

in Bangor share content and video footage. WGME does not produce local weekend morning newscasts, unlike the NBC and ABC affiliates in the Portland market. Instead, it broadcasts

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...

s or E/I (educational and informational) children's programming early on weekends. For national news, the station carries the CBS News-produced ''

CBS Saturday Morning ''CBS Saturday Morning'' is a Saturday morning television program that broadcasts on the American television network, CBS. It is currently anchored by Michelle Miller, Dana Jacobson and Jeff Glor. Although the program's name has changed seve ...

'' and '' Sunday Morning''. On October 31, 2013, station owner Sinclair Broadcasting bought all non-license assets of WPFO Fox 23 for $13.6 million. The licensing assets were sold to Cunningham Broadcasting on November 20, 2013, for $3.4 million. Cunningham Broadcasting closed business relationships with Sinclair in stations around the country. The sale made WPFO (FOX) the companion station of WGME (CBS), essentially creating an unofficial duopoly in the Portland market. Though throughout the State of Maine, Gannett owns both WCSH 6 in Portland and WLBZ 2 in Bangor, both NBC affiliates, creating what could be considered a statewide commercial duopoly. In New Hampshire, Hearst Television owns WMUR 9 and in Portland, Maine, WMTW 8, both ABC affiliates. WMTW can be viewed in portions of New Hampshire, overlapping the WMUR viewing area, essentially creating a dual-state duopoly. On September 11, 2017, WGME launched a half-hour 7:00 pm weeknight newscast. The opportunity came about as a result of

CBS Television Distribution CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Television Distribution, Inc. and CBS Paramount Domestic Television, Inc.) is an American television distribution company owned by CBS Studios, part of CBS Entertainment Group, a division of Paramount Glob ...

's decision to cancel '' The Insider'', which had previously aired on WGME in the 7:30 p.m. weeknight time slot.

Transition to HD

WGME began broadcasting in 720p high definition (HD) on December 18, 2011, with a new wood-styled set designed by Devlin Design Group. WGME's new HD set included video display monitors on either end of the set for anchor stand-up reporting, a 12-monitor video wall used to display a single panoramic video feed or 2, 3, or 12 individual video feeds. A smaller anchor desk at the video wall is used for FOX 23 broadcasts ''Good Day Maine'' and ''News 13 on FOX'' at 10 pm. The anchor desk included a large monitor behind the anchors which typically showed a skyline image or the News 13 logo. The entire set included an array of light panels and light boxes. The weather office is fully visible to viewers, with a small desk for the meteorologist above which a four-monitor video wall could show graphics. There was also a traditional green screen and a forecasting system on a raised platform for live reporting of severe weather. The HD newscasts introduced a new graphics package also used by Sinclair station WZTV. WGME's newscasts were referred to as ''CBS 13 News'' as of April 2013. The newscasts on WPFO were referred to as ''FOX 23 News'' as of February 2014. On February 28, 2013, WGME's weather department rolled out new graphics to its Weather Central forecasting system, as part of a new graphics package from parent company Sinclair Broadcasting. It is slowly being introduced on other Sinclair stations. In early 2014, while WGME-TV CBS 13 News received a new graphics package now seen on-air, ''News 13 Daybreak'' changed its name to ''Good Day Maine On CBS 13''. On September 15, 2014, WPFO-TV FOX 23 premiered the WGME-TV CBS 13-produced ''FOX 23 News @ 6:30 PM'' featuring the combined (6 pm and 11 pm) anchor team and a new format.

Subchannels

The station's digital signal is

multiplexed In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource - a ...

References

External links

Official websiteWPFO "Fox 23"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wgme-Tv 1954 establishments in Maine CBS network affiliates Sinclair Broadcast Group Stadium (sports network) affiliates TBD (TV network) affiliates Television channels and stations established in 1954 GME-TV