WAGM-TV
kW | |
HAAT | 350 m (1,148 ft) |
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Transmitter coordinates | 46°33′4.1″N 67°48′32″W / 46.551139°N 67.80889°W |
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Public license information | |
Website |
WAGM-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Presque Isle, Maine, United States, affiliated with CBS, Fox, and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Fort Kent–licensed low-power NBC affiliate WWPI-LD (channel 16). The two stations share studios on Brewer Road in Presque Isle; WAGM-TV's transmitter is located on the northern section of Mars Hill Mountain among the wind turbines.
WAGM-TV has been the only full-power commercial television station transmitting in Northeast Maine since the station was founded in 1956.
History
Early years
WAGM-TV signed on October 13, 1956, on VHF channel 8. It was a CBS affiliate owned by Harold Glidden and the Aroostook Broadcasting Corporation along with WAGM radio (then at 1450 AM; later at 950 AM).[2] The transmitter was behind the station's Brewer Road studios, providing a coverage area limited to the immediate area including Presque Isle and Caribou. In 1957, Glidden sold Aroostook Broadcasting to Community Broadcasting System, a company controlled by former Governor Horace Hildreth, who also owned WABI-AM-TV in Bangor.[3][4]
Soon afterward, the station changed its primary affiliation to
Community Broadcasting Service merged with Journal Publications in 1971 to form
Changes
Around the same time as the sale to NEP, WAGM began phasing out its secondary affiliations with ABC and NBC. Given increasing availability of cable and
When
The station moved its transmitter site in 1999 to the summit of
WAGM is seen across Western New Brunswick in Canada and can be picked up over-the-air a few miles outside of Fredericton city limits in communities such as Keswick Ridge. On cable, it is seen throughout Northwestern New Brunswick towns such as Woodstock, Grand Falls, and Edmundston. The station was available to a greater extent in Canada such as in Fredericton until the advent of satellite-delivered American broadcast stations on Cancom in the early-1990s.
Sale to Gray Television
In April 2015, WAGM was sold to Gray Television for $10.25 million.[20] The transaction closed on July 1, 2015, following FCC approval.[21] WAGM was Gray's first television station in the Northeastern United States.
In February 2017, Gray announced that it would purchase Bangor's WABI-TV from Diversified Communications with the transaction expected to close in the second quarter of 2017 pending FCC approval. The purchase would reunite WAGM with its former co-owned station, and in the press release from Gray announcing the purchase it was stated that the two stations would share newsgathering and other resources.[22]
Subchannel history
WAGM-DT2
WAGM-DT2 is the Fox-affiliated second digital subchannel of WAGM-TV, broadcasting in high definition on channel 8.2.
On September 12, 2006, WAGM launched a Fox affiliate on its primary digital channel, 8.1, preceding the shutdown of Foxnet. Prior to then, outside of the station's secondary Fox affiliation during the mid-1990s, Foxnet provided the state's only access to Fox on cable outside of the Portland and Bangor areas; the subchannel's launch coincided with the shutdown of Foxnet (which served as the Fox affiliate for the entire state of Maine between late 2001 and April 2003). Foxnet was originally scheduled to cease operations on September 1, but the shutdown was postponed to allow WAGM time to set up the service. The change resulted in the main CBS signal moving to a new second subchannel, 8.2. Such a placement is generally uncommon as most broadcasters number a digital signal equivalent to the analog signal as minor channel 1 and number other subchannels with higher minor channel numbers. This is a similar situation as NBC affiliate WGBC in Meridian, Mississippi, which moved its original NBC affiliation to a new second digital subchannel so its main channel could join Fox and the Retro Television Network (RTV). Despite this, the CBS feed was still the main signal, as it was the only one broadcast in HD, and the one that continued to be available on analog TV until its end in 2009.
Until
By fall 2017, the over-the-air feed of "WAGM Fox 8" had begun airing in Fox's recommended 720p HD resolution; the Fox subchannel had only been carried in high definition on cable prior to then. In addition to its over-the-air resolution upgrade, WAGM Fox 8 had also been moved to the station's second digital subchannel while CBS programming was returned to its original position on WAGM's main channel.[23][24][25]
WAGM-DT3
WAGM-DT3 (branded as The County's CW 8.3, in reference to the large Aroostook County containing most of WAGM's coverage area) is the CW-affiliated third digital subchannel of WAGM-TV, broadcasting in
Previously, the CW affiliation in the market was available through a cable-only channel operated by Spectrum and the forerunner providers in the market, which carried the station on cable channel 13 since 1998, when it launched as a WB affiliate with the
Programming
WAGM-TV airs the complete CBS schedule; until 2013, the station signed off every night and thus did not show
News operation
WAGM's NewsSource 8 broadcasts have routinely ranked as the highest-rated local newscasts in the United States based on Nielsen market share. The station serves a large area but its primary market is Aroostook County which is about the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Given the station's transmitter location in close proximity to Canada, it also covers news and weather in Western New Brunswick.
The small market nature of WAGM tends to result in a high employee turnover rate with most personalities staying at the station for only a year or two before moving on to a larger market. Nevertheless, a few personnel have been with WAGM for more than a few years such as Assistant News Director and
With the September 12, 2006, launch of Fox on its main channel came a new prime time weeknight newscast known as NewsSource 8 at 10. This program closely mirrors local news seen on the CBS channel. On April 11, 2009, due to a decrease in sponsorship, increased preemptions from network sports coverage, and financial reasons, WAGM stopped airing a Saturday night newscast at 6. In late-September 2010, NewsSource 8: The Saturday Edition was brought back to air on the Fox channel with occasional airings on the CBS channel if preempted. In addition, the prime time newscast at 10 was expanded to Saturday nights at that point in time. With the launch of Fox College Football's prime time games in 2012, the Saturday newscast was discontinued.
On August 23, 2010, WAGM renovated its news and weather set but kept the same music theme and graphics package. Unlike most CBS affiliates, WAGM does not air a noon newscast and/or a newscast weeknights at 5. When the Fox channel first launched, it replayed the morning broadcast originally at 8 a.m. This was eventually moved to 9 a.m. and then dropped altogether at some point.
Technical information
Subchannels
The station's signal is
Channel | Res. | Aspect | Short name | Programming |
---|---|---|---|---|
8.1 | 1080i | 16:9 |
WAGM-HD | CBS |
8.2 | 720p | WAGMFOX | Fox | |
8.3 | 480i | WAGMCW | The CW Plus |
Former translators
A translator signal, W16DA-D in
A second translator, W02AU-D (channel 2) in St. Francis, used to transmit from the north of Back Settlement and was licensed to the St. Francis Chamber of Commerce; however, on June 4, 2016, the FCC deleted W02AU-D from its database.[30]
A third translator, W11AY-D (channel 11) in St. John Plantation was licensed to the Town of St. John; however, on January 11, 2023, the FCC cancelled W11AY-D's license.
References
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for WAGM-TV". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
- ^ Telecasting Yearbook-Marketbook 1957–58 (PDF). 1957. p. 132. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "WAGM-AM-TV, WABM Sold To Owners Of WABI-AM-TV" (PDF). Broadcasting-Telecasting. July 29, 1957. p. 9. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ Thompson, Ellie (1990). The History of Broadcasting in Maine: The First 50 Years. Augusta, Maine: Maine Association of Broadcasters. p. 91.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1958 (PDF). 1958. p. A-142. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ Broadcasting Yearbook 1960 (PDF). 1960. p. A-52. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "Publication Firm, TV Unit Merge". Bangor Daily News. January 21, 1971. Retrieved June 3, 2010 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Changing Hands" (PDF). Broadcasting. January 5, 1981. p. 94. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "Call Letters" (PDF). Broadcasting. June 6, 1981. p. 110. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ Broadcasting/Cablecasting Yearbook 1985 (PDF). 1985. p. C-28. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. September 23, 1985. p. 69. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "Application Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "For the Record" (PDF). Broadcasting. December 14, 1987. p. 95. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1999 (PDF). 1999. p. A-130. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ Neff, Andrew (August 26, 1994). "WAGM to show Giants". Bangor Daily News. p. C1. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ Fybush, Scott (May 30, 1999). "Fuller-Jeffrey Sells Out". North East RadioWatch. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "More stations sign on with DTV". Broadcast Engineering. July 28, 2003. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved December 4, 2011.
- ^ "ANNUAL DTV ANCILLARY/SUPPLEMENTARY SERVICES REPORT FOR DIGITAL TELEVISION STATIONS". November 2008.
- ^ "Application Search Details". CDBS Public Access. Federal Communications Commission. April 29, 2002.
- ^ Gray Buying WAGM For $10.25M TVNewsCheck, April 23, 2015
- ^ "Gray In 4 New Deals, Closes 3 Earlier Ones". TVNewsCheck. July 1, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
- ^ Maine's oldest television station bought by Gray Television WAGM-TV, February 16, 2017
- ^ RabbitEars - Digital TV Market Listing for WAGM
- ^ tvlistings.aol.com/listings (Via Entering The Appropriate Zip Codes)
- ^ tv.twcc.com/listings (Via Entering The Appropriate Zip Codes)
- ^ RabbitEars - Digital TV Market Listing for WAGM
- ^ FCCdata.org
- ^ RabbitEars - Digital TV Market Listing for WWPI-LD
- ^ "WAGM announces launch of NBC Affiliation". WAGM-TV. Gray Television. June 24, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
- ^ RabbitEars - Digital TV Market Listing for DW02AU-D