WAGM-TV

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = WAGM-TV
city =
station_
station_slogan = Northern Maine's
News Source
station_branding = WAGM-TV 8
NewsSource 8
analog = 8 (VHF)
digital = 16 (UHF)
subchannels = 8.1 Fox 8.2 CBS HD
other_chs = W11AA Madawaska
W11AY St. John
founded =
airdate = October 13, 1956
location = Presque Isle, Maine
callsign_meaning = Aroostook Garden
of Maine
former_callsigns =
former_channel_numbers =
owner = NEPSK, Inc.
licensee =
sister_stations =
former_affiliations = all secondary:
ABC (1956-1998)
NBC (1956-2005)
Fox (1994-1997)
UPN (1995-2006)
effective_radiated_power = 120 kW (analog)
3 kW (digital)
erp_temporary =
HAAT = 350 m (analog)
333 m (digital)
class =
facility_id = 48305
coordinates = coord|46|33|5|N|67|48|34|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage = [http://www.wagmtv.com/index2.php wagmtv.com]

WAGM-TV, channel 8, is the CBS-affiliated television station for Presque Isle, Maine. Its transmitter is located in Mars Hill at the top of Big Rock Ski Area on Mars Hill Mountain. Owned by NEPSK Inc, the station has studios on Brewer Road in Presque Isle. Syndicated programming on WAGM includes: "Wheel of Fortune", "Jeopardy!", "Inside Edition", "Oprah", and "Ellen". The station operates the area's Fox affiliate on its first digital subchannel. Known on-air as Fox 8, it is also offered on Time Warner cable channel 12. Due to the Fox station being on DT1, CBS HD is located on WAGM's second digital subchannel.

Repeaters

In addition to its main signal, WAGM operates two repeaters. W11AA channel 11 also serves Edmundston, New Brunswick in Canada. WAGM continues to state W02AU, W02BB, and W12BE at sign-on and sign-off despite the FCC having any records of their existence.

History

WAGM-TV first started broadcasting on October 13, 1956 and was owned by the same company as WAGM-AM 950. The radio station was sold off in the late-1970s and changed its calls to WKZX before going dark in the 1990s. WAGM-TV was affiliated with the big three networks allowing it to pick and choose the most popular programs for its prime time lineup. However, it has always been a primary CBS affiliate. By the 1980s, the station began phasing out secondary affiliations with ABC and NBC. By 1990, WAGM carried the entire CBS prime time lineup with other network programs airing nightly between 7 and 8 o'clock. When Fox gained rights to National Football League games in the mid-1990s, WAGM aired them as well. This made it the only station in the United States to air programs from all four major networks at the same time. It also aired some UPN programs from the late-1990s until the network's shut down on September 18, 2006. Given the increased availability of cable and satellite television in rural Aroostook County, the necessity to carry programming from multiple networks decreased. WAGM owner NEPSK Inc. operates Polaris Cable which provides cable services to several Maine towns in Aroostook County. WAGM dropped ABC completely in 1998. The last NBC show to air on the station was "Days of Our Lives" which disappeared from the schedule in September of 2005. KXGN-TV in Glendive, Montana is the only remaining television station in the United States that is affiliated with more than one big three network (as a dual CBS / NBC affiliate). Today, WLBZ and WVII-TV from Bangor serve as the de-facto NBC and ABC affiliates on cable. Many of the stations over the Canadian border in Edmundston also serve Aroostook County.

Preceding the shutdown of Fox's national Foxnet service, which provided the area's only access to the network via cable, WAGM launched a Fox affiliate on its primary digital subchannel to replace it on September 12, 2006. This resulted in the main WAGM signal moving to a new second subchannel. Such a placement is generally uncommon as most broadcasters number the signal equivalent to their analog signal as minor channel 1 and number other subchannels with higher minor channel numbers. On November 15, 2007, WAGM created a new separate website for "Fox 8". The layout is similar to Fox stations that are owned-and-operated by the network. The station's digital broadcast is currently on UHF channel 16. WAGM has applied for 10 kW digital ERP and will be returning to VHF channel 8 after the 2009 U.S. digital transition is complete.

The station's signal can be seen across northern Maine and western New Brunswick in Canada. Prior to moving its transmitter site to Mars Hill Mountain in 1999, WAGM used a tower located behind the station. The move, placing the antenna at a much higher point, greatly improved reception of the signal. WAGM is seen on cable throughout northwestern New Brunswick towns such as: Woodstock, Grand Falls, and Edmundston. The station was available to a greater extent in Canada such as Fredericton until the advent of satellite-delivered American broadcast stations on Cancom in the early-1990s. It should be noted that WAGM can be picked up over-the-air a few miles outside of Fredericton city limits in communities such as Keswick Ridge.

As for national programming, WAGM airs the complete CBS schedule (aside from CBS News "Up to the Minute"). During the fall potato harvest, potatoes being the most important industry in the region, the annual "Potato Picker's Special" is aired from 4:30 to 6 A.M. for six days a week on WAGM. The program announces details from area farmers with regards to the harvest. A local version of "The Dollar Saver Show", known on WAGM as "Dollar Stretcher Show", is also aired. The format, originated by WPME and WPXT from Portland, mostly sells discounted certificates for area businesses available via a toll-free phone number. WAGM airs a public affairs program called "The Valley's View" on Wednesday nights at 7:30.

News operation

WAGM's "NewsSource 8" broadcasts have routinely ranked as the highest-rated in the United States based on market share. The station has quite a large area to cover 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 in northwestern New Brunswick to serve viewers there. The small market nature of WAGM tends result in high employee turnover. Nevertheless, a few personnel have been with the station for more than just a few years. This includes: Sports Director Rene Cloukey, News Director Jon Gulliver, and weeknight anchor and producer Shawn Cunningham. Another long-lasting employee no longer with the station is former News Director Sue Bernard. It should be noted that former WVII-TV meteorologist Ted Shaprio is now employed at WAGM. Shaprio was ousted from WVII when the station cut its weather department and outsourced to AccuWeather in State College, Pennsylvania. During WAGM weather forecasts, there are some AccuWeather graphics used. There is no Saturday night 6 o'clock meteorologist on WAGM. Starting on September 12, 2006, WAGM began producing a weeknight 10 o'clock newscast for "Fox 8" known as "NewsSource 8 at 10". WAGM's weekday morning news is repeated on "Fox 8" at 9 in the morning.

News team

Anchors
*Dick Palm - weekday mornings and reporter
*Angela DiMillo - rotating weeknights at 5:30 and reporter
*Tyler Pyburn - rotating weeknights at 5:30 and reporter
*Laura Thomas - rotating weeknights at 5:30
**reporter and fill-in meteorologist
*Kara Lauritsen - General reporter (previously Morning Edition Meteorologist)
*Jon Gulliver - News Director seen on weeknights at 6
*Shawn Cunningham - weeknights at 10 and 11
**weeknight 10 and 11 o'clock producer
**general assignment, education, consumer, and health reporter
*TBD - Saturdays

Meteorologists
*Ted Shapiro (AMS Seal of Approval) - Chief seen on weeknights
*Kelly O'Mara - morning meteorologist and occasional reporter

Sports
*Rene Cloukey - Director seen on weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
**Assistant News Director
*Tyler Pyburn - Saturdays and reporter

tation alumni

*Norman Johnson - former Vice President and General Manager
**now retired
*Sue Bernard - former News Director
*Kevin Mannix - then known as Kevin W. Mannix
**now at WCSH and seen on WLBZ
*Rob Nucatola - now at WCTV
*Amy Katcher - now at WDEF-TV
*Gene Petriello - former Saturday 6 o'clock sports anchor and reporter
**now with WRDW-TV
*Brian Yocono - now at WCSH and seen on WLBZ
*Marsha MacEachern - now reporter at NECN
*Brian Whitley - out of television
*Tony Mignon - out of television
**employed by the National Weather Service
*Julia Dunn - reporter
**now at WFFF-TV
*Julene Britt - whereabouts unknown
**was at WGME-TV in early-2000
*Katie Graham - former 6 and 11 P.M. anchor
**now at WETM-TV as a reporter
*Samantha Hensell - former Chief Meteorologist
**now at WWTI as a weekday morning meteorologist
*Jaimarie Ely - now at WVNY
**former anchor rotating weeknights at 5:30 and reporter
*Ben Murphy
*Gemma Waite
*Patricia Lawrence

External links

* [http://www.wagmtv.com/index2.php WAGM-TV/HD]
* [http://www.myfoxaroostook.com/myfox/ WAGM-DT1 "Fox 8"]
*TVQ|WAGM
*TVQ|W11AA
*TVQ|W11AY