WCSH

When the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted its four-year freeze on television station applications in April 1952, four bids had already been received to start new stations in Portland, which was allocated two commercial very high frequency (VHF) channels and a third on the new ultra high frequency (UHF) band.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120718595/thaw-only-first-step-tv-technicians-pre/|date=April 14, 1952|page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120718558/first-tv-station/ 13]|first=Harold J.|last=Boyle|title=Thaw Only First Step: TV Technicians Predict Maine Won't Go On Air Till Late 1953|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042439/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120718595/thaw-only-first-step-tv-technicians/|url-status=live}} One of these came from the Congress Square Hotel Company, owner of Portland radio station WCSH (970 AM), which had filed for channel 11 in 1948 but amended its application when only VHF channels 6 and 13 were assigned.{{Cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/12bcf529-0e63-778e-78db-453ac9f69534|title=FCC History Cards for WCSH|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=October 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004125114/https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/12bcf529-0e63-778e-78db-453ac9f69534|url-status=live}} In October 1952, the FCC ordered comparative hearings to decide who should be given construction permits for channels 6 and 13. Two groups sought each channel; Congress Square's application was rivaled by one from the Oliver Broadcasting Company,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120718715/fcc-orders-hearings-on-local-tv-stations/|date=October 3, 1952|page=8|agency=Associated Press|title=FCC Orders Hearings On Local TV Stations|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042439/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120718715/fcc-orders-hearings-on-local-tv-stations/|url-status=live}} which owned station WPOR.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120719143/tv-scramble-wpor-bids-for-precious-chan/|date=July 22, 1952|page=14|title=TV Scramble: WPOR Bids For Precious Channel|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042440/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120719143/tv-scramble-wpor-bids-for-precious/|url-status=live}}

The third VHF channel in southern Maine was channel 8 at Poland Spring, and activity around this channel would proceed to unblock channel 6 in Portland. The FCC granted a permit in early July 1953 to Mount Washington Television, a group headed by former Maine governor Horace A. Hildreth containing principals from Oliver as shareholders.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120719321/the-television-situation-hildreth-dec/|date=July 9, 1953|page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120719247/television/ 28]|title=The Television Situation... Hildreth Decision Awiated To Clear TV Picture Here|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042439/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120719321/the-television-situation-hildreth/|url-status=live}} Oliver withdrew its channel 6 application on July 30, 1953, and the FCC immediately awarded the Congress Square Hotel Company a permit for channel 6, WCSH-TV. This was the second construction permit for a Portland TV station, with WPMT (channel 53) already being built.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105748286/wcsh-owners-granted-first-vhf-tv-permit/|date=July 30, 1953|page=1|first=May|last=Craig|title=WCSH Owners Granted First VHF-TV Permit In Portland|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=July 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717045851/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105748286/wcsh-owners-granted-first-vhf-tv-permit/|url-status=live}}

Because WCSH had conditionally purchased television equipment 18 months prior, it was assured delivery of its order to put channel 6 on the air by the end of 1953. WCSH-TV announced its intention to be Portland's NBC affiliate, matching WCSH radio—which had carried NBC's very first program when the radio network began in November 1926 and previously had been part of the WEAF chain that preceded it.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720047/new-tv-here-to-go-on-air-by-year-end/|date=July 30, 1953|page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720375/new-tv/ 2]|title=New TV Here To Go On Air By Year End|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312203426/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720047/new-tv-here-to-go-on-air-by-year-end/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720292/big-time-on-the-radio-hook-up-of-40-sta/|date=November 15, 1926|page=7|title=Big Time On The Radio: Hook-up of 40 Stations Tonight—Mary Garden, Will Rogers and Many Others|newspaper=The Bangor Daily News|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042440/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720292/big-time-on-the-radio-hook-up-of-40/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105749857/wcsh-has-proud-28-year-history-of-broadc/|date=December 8, 1953|page=23|title=WCSH Has Proud 28-Year History Of Broadcasting|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042441/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105749857/wcsh-has-proud-28-year-history-of/|url-status=live}} The transmitting facility would be erected in Falmouth,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720649/wcsh-tv-transmitter-house-plan/|date=September 11, 1953|page=24|title=WCSH-TV Transmitter House Plan|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312203423/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720649/wcsh-tv-transmitter-house-plan/|url-status=live}} while WCSH's quarters in the Congress Square Hotel were extensively refitted to house the television station: a large radio studio was converted for television use, and a new studio was created out of a former storage room to house a kitchen for cooking shows.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120721687/infant-wcsh-tv-takes-over-parent/|date=December 8, 1953|page=30|title=Infant WCSH-TV Takes Over Parent|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312203416/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120721687/infant-wcsh-tv-takes-over-parent/|url-status=live}}

The first test pattern was sent out on November 29,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120721486/wcsh-tv-test-pattern-hits-wide-area-rep/|date=November 30, 1953|page=16|title=WCSH-TV Test Pattern Hits Wide Area, Reports Reveal|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042440/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120721486/wcsh-tv-test-pattern-hits-wide-area/|url-status=live}} and on December 20, 1953, WCSH-TV began broadcasting.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105749986/new-wcsh-tv-station-starts-programs-toda/|date=December 20, 1953|page=11B|title=New WCSH-TV Station Starts Programs Today|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|location=Portland, Maine|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 17, 2022|archive-date=July 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717045952/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105749986/new-wcsh-tv-station-starts-programs/|url-status=live}} The station's broadcasting activity steadily increased in its early years, with such local shows as the home decorating program Your Home and You; Youth Cavalcade; the noontime women's program Living Down East; The Dave Astor Show, a teen dance program; and early and late evening newscasts.{{r|thompson|p=85}} By January 1955, it was broadcasting 18 hours a day and had become a secondary affiliate of the DuMont Television Network in its final years of operation after WPMT closed the month before.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120722144/wcsh-tv-programing-starts-at-7-a-m-ru/|date=January 26, 1955|page=24A|first=Johnny|last=Robinson|title=WCSH-TV Programing Starts At 7 A. M., Runs 18 Hours Daily|newspaper=Sun-Journal|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042441/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120722144/wcsh-tv-programing-starts-at-7-a-m/|url-status=live}} The Rines family, who had founded WCSH radio and television, also owned the Maine Broadcasting System with radio stations WRDO in Augusta and WLBZ in Bangor. It expanded its TV holdings north in 1958 when it bought WTWO, an independent station in Bangor owned by Murray Carpenter, and made it into an NBC affiliate as WLBZ-TV.{{Cite book|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/The-History-of-Broadcasting-in-Maine-1990.pdf|title=The History of Broadcasting in Maine: The First Fifty Years|year=1990|publisher=Maine Association of Broadcasters|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=January 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131145941/https://worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/The-History-of-Broadcasting-in-Maine-1990.pdf|url-status=live|isbn=978-0-9627719-0-3}}{{rp|74}}

File:TV Station.JPG

After 50 years of radio and television operations in the Congress Square Hotel, WCSH opted to move its broadcasting businesses into more modern quarters. The studio portion of the hotel complex had become overcrowded despite multiple additions. In 1977, WCSH moved one city block to occupy a four-story building at 1 Congress Square, which received a two-story addition containing studio space; WCSH radio moved to separate facilities in Scarborough.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120723224/wcsh-tv-at-new-location/|date=April 28, 1977|page=36|first=Lyn|last=Liljeholm|title=WCSH-TV At New Location|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312215039/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120723224/wcsh-tv-at-new-location/|url-status=live}} The Maine Broadcasting System continued to own the radio station until 1981, when it was sold and changed call letters; WLBZ radio in Bangor was also sold, while the television properties were retained.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120725144/sale-of-wcsh-radio-awaits-fcc-approval/|date=May 14, 1980|page=32|title=Sale of WCSH radio awaits FCC approval|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312215044/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120725144/sale-of-wcsh-radio-awaits-fcc-approval/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120725399/radio-station-recognizes-past-wynz-lets/|date=March 5, 1981|page=8|first=Dyke|last=Hendrickson|title=Radio station recognizes past: WYNZ lets the old times roll|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042440/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120725399/radio-station-recognizes-past-wynz/|url-status=live}} Particularly beginning in the 1980s, WCSH made its mark as the dominant station in Portland-market ratings, even if it sometimes irked NBC. The station was heavily protective of its 6 p.m. newscast, resulting in far more frequent preemptions of network sports events. In 1994, WCSH did not air 38 percent of NBC's 502 hours of sports programming that year—the most of any of NBC's 213 affiliates and more than double the preemption rate of WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee—which the network begrudgingly tolerated because the station delivered strong performance for the network's daytime and prime time entertainment shows. Events as diverse as the second games of NBA doubleheaders and golf tournaments were not aired to provide a consistent airing of the 6 p.m. NewsCenter and to air movies which drew more viewers.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120751657/nbc-affiliates-policy-irks-sports-fans/|date=February 10, 1995|page=5D|first=Bob|last=Smyth|title=NBC affiliate's policy irks sports fans, network|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 13, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042441/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120751657/nbc-affiliates-policy-irks-sports/|url-status=live}}

{{Quote box

| quote = We made the decision as a family in response to scary terms like 'high-definition television' and '500-channel universe'.

| author = Frederic L. Thompson

| source = president of the Maine Broadcasting System, on the sale of WCSH and WLBZ{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120726039/gannett-buys-channels-2-6-sale-expecte/|date=October 15, 1997|pages=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120726263/gannett-purchasing-maine-broadcasting/ A10]|first=Susan|last=Carney|title=Gannett buys Channels 2, 6: Sale expected to be completed by early 1998|newspaper=The Bangor Daily News|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023}}

| align = right

| width = 250px

| salign = left

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The Rines-Thompson family exited the local broadcasting industry after 72 years (44 of them owning WCSH) by selling WCSH and WLBZ to the Gannett Company in 1997. It had negotiated exclusively with Gannett for several months after approaching several potential acquirers. The family had decided to sell because of deregulation in broadcasting and costly new technological mandates, such as the forthcoming conversion to digital television. The family earned a handsome return on its original investment in WCSH radio in 1925.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120725760/two-maine-television-stations-to-be-sold/|date=October 15, 1997|page=1A, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120725829/wcsh/ 7A]|first=Dean|last=Lunt|title=Two Maine television stations to be sold to Gannett Co. Inc.|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023}} The transaction also marked the entry of large station groups into Maine. For most of the broadcasting era, Maine had been traditionally dominated by locally based owners, including families.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120726613/family-owned-tv-stations-sale-signals-e/|date=October 15, 1997|page=7A|first=Dieter|last=Bradbury|title=Family-owned TV stations' sale signals end of era|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023}}

WCSH's digital signal on UHF channel 44 signed on in April 2002,{{Cite web|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/2006-Factbook/TV-Factbook-2006-Vol%20I.pdf|title=WCSH-DT|page=A-1057|work=Television Factbook|year=2006|via=World Radio History|access-date=March 13, 2023|archive-date=January 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131092724/https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/2006-Factbook/TV-Factbook-2006-Vol%20I.pdf|url-status=live}} bringing high definition network television to the area. WCSH's broadcasts became digital-only, effective June 12, 2009;{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120753513/tv-stations-to-go-all-digital-on-friday/|date=June 11, 2009|page=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120753561/digital-tv/ A10]|first=Ray|last=Routhier|title=TV stations to go all digital on Friday|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 13, 2023}} the station elected to continue broadcasting on channel 44 (using virtual channel 6),{{Cite web |date=May 23, 2006 |title=DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds |url=http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829004251/http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf |archive-date=August 29, 2013 |access-date=August 29, 2021 |publisher=Federal Communications Commission}} which it did until being repacked to channel 31 in 2020.{{r|re}} As part of the SAFER Act, WCSH kept its analog signal on the air until June 27 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters.{{cite web|url=https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-291375A1.pdf|title=UPDATED List of Participants in the Analog Nightlight Program|publisher=Federal Communications Commission|date=June 12, 2009|access-date=June 14, 2024}}

On June 29, 2015, the Gannett Company split in two, with one side specializing in print media and the other side specializing in broadcast and digital media. WCSH and WLBZ were retained by the latter company, named Tegna.{{Cite web|title = Separation of Gannett into two public companies completed|date = June 29, 2015|url = http://www.tegna.com/separation-of-gannett-into-two-public-companies-completed/|publisher = Tegna|access-date = June 29, 2015|archive-date = July 2, 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150702005302/http://www.tegna.com/separation-of-gannett-into-two-public-companies-completed/|url-status = live}} The two stations adopted the brand News Center Maine in 2018 upon the rollout of a combined website for Portland and Bangor news coverage.{{Cite news|url=https://wjbq.com/wcsh-6-and-wlbz-2-are-re-branding-as-news-center-maine/|publisher=WJBQ|date=January 4, 2018|first=Jeff|last=Parsons|title=WCSH 6 and WLBZ 2 Are Re-branding as News Center Maine|access-date=March 13, 2023|archive-date=March 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304070245/http://wjbq.com/wcsh-6-and-wlbz-2-are-re-branding-as-news-center-maine/|url-status=live}}

{{Further|WLBZ#News operation}}

Newscasts were part of WCSH's schedule from its first television broadcasts in 1953,{{r|Even531208}} and the station was airing early evening and late evening newscasts by 1955.{{r|SunJ550126}} While the station typically trailed WGAN-TV/WGME in the news ratings for most of its history, this changed in February 1986 when WCSH surpassed WGME at 11 p.m. and tied channel 13 in the vital 6 p.m. news slot.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120751336/ratings-month-livens-up-networks/|date=May 20, 1986|page=4|first=Steve|last=Campbell|title=Ratings month livens up networks|newspaper=Evening Express|location=Portland, Maine|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 13, 2023}} Later that year, the station would surpass WGME at 6 and proceed to do so for at least the next 16 years.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120752000/channel-6-surpasses-rivals-in-ratings/|date=December 14, 2002|page=2B|first=Ray|last=Routhier|title=Channel 6 surpasses rivals in ratings again|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|location=Portland, Maine|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 13, 2023}} This was aided by stability in its evening news team and NBC's strong national program lineup in the 1990s.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120751931/top-of-the-news/|date=February 6, 2000|page=1E, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120751903/news/ 8E]|first=Ray|last=Routhier|title=Top of the news|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|location=Portland, Maine|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 13, 2023}} On-air talent like anchors Pat Callaghan and Cindy Williams and meteorologist Joe Cupo were mainstays on channel 6 for years. Cupo left in 2016 after 37 years when Tegna offered voluntary retirement packages,{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120753139/meteorologist-cupo-to-hand-over-the-rain/|date=April 15, 2016|page=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120753106/cupo/ A6]|first=Ray|last=Routhier|title=Meteorologist Cupo to hand over the rains|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 13, 2023}} while Williams retired in 2021 and Callaghan in 2022 after tenures of 32 and 43 years, respectively.{{cite news|title=Maine Anchor Pat Callaghan Retiring After 43 Years|url=https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/maine-anchor-pat-callaghan-retiring-after-43-years/245358/|first=Kevin|last=Eck|work=TVSpy|date=November 21, 2022|access-date=March 13, 2023|archive-date=November 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121211108/https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/maine-anchor-pat-callaghan-retiring-after-43-years/245358/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/veteran-maine-anchor-to-retire-after-32-years/236391/|title=Veteran Maine Anchor Plans Retirement from the News Business After 32 Years|date=November 11, 2021|first=Kevin|last=Eck|work=TVSpy|access-date=March 13, 2023|archive-date=November 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211112131428/https://www.adweek.com/tvspy/veteran-maine-anchor-to-retire-after-32-years/236391/|url-status=live}}

From the 1980s onward, WLBZ's local operations were progressively cut back, a trend that accelerated after Gannett took over. While WLBZ had already simulcast WCSH's morning and weekend newscasts since 1989, regional 5:30 and 11 p.m. newscasts were instituted in 2000 with split weather forecasts for each area, with WLBZ only airing separate 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120726822/nbc-stations-consolidating-plan-statewi/|date=August 2, 2000|page=3B|first=Ray|last=Routhier|title=NBC stations consolidating, plan statewide broadcasts|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023}} WLBZ ceased producing separate local newscasts altogether on October 8, 2015; all newscasts on both stations now originate from Portland, though Bangor viewers continue to see separate weather forecasts.{{cite news|last1=Harrison|first1=Judy|title=WLBZ to shift 6 p.m. Bangor newscast to Portland|url=http://bangordailynews.com/2015/09/25/news/bangor/wlbz-to-shift-6-p-m-bangor-newscast-to-portland/|access-date=September 27, 2015|work=Bangor Daily News|date=September 25, 2015|archive-date=September 15, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915043918/http://bangordailynews.com/2015/09/25/news/bangor/wlbz-to-shift-6-p-m-bangor-newscast-to-portland/|url-status=live}} The presence of WLBZ in the News Center Maine operation has resulted in a newscast with a stronger statewide news focus than its competitors in the Portland market.{{r|Port021214}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nexttv.com/news/market-eye-same-old-story-portland-42978|title=Market Eye: Same 'Old' Story in Portland|first=Michael|last=Malone|date=July 17, 2011|work=Broadcasting & Cable|access-date=March 13, 2023|archive-date=May 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516220837/https://www.nexttv.com/news/market-eye-same-old-story-portland-42978|url-status=live}}

After The WB affiliate WPXT shut down its news department in fall 2002, WCSH and WLBZ entered into a news share agreement with that station, resulting in a nightly prime time newscast.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120727310/wcsh-to-begin-10-pm-newscaston-wpxt/|date=September 14, 2002|page=1B, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120728859/news/ 6B]|first=Ray|last=Routhier|title=WCSH to begin 10 p.m. newscast—on WPXT|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312215046/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120727310/wcsh-to-begin-10-pm-newscaston-wpxt/|url-status=live}} The half-hour News Center at 10 moved to a digital subchannel of WCSH in 2008 when WPXT opted out of the arrangement, citing a lack of advertising support.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120729218/dispatch/|date=December 2, 2008|page=B2|title=Dispatches|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312215043/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120729218/dispatch/|url-status=live}} In the early 2010s, WCSH tried its hand again at airing news for WPXT, with the addition of a 7 a.m. hour of WCSH's morning newscast branded as News Center Morning Report Xtra.{{cite news|last=Malone|first=Michael|title=Gannett's WCSH Portland to Produce WPXT News|url=http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/475563-Gannett_s_WCSH_Portland_to_Produce_WPXT_News.php|access-date=October 21, 2011|newspaper=Broadcasting & Cable|date=October 21, 2011|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042512/https://www.nexttv.com/|url-status=live}}

From 2000 until the host's retirement in 2019, the News Center Maine stations aired human interest and outdoors program Bill Green's Maine; Green had gotten his start at WLBZ before moving to Portland and WCSH in 1981.{{Cite magazine|magazine=The Maine Mag|url=https://www.themainemag.com/2764-bill-green/|title=Bill Green|first=Lisa|last=Belisle|date=July 2015|access-date=March 13, 2023|archive-date=October 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026211444/https://www.themainemag.com/2764-bill-green/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bangordailynews.com/2019/10/29/outdoors/maine-broadcasting-icon-bill-green-will-retire-in-november/|work=Bangor Daily News|date=October 29, 2019|first=John|last=Holyoke|title=Maine broadcasting icon Bill Green will retire in November|access-date=March 13, 2023|archive-date=January 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120173930/https://bangordailynews.com/2019/10/29/outdoors/maine-broadcasting-icon-bill-green-will-retire-in-november/|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120754752/tvs-every-mainer-now-ready-to-sign-of/|date=October 30, 2019|page=A1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120754776/green/ A8]|first=Ray|last=Routhier|title=TV's 'every-Mainer' now ready to sign off|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 13, 2023}} Reruns now air weekdays at 12:30PM, replacing Tegna's now-canceled in-house talk show Daily Blast Live.

WCSH debuted 207, a weeknight lifestyle and entertainment magazine aired weeknights at 7 pm, in 2003. It was named for the state's area code, 207.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120754933/local-news-hybrid-show-207-to-debut-on/|date=August 29, 2003|page=C7, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120754969/magazine/ C8]|first=Tom|last=Groening|title=Local news-hybrid show '207' to debut on Portland station|newspaper=The Bangor Daily News|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 13, 2023}}

The station's signal is multiplexed:

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|https://www.newscentermaine.com/}}

{{Portland Maine TV}}

{{NBC New England}}

{{Tegna}}

Category:1953 establishments in Maine

Category:Court TV affiliates

Category:Former Gannett subsidiaries

Category:NBC affiliates

Category:Quest (American TV network) affiliates

Category:Tegna Inc.

Category:Television channels and stations established in 1953

CSH

Category:True Crime Network affiliates