Wabi Tv

It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 19 from a transmitter on Peaked Mountain in Dixmont. It is the flagship station of Diversified Communications which under the leadership of the Hildreth family has owned the station since its inception.

Syndicated programming on the station includes: Two and a Half Men, King of the Hill, Oprah, and Ellen.


Overview
WABI operates an analog repeater, W61AO channel 61, that is licensed Calais with a transmitter near Meddbybemps. The tower is shared with W57AQ channel 57 which is an analog repeater for NBC affiliate WLBZ.

Until the mid-1990s, W61AO was used to feed cable systems across the border in the Canadian Maritimes. Most of Atlantic Canada's cable systems carry WBZ-TV from Boston for CBS programming.It station is part of The CW Plus and is known on-air as The CW of Eastern and Central Maine. WABI-DT2 is also offered on various cable providers including Time Warner and DirecTV satellite.
Dish Network does not currently offer WABI-DT2 although the system offers all other Bangor full power local stations.

It does not carry all of CBS' SEC college football games on the weekends. The station often pre-empts CBS programming to air University of Maine sports.

On its website, WABI offers free streaming video repeats of its newscasts. The station also offers pay-per-view streaming video of its local sports programming through an affiliated website.
Digital programming
The station's digital signal is multiplexed.

History
WABI was the first television station in Maine to go on-the-air when it began broadcasting on January 25, 1953.It was owned by former governor Horace Hildreth along with WABI radio (910 AM; now WAEI, and 97.1 FM; now WAEI-FM). The station was a primary NBC affiliate but maintained affiliations with all major television networks.

During the late 1950s, the station was also briefly affiliated with the NTA Film Network. The radio stations were spun off in the 1980s and are currently under the ownership of Blueberry Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced that they would cease broadcasting and merge.

On July 28, WABI announced that it was to create a new second digital subchannel to become an affiliate of The CW. On the station's website, an announcement said that Time Warner, which was in the process of taking over cable coverage in the Bangor area for bankrupt Adelphia, would have cable-only WB 100+ affiliate "WBAN" on its system.On September 18, The CW debuted on WBAN (now known officially as having the WABI-DT2 callsign) as part of The CW Plus service. Another factor is WABI's status as the only locally owned-and-operated commercial station in town.

When WBAN became WABI-DT2 on September 18, 2006, WABI added local news and weather updates from the main channel during The Daily Buzz, a simulcast of its weekday Noon news, and a new weeknight 10 o'clock newscast (seen only on WABI-DT2). The Coastal Bureau is on High Street in Ellsworth.
Anchors
Wayne Harvey - weekday mornings
Joy Hollowell - weekday mornings
Jon Small - Assistant News Director seen weekdays at Noon
Jim Morris - News Director seen weeknights at 5 and 5:30
Catherine Pegram - weeknights at 5 and 5:30
Sharon Pelletier - weeknights at 6
Kristen LaVerghetta - weeknights at 10 and 11
Amy Erickson - weekends
Meteorologists
Todd Simcox - Chief seen weekday mornings and Noon
Chris Ewing - weeknights
Jared Plushnick - weekends
Sports
Tim Throckmorton - Director seen weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
Keith Erickson - weekends and reporter
Reporters
Adrienne Bennett - Central Maine Bureau
Sarah Komuniecki - photographer
Meghan Heyward - photographer
Rob Poindexter

Station alumni
Anchors
Alan Grover - weekday mornings
Don Colson - News Director
now retired

Craig Colson - weeknights at 6, 10, and 11
reporter

Jeffrey Hope - reporter
now at KTUU-TV

Denise Keniston - anchor
now president of the Maine Communication Network

Felicia Knight - now Director of Communications for the National Endowment for the Arts
Mindi Ramsey - reporter
now at WNEP-TV

Jim Sackett - reporter
now at WPTV-TV

Kim Vatis - now at WMAQ-TV
Lanie Witt - reporter
now at EMH

Dan Elias - reporter
now at WWLP

Meteorologists
Steve Caporizzo - now at WTEN
Mike Cejka - now at WIVB
Jennifer Harcher - now at WOIO-TV
Chris Lambert - now at WBBH-TV
Maureen McCann - now at News 8 Austin
Greg Dutra - now at KWQC-TV
Reporters
Catherine Cambra - formerly at WMBD-TV
Jon Chrisos - now anchor at WEHT
Jodi Hersey - now at Cumulus Radio
James Hamill - now at WNEP-TV
Ryan Hughes - now at WFTV
Jennifer Kolbusz - formerly at KSHB-TV
Jeanne Meserve - now at CNN
Melissa Monti - formerly anchor at KRIS, WPBF-TV
Diana Olick - now at CNBC
Lisa Scott - fill-in anchor
now at WIVB

Susan Farley - Coastal Bureau
Kelly Pearson
Cori Skall

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