Al Diamon
It’s 10 o’clock. Do You Know Where Your Newscast Is?
Gone – almost: WCSH-TV, Channel 6 in Portland, is no longer producing a 10 p.m. newscast on WPXT-TV, Channel 51. According to the North East Radio Watch Web site, the contract between WCSH, the top-rated NBC affiliate, and WPXT, the bottom-dwelling CW station, has expired, but WCSH is continuing to produce the 10 p.m. show. Viewers who know how to receive digital sub-channels can find the news each night at 10 on WCSH-DT in Portland and WLBZ-DT in Bangor.
As one industry insider put it on hearing that news, “DT? What’s the point?”
WCSH general manager Steve Thaxton didn’t return a phone call asking why his station would bother produce a newscast almost no one knows about and couldn’t watch even if they did.
Back – almost: I’m often asked what became of Tom Hanrahan, my former colleague on Maine Public TV’s “Media Watch” show back in the 1980s and ‘90s. The opinionated ex-New York reporter and former Kennebec Journal columnist vanished from the mainstream media more than a decade ago, but he’s been contributing to the Northwoods Sporting Journal, and just authored a new book for the Maine Department of Conservation.
Hanrahan, now a master Maine Guide who lives in Whitefield, has written “Your Maine Lands: Reflections of a Maine Guide,” a explanation and appreciation of the state’s public lands.
Those seeking the acerbic wit that characterized Hanrahan’s earlier work may be disappointed with his latest work, but outdoor enthusiasts may find the book insightful and informative.
Back – also almost: Ted Cohen – the ex-Portland Press Herald reporter best known as the journalist who discovered then-presidential candidate George W. Bush’s drunk-driving arrest record, only to have the story spiked by his editors – has also written a book.
According to a press release from Cohen’s publisher, “Clown Prince, Bush the W: Power of the Swill” is an “imaginative memoir,” which seems to mean that a lot of the dialogue and some of the events are made up.
Still here – and stronger: WERU-FM, the community station broadcasting at 89.9 in Blue Hill, has boosted its signal and can now be heard in all of Greater Bangor and in areas near Augusta and Waterville.
While WERU hasn’t increased its power from the current 12,000 watts, the Federal Communications Commission recently approved a reconfiguration of its antenna that improves reception to the north and west, allowing it to reach Dover-Foxcroft and Skowhegan for the first time. In addition, the station has upgraded the signal on its 50-watt supplementary frequency at 102.9 FM in Bangor.
Al Diamon can be e-mailed at aldiamon@herniahill.net, although he’s on vacation from Nov. 14-20 and doesn’t believe portable electronic devices are appropriate in bars.
Posted on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 in Permalink
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Reader Comments:
WGME-TV's parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group, is mothballing its Washington DC bureau by year's end, further reducing the imposition of right-wing commentary on local viewers. No word on the fate of the conservative late-night Sunday public affairs block of "American Crossroads" and "The RightSide with Armstrong Williams."