WVII

WVII
Bangor, Maine
Branding ABC 7
Slogan On the Move For You
Analog channel 7 (VHF)
Digital channel 14 (UHF)
Affiliations ABC
Owner Rockfleet Broadcasting
Founded 1965
Call letters meaning VII
Former affiliations none
Website www.wvii.com

WVII is an ABC-affiliated Television station broadcasting on channel 7 in Bangor, Maine. The station is owned by Rockfleet Broadcasting of New York City.

History

The station first took to the air on October 15, 1965, under the callisign of WEMT-TV. The current call letters were adopted in 1978. WVII is the only television station in Bangor to have never switched its network affiliation. It is also one of only two stations in Bangor to broadcast in Stereo.

In 2000 WVII made its first venture into UHF broadcasting, leasing channel 30, a former secondary PBS station. The station changed its call letters to WCKD and its network to UPN. In 2003 WCKD was returned to it's owner and Rockfleet purchased a new station, Fox affiliate WFVX, signed on on channel 22.

Programming

WVII has always had local newscasts, but they have not had the same level of success as the two older stations in the market, WABI and WLBZ. Until major upgrades in recent years, WVII was frequently derided for having cheap production values; especially among residents of the Canadian Maritimes where WVII was carried on cable until the early 1990s. In 2005, WVII was the only station of the 3 main network affiliates to show an increase in their Nielsen ratings for the 6pm news. WVII has closed the gap on WLBZ since Gannett decimated the Bangor newsroom and relies heavily on Portland news. In 2002 the station cut it's weather department, and enlisted the services of AccuWeather. Meteorologist Jim Kosek is the primary on-air talent for WVII and was awarded Best Weathercast by the Maine Association of Broadcasters in 2005, proving that it was irrelevant where the weather services originate. It should be noted that the award is based on talent, rather then accuracy.

WVII

History

Programming

See also