WCSH and WLBZ, the Gannet owned NBC affiliates for Portland and Bangor, ME, have named Mike Redding as news director, according to the Bangor Daily News.

“We are very excited to have someone of Mike’s caliber leading our news organization into the future,” Steve Carter, president and general manager of WCSH and WLBZ, told the Daily News. “Mike is familiar with the NEWS CENTER brand, and his credentials will only strengthen our broadcast and digital positions in the market.”

Redding comes to WCSH-WBKZ from Gannet station WFMY in Greensboro, NC where he was executive producer. Read more

Bangor CBS affiliate WABI is celebrating its 60th anniversary. The station first went on the air January 25, 1953, when the television industry was much different than it is today, according to the station’s tribute segment:

Everything was live, including the commercials, which were read from cue cards. George Hale came to WABI just a few months after the television station went on the air in 1953.

“I can remember doing a thing called ‘Spin the Wheel.’ The show was supposed to be five minutes. They came in with five minutes of commercials. The sponsor said, ‘you want to do a show, that’s your problem. I bought five minutes, I want it all commercials.’ So I did the first infomercial.”

Craig Colson has been named news director and evening anchor at WVII-WFVX, Rockfleet Broadcasting’s duopoly in Bangor.

Colson replaces Cindy Michaels, who delivered her resignation during the evening newscast last month, in both roles. Michaels’ co-anchor, Tony Consiglio, also resigned during the newscast. In an interview with the New York Times, the pair said the dramatic exit was because of general manager Mike Palmer‘s “philosophical beliefs.”

Colson, a Bangor native, spent more than two decades working for rival WABI, the CBS affiliate in Bangor. He was let go as the evening anchor in 2009 when the station downsized, according to the Bangor Daily News. Read more

Brian Sullivan, sports director for WVII-WFVX, will be leaving the Bangor, ME, ABC and Fox affiliates to become the local sports director for Fandom Sports, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Sullivan’s resignation was overshadowed by the dramatic on-air resignation of two of his fellow anchors, Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio, last month.

“I gave my notice on Monday (November 19) and they resigned the next day,” Sullivan told the Daily News. Read more

Six days after Tony Consiglio and Cindy Michaels resigned from WVII on the air, the finger pointing between the anchors and general manager Mike Palmer continues. Palmer asserts that the anchors quit because he was preparing to replace Consiglio on the evening newscasts. In an interview with the New York Times’ Brian Stelter, Michaels — who was also the station’s news director — says that was not the case:

In interviews off the air, the anchors asserted that they quit to preserve their journalistic independence. Ms. Michaels, who doubled as the person in charge of all news coverage at the two stations, said that the managers of the stations had meddled with news coverage. Singling out Mike Palmer, the general manager of the two stations, she said, “The general manager’s philosophical beliefs played a role in what he wanted us to cover, or not cover.”

Furthermore, Ms. Michaels said, “there was disrespect toward some staff members and a constant hand in the entire newsroom operations to the point I was not allowed to make decisions as news director.” But she declined to share any specific examples of clashes with management. Read more

More details are emerging about the motivation for the dramatic on-air resignation of WVII news director Cindy Michaels and her co-anchor Tony Consiglio. The pair announced at the close of Tuesday’s 6 p.m. newscast that they intended to exit the station, citing ” recent developments have come to our attention.” The station’s VP-GM Mike Palmer tells the Bangor Daily News that the Bangor ABC affiliate was preparing to replace Consiglio at the anchor desk:

“Tony’s job was offered to someone else Monday. Cindy knew this and decided she couldn’t continue working without him,” said Palmer.

When told of Palmer’s statement, Consiglio said he didn’t know anything about that. Both Michaels and Consiglio said they are close friends in addition to being co-workers and have almost the same mindset when it comes to the way news should be done.

When asked if their departure had anything to do with salary issues, Palmer said no. “Actually, Cindy was offered a contract extension within the last few days. We wanted her to stay,” he said.

Consiglio and Michaels told the Bangor Daily News they don’t regret their decision, noting they have received support from family, friends and strangers.  Read more

In a dramatic on-air resignation, the WVII evening anchor team announced their intention to leave the Bangor ABC affiliate Tuesday night. Cindy Michaels, who doubles as the station’s news director, and her co-anchor Tony Consiglio surprised both staff and viewers with the announcement at the close of the 6 p.m. newscast (video above).

“And finally tonight this will be Tony and my final show together here on ABC7,” said Michaels.  “The last 6 years have been an interesting and enjoyable time for both of us as we have been the longest running news team in Bangor.”

“Some recent developments have come to our attention, though, and departing together is the best alternative we can take,” Consiglio added. Read more

Nick Coit, currently a sports producer at Fox O&O WFXT in Boston, is moving in front of the camera next week as he takes over as the sports anchor-reporter at WABI in Bangor.

“This will be my first on-air gig and that’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” Coit told the Bangor Daily News. “I had a real nice opportunity with Fox in Boston but this is truly the direction I want to go.”

The 22-year-old replaces Prescott Rossi, who left recently to join Rochester’s WROC, at the CBS-affiliate. WABI news director Jim Morris, who selected Coit from a pool of 50 applicants, said Coit is “a good fit” for the station.

WVII, an ABC-affiliate in Bangor, ME, is giving local sports figures, such as the University of Maine men’s hockey coach Tim Whitehead, a shot in front of the camera. Over the summer, WVII plans to have a local athletic luminary anchor the station’s sports coverage once a week.

“Some of them mess up and some do a great job. But it’s all in fun,” WVII news director Cindy Michaels tells the Bangor Daily News.

The program is the brainchild of WVII sports director and sports anchor Brian Sullivan, who joined the station in 2009 and has been working to “build up a rapport” with influential members of the local sports community.

“It gave me a chance to hang out with them for an afternoon and build a rapport with them,” Sullivan said in an interview with the Daily News, recounting how he’s coached local coaches to be better on-camera.

So far, Whitehead and Husson University men’s basketball coach Warren Caruso have appeared during WVII’s 6 p.m. newscast.