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.”

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.