Editing WCSH (section)

===Establishment===
When the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) lifted its [[Federal Communications Commission#Freeze of 1948|four-year freeze]] on television station applications in April 1952, four bids had already been received to start new stations in [[Portland, Maine|Portland]], which was allocated two commercial [[very high frequency]] (VHF) channels and a third on the new [[ultra high frequency]] (UHF) band.<ref name="Port520414">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120718595/thaw-only-first-step-tv-technicians-pre/|date=April 14, 1952|page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120718558/first-tv-station/ 13]|first=Harold J.|last=Boyle|title=Thaw Only First Step: TV Technicians Predict Maine Won't Go On Air Till Late 1953|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042439/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120718595/thaw-only-first-step-tv-technicians/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Mon --> One of these came from the Congress Square Hotel Company, owner of Portland radio station [[WZAN|WCSH (970 AM)]], which had filed for channel 11 in 1948 but amended its application when only VHF channels 6 and 13 were assigned.<ref name="hc">{{Cite web|url=https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/12bcf529-0e63-778e-78db-453ac9f69534|title=FCC History Cards for WCSH|publisher=[[Federal Communications Commission]]|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=October 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004125114/https://enterpriseefiling.fcc.gov/dataentry/api/download/attachment/12bcf529-0e63-778e-78db-453ac9f69534|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 1952, the FCC ordered [[comparative hearing]]s to decide who should be given [[construction permit]]s for channels 6 and 13. Two groups sought each channel; Congress Square's application was rivaled by one from the Oliver Broadcasting Company,<ref name="Port521003">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120718715/fcc-orders-hearings-on-local-tv-stations/|date=October 3, 1952|page=8|agency=Associated Press|title=FCC Orders Hearings On Local TV Stations|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042439/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120718715/fcc-orders-hearings-on-local-tv-stations/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> which owned station [[WBAE (AM)|WPOR]].<ref name="Port520722">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120719143/tv-scramble-wpor-bids-for-precious-chan/|date=July 22, 1952|page=14|title=TV Scramble: WPOR Bids For Precious Channel|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042440/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120719143/tv-scramble-wpor-bids-for-precious/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue -->

The third VHF channel in southern Maine was channel 8 at [[Poland Spring, Maine|Poland Spring]], and activity around this channel would proceed to unblock channel 6 in Portland. The FCC granted a permit in early July 1953 to Mount Washington Television, a group headed by former Maine governor [[Horace A. Hildreth]] containing principals from Oliver as shareholders.<ref name="Even530709">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120719321/the-television-situation-hildreth-dec/|date=July 9, 1953|page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120719247/television/ 28]|title=The Television Situation... Hildreth Decision Awiated To Clear TV Picture Here|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042439/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120719321/the-television-situation-hildreth/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> Oliver withdrew its channel 6 application on July 30, 1953, and the FCC immediately awarded the Congress Square Hotel Company a permit for channel 6, WCSH-TV. This was the second construction permit for a Portland TV station, with [[WPMT (Maine)|WPMT]] (channel 53) already being built.<ref name="Port530730">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105748286/wcsh-owners-granted-first-vhf-tv-permit/|date=July 30, 1953|page=1|first=May|last=Craig|title=WCSH Owners Granted First VHF-TV Permit In Portland|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=July 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717045851/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105748286/wcsh-owners-granted-first-vhf-tv-permit/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu -->

Because WCSH had conditionally purchased television equipment 18 months prior, it was assured delivery of its order to put channel 6 on the air by the end of 1953. WCSH-TV announced its intention to be Portland's [[NBC]] affiliate, matching WCSH radio—which had carried NBC's very first program when [[NBC Radio Network|the radio network]] began in November 1926 and previously had been part of [[Broadcasting Company of America|the WEAF chain]] that preceded it.<ref name="Even530730">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720047/new-tv-here-to-go-on-air-by-year-end/|date=July 30, 1953|page=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720375/new-tv/ 2]|title=New TV Here To Go On Air By Year End|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312203426/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720047/new-tv-here-to-go-on-air-by-year-end/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --><ref name="Bang261115">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720292/big-time-on-the-radio-hook-up-of-40-sta/|date=November 15, 1926|page=7|title=Big Time On The Radio: Hook-up of 40 Stations Tonight—Mary Garden, Will Rogers and Many Others|newspaper=The Bangor Daily News|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042440/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720292/big-time-on-the-radio-hook-up-of-40/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Mon --><ref name="Port531208">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105749857/wcsh-has-proud-28-year-history-of-broadc/|date=December 8, 1953|page=23|title=WCSH Has Proud 28-Year History Of Broadcasting|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042441/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105749857/wcsh-has-proud-28-year-history-of/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue --> The transmitting facility would be erected in [[Falmouth, Maine|Falmouth]],<ref name="Port530911">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720649/wcsh-tv-transmitter-house-plan/|date=September 11, 1953|page=24|title=WCSH-TV Transmitter House Plan|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312203423/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120720649/wcsh-tv-transmitter-house-plan/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri --> while WCSH's quarters in the Congress Square Hotel were extensively refitted to house the television station: a large radio studio was converted for television use, and a new studio was created out of a former storage room to house a kitchen for cooking shows.<ref name="Even531208">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120721687/infant-wcsh-tv-takes-over-parent/|date=December 8, 1953|page=30|title=Infant WCSH-TV Takes Over Parent|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312203416/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120721687/infant-wcsh-tv-takes-over-parent/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Tue -->

The first [[test pattern]] was sent out on November 29,<ref name="Port531130">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120721486/wcsh-tv-test-pattern-hits-wide-area-rep/|date=November 30, 1953|page=16|title=WCSH-TV Test Pattern Hits Wide Area, Reports Reveal|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042440/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120721486/wcsh-tv-test-pattern-hits-wide-area/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Mon --> and on December 20, 1953, WCSH-TV began broadcasting.<ref name="Port531220">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105749986/new-wcsh-tv-station-starts-programs-toda/|date=December 20, 1953|page=11B|title=New WCSH-TV Station Starts Programs Today|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|location=Portland, Maine|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=July 17, 2022|archive-date=July 17, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220717045952/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105749986/new-wcsh-tv-station-starts-programs/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Sun --> The station's broadcasting activity steadily increased in its early years, with such local shows as the home decorating program ''Your Home and You''; ''Youth Cavalcade''; the noontime women's program ''Living Down East''; ''The Dave Astor Show'', a teen dance program; and early and late evening newscasts.{{r|thompson|p=85}} By January 1955, it was broadcasting 18 hours a day and had become a secondary affiliate of the [[DuMont Television Network]] in its final years of operation after WPMT closed the month before.<ref name="SunJ550126">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120722144/wcsh-tv-programing-starts-at-7-a-m-ru/|date=January 26, 1955|page=24A|first=Johnny|last=Robinson|title=WCSH-TV Programing Starts At 7 A. M., Runs 18 Hours Daily|newspaper=Sun-Journal|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042441/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120722144/wcsh-tv-programing-starts-at-7-a-m/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Wed --> The Rines family, who had founded WCSH radio and television, also owned the Maine Broadcasting System with radio stations [[WJZN|WRDO]] in [[Augusta, Maine|Augusta]] and [[WZON|WLBZ]] in [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]]. It expanded its TV holdings north in 1958 when it bought WTWO, an [[independent station]] in Bangor owned by Murray Carpenter, and made it into an NBC affiliate as WLBZ-TV.<ref name="thompson">{{Cite book|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/The-History-of-Broadcasting-in-Maine-1990.pdf|title=The History of Broadcasting in Maine: The First Fifty Years|year=1990|publisher=Maine Association of Broadcasters|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=January 31, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131145941/https://worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/History/The-History-of-Broadcasting-in-Maine-1990.pdf|url-status=live|isbn=978-0-9627719-0-3}}</ref>{{rp|74}}

[[File:TV Station.JPG|left|thumb|alt=A four-story office building in an urban environment with W C S H and NBC signage|The WCSH studios at 1 Congress Square in downtown Portland]]
After 50 years of radio and television operations in the Congress Square Hotel, WCSH opted to move its broadcasting businesses into more modern quarters. The studio portion of the hotel complex had become overcrowded despite multiple additions. In 1977, WCSH moved one city block to occupy a four-story building at 1 Congress Square, which received a two-story addition containing studio space; WCSH radio moved to separate facilities in [[Scarborough, Maine|Scarborough]].<ref name="Even770428">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120723224/wcsh-tv-at-new-location/|date=April 28, 1977|page=36|first=Lyn|last=Liljeholm|title=WCSH-TV At New Location|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312215039/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120723224/wcsh-tv-at-new-location/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> The Maine Broadcasting System continued to own the radio station until 1981, when it was sold and changed call letters; WLBZ radio in Bangor was also sold, while the television properties were retained.<ref name="Even800514">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120725144/sale-of-wcsh-radio-awaits-fcc-approval/|date=May 14, 1980|page=32|title=Sale of WCSH radio awaits FCC approval|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 12, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312215044/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120725144/sale-of-wcsh-radio-awaits-fcc-approval/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Wed --><ref name="Even810305">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120725399/radio-station-recognizes-past-wynz-lets/|date=March 5, 1981|page=8|first=Dyke|last=Hendrickson|title=Radio station recognizes past: WYNZ lets the old times roll|newspaper=Evening Express|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 12, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042440/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120725399/radio-station-recognizes-past-wynz/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Thu --> Particularly beginning in the 1980s, WCSH made its mark as the dominant station in Portland-market ratings, even if it sometimes irked NBC. The station was heavily protective of its 6 p.m. newscast, resulting in far more frequent preemptions of network sports events. In 1994, WCSH did not air 38 percent of NBC's 502 hours of sports programming that year—the most of any of NBC's 213 affiliates and more than double the preemption rate of [[WSMV-TV]] in [[Nashville, Tennessee]]—which the network begrudgingly tolerated because the station delivered strong performance for the network's daytime and prime time entertainment shows. Events as diverse as the second games of [[NBA on NBC|NBA]] doubleheaders and golf tournaments were not aired to provide a consistent airing of the 6 p.m. ''NewsCenter'' and to air movies which drew more viewers.<ref name="Port950210">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120751657/nbc-affiliates-policy-irks-sports-fans/|date=February 10, 1995|page=5D|first=Bob|last=Smyth|title=NBC affiliate's policy irks sports fans, network|newspaper=Portland Press Herald|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=March 13, 2023|archive-date=March 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313042441/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120751657/nbc-affiliates-policy-irks-sports/|url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Fri -->