WPXT-TV
 
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Portland, Maine United States |
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| Branding | WPXT The CW (general) MeTV Portland (on DT2) |
| Slogan | TV Now |
| Channels |
Digital: 43 (UHF) (to move to 34 (UHF)) Virtual: 51 () |
| Subchannels | 51.1 The CW 51.2 MeTV 51.3 Escape |
| Owner | Ironwood Communications, LLC (Ironwood Communications Portland, LLC) |
| First air date | September 14, 1986 |
| Call letters' meaning | We're Portland's EXciting Television |
| Sister station(s) | WPME |
| Former channel number(s) | 51 (UHF analog, 1986–2008) |
| Former affiliations |
Independent (1986) Fox (1986–2001) The WB (2001–2006) |
| Transmitter power | 137.4 kW 103 kW (CP) |
| Height | 254 m (833 ft) 266.6 m (875 ft) (CP) |
| Class | DT |
| Facility ID | 53065 |
| Transmitter coordinates | 43°51′6″N 70°19′40″W / 43.85167°N 70.32778°W |
| Website | www.ourmaine.com |
WPXT is the CW-affiliated television station for Southern Maine and northern New Hampshire in the United States. Licensed to Portland, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 43 (or virtual channel 51.1 via ) from a transmitter in South Gray along I-95/Maine Turnpike/Gold Star Memorial Highway. Owned by Ironwood Communications, LLC, WPXT is part of a duopoly with Lewiston-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WPME and the two stations share studios on Ledgeview Drive in Westbrook.
The station signed-on September 14, 1986 as Maine's first independent station and the first new commercial station to launch in the Portland market in 32 years. After a few weeks as an independent, it became a charter affiliate with Fox on October 6. In 1996 the station's original owner Bride Communications entered bankruptcy and WPXT was sold to Pegasus Broadcasting.
In 2001, WPXT switched to The WB due to a monetary dispute between Pegasus and Fox; The WB had previously aired in off-hours on sister UPN affiliate WPME. This left Portland with no over-the-air Fox affiliate until early 2003, when Pax station WMPX-TV took the affiliation, becoming WPFO. In the interim, programming from the network was provided exclusively on cable through Foxnet. Pegasus declared bankruptcy in June 2004 over a dispute with DirecTV (co-owned with Fox by News Corporation) over marketing of the direct broadcast satellite service in rural areas. The Pegasus station group was sold in August 2006 to private investment firm CP Media, LLC of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania for $55.5 million. Eventually, CP Media formed a new broadcast company, New Age Media.
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