WLBZ 6pm Newscast Moving to Portland

Local NBC affiliate, WLBZ announced this week that the 6 p.m. newscast will no longer be broadcast out of Bangor, but will move to Portland.

According to the BDN, the six o'clock news anchor in Bangor, Chris Facchini, will be reassigned to report on major stories and do investigative pieces. Co-anchor Katie Bavoso will anchor the weekend morning shows originating in Portland. Meteorologist Steve McKay will continue to provide most of the evening news, with sports continuing to originate out of Portland at WCSH-TV.

General Manager Judy Horan says of the 39 1/2 hours of news produced each week by News Center, the 6 p.m. newscast in Bangor accounts for just 2 1/2 hours. She says with a shift in how people get their news, due to technology like social media and smartphones, they felt they needed to deploy the staff in the most efficient way possible.