WCSH Meteorologist Taking TEGNA Buyout

By Kevin Eck 

Joe Cupo is leaving Portland, Maine TEGNA-owned NBC affiliate WCSH after 37 years.

The Portland Press Herald reports WCSH president and GM Steve Carter says Cupo is “accepting a voluntary retirement package being offered by the station’s owner, TEGNA Media.”

“People grew up watching Joe, now their kids are watching Joe,” Carter said.

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He said two meteorologists will be hired to replace Cupo and [Steve] McKay. The voluntary retirement offerings were not strictly a cost-cutting measure, but a chance to look at “whether we should be doing things differently” and possibly invest the savings in different areas, Carter said.

WCSH has been Portland’s top-rated local news station for most of the past 20 years, partly because of the longevity of its anchors and of Cupo. Pat Callaghan, one of the station’s main anchors, also started in 1979. Anchor Cindy Williams began in 1989.

Wednesday, we reported WLBZ meteorologist Steve McKay was leaving the station. The Press Herald says he took the buyout.

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