WABI-DT2 started broadcasting in late-1998 and had the fictional call letters "WBAN". It was part of The WB 100+ cable group as The WB required over-the-air affiliates above the top 100 markets to be on cable. "WBAN" gradually replaced low-powered WBGR-LP as the WB affiliate in Bangor. That station is now with America One and Ion Television. On Adelphia systems, this station was on channel 4 and known on-air as "Bangor's WB 4". In early 2006, it swapped channel positions with low-powered Fox affiliate WFVX-LP but continued using the same branding. On January 24, 2006, The WB and UPN announced the two networks would end broadcasting and merge. The new combined service would be called The CW. The letters would represent the first initial of corporate parents CBS (the parent company of UPN) and the Warner Bros. unit of Time Warner. There was no UPN station in the market so Boston's WSBK-TV and Portland's WPME were piped in through cable.