PORTLAND – Beginning in late September, WCSH-TV will launch “207” – a local news, interview and feature program – that will air at 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Steve Thaxton, general manager of the NBC affiliate in Portland, called the new program a hybrid of a news show and a “magazine,” which traditionally features preproduced segments such as those on “Dateline NBC” or “20/20.”

Thaxton compared the format to a half-hour version of NBC’s “Today Show,” but it will be “all heavily local.”

The program will be called “207,” after Maine’s telephone area code.

For at least the first season, the show will be seen only by viewers of Channel 6, but the program could eventually be broadcast on WLBZ-TV, the Bangor NBC affiliate, as well. WCSH and WLBZ are both owned by Gannett Co.

“Our interest is in expanding it,” Thaxton said.

Rob Caldwell, who currently anchors WCSH’s noon and 5:30 p.m. NewsCenter broadcasts, will co-host “207” with Kathleen Shannon, who worked for the station from 1995-99. The station will also hire three additional producers, he said.

“207” will not follow a rigid format, Thaxton stressed. Some evenings there will be two, three or four preproduced segments, interviews with in-studio guests will be featured other evenings. And live remote features will also be a staple.

“That’s the great thing about being local,” Thaxton said, “you can turn on a dime.”

The show will begin with a brief news and weather update. One show might feature a seven-minute debate on the proposed casino in Sanford, while another might include a behind-the-scenes look at a local restaurant.

“There’s a lot of things going on at 7 p.m.,” Thaxton said, such as fairs and live entertainment that could be featured live on “207.” The station’s reporters are often in the field in the early evening anyway, he said.

The idea for “207” came when station management analyzed viewing trends in the Channel 6 market. NBC’s “Nightly News” broadcast is the most-watched 6:30 p.m. news show in the Portland market, viewed by nearly 120,000 households. But at 7 p.m., WCSH loses about 70 percent of viewers to other syndicated shows, according to Thaxton.

“Shame on us for not having an interesting and compelling show to keep them watching,” he said.

The success of “Bill Green’s Maine, which is seen by viewers of WLBZ and WCSH on Saturdays at 7 p.m., made Thaxton confident about “207.”

“It was an indication that local trumps syndicated,” he said of the ratings “Bill Green’s Maine” received.