Will NJ Re-Fund Public Broadcasting?

[TheBigA]

I was pretty angry when Chris Christie sold New Jersey Public Broadcasting to WNET and WHYY. So insulting to NJ residents who have spent their lives living in the shadow of their two big neighbors. Now it seems as though the new governor is thinking about renewing some state funding for NJ public broadcasting:

N.J. governor proposes first funding for pubmedia in a decade

The station lost its state appropriation 10 years ago when out-of-state broadcasters took over operations.

current.org

NOT New York! NOT Philadelphia! Proud to be New Jersey!

 

[Kemosabe]

NOT New York! NOT Philadelphia! Proud to be New Jersey!

Will Phil Murphy propose funding New Jersey 101.5, as well?

 

[TheBigA]

Will Phil Murphy propose funding New Jersey 101.5, as well?

He appears there personally all the time. And they run spots paid for by the state. So he already is.

 

[bigic]

How would they cover the state, as NJ has one of the most congested FM dials in the world?

 

[TheBigA]

How would they cover the state, as NJ has one of the most congested FM dials in the world?

They used to own 9 radio stations that covered the state, although most of them were in the south.

They could support WBGO, which covers the northern part of the state.

 

[JBraddock]

The New Jersey Network (NJN) non-comm FM radio stations came about late in the game (late 80s). They covered mostly southern NJ because that's where the available frequencies were. In the Philadelphia area, they had low power, marginal signals on 88.1 in "Berlin" (Waterford Works) and Trenton. The radio net used to run WBGO's programming overnight.

Other than its nightly newscast, NJN TV didn't broadcast much of note. It was defunded because viewership was low - it was deemed unnecessary. Viewers seem to think WHYY-TV and WNET do an adequate job of providing national PBS programming to NJ.

If NJ wants its own TV network, or even just an NJ-centric newscast, the citizens can elect to support it without the government committing tax dollars paid by those who choose not to fund what is essentially a redundant PBS outlet.

 

[TheBigA]

If NJ wants its own TV network, or even just an NJ-centric newscast, the citizens can elect to support it without the government committing tax dollars paid by those who choose not to fund what is essentially a redundant PBS outlet.

I definitely don't expect them to buy or build any new stations. Just support existing ones, the way the NJ Council for the Arts or other state groups promote existing stations, maybe for certain specific programs or topics.

My sense from that article is the state sees a need and wants to get involved to do things that are more NJ-centric, to promote that agenda. Because the only way you're going to see NJ is for the state to put some money behind it.