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NJ PBS set to shut down in July 2026

Theater of My Mind

Theater of My Mind

New Jersey PBS is expected to cease operations in July 2026 unless they can find a new non-profit funding source, following WNET’s decision not to renew its contract with them.

Since 2011, the network's operations have been outsourced to WNET, the parent company of THIRTEEN, the PBS New York affiliate, which has apparently decided to kick its redheaded stepchild from New Jersey out of the house in the wake of Trump's public media funding cuts.

newjerseyglobe.com

New Jersey PBS shutting down in July - New Jersey Globe

New Jersey PBS is expected to cease operations in July 2026 following WNET's decision not to renew its agreement, the New Jersey Globe has learned. The
newjerseyglobe.com newjerseyglobe.com
 
Theater of My Mind said:
New Jersey PBS is expected to cease operations in July 2026 unless they can find a new non-profit funding source, following WNET’s decision not to renew its contract with them.

Since 2011, the network's operations have been outsourced to WNET, the parent company of THIRTEEN, the PBS New York affiliate, which has apparently decided to kick its redheaded stepchild from New Jersey out of the house in the wake of Trump's public media funding cuts.

newjerseyglobe.com

New Jersey PBS shutting down in July - New Jersey Globe

New Jersey PBS is expected to cease operations in July 2026 following WNET's decision not to renew its agreement, the New Jersey Globe has learned. The
newjerseyglobe.com newjerseyglobe.com
Click to expand...
For Northern NJ, at least they got WLIW as the 2nd PBS option while in South Jersey, WLVT, out of the Lehigh Valley, will be that to WHYY. Gonna miss NJ PBS, as a NYC-area expat watching back when it was NJN & them as a PBS station, before many others nowadays having a news show of sorts, they had their own called NJN News with Kent Manahan & it was as good as any newscast on the Big 3 stations at the time.
 
Seems sensible. Between WNET, and in other places (depending on where you are) WLIW, CPTV and WHYY, there seems to be a good selection of non-commercial outlets. There is nothing particularly special about NJ PBS, other than a public affairs show or two. Perhaps there are a few locations where reception is troublesome that might lose out if the NJ PBS translators disappear...but with cable, satellite and streaming, that's not really an issue these days.
 
I believe the stations are still owned by the state. WNET is just the operator. So it's up to the state to find a new operator. The problem is that nobody watches. I'm sure WNET knows that. The residents of NJ seem to be satisfied getting their TV from NY or Philly. So unless the state wants to get more involved again, it's going to be tough to find a new operator. I think the four TV towers have clients on them besides NJPBS, so they're probably billing a few dollars. But not enough to staff an operation.
 
The fact that the NJ state legislature cut $750,000 from it tells me that they're done with it. They might hand it over to the state university system and let them run it as an instructional system. The four towers are located near state universities.

current.org

WNET will not renew operating agreement with state government for NJ PBS

“WNET ... looks forward to collaborating with New Jersey–based institutions interested in operating a public television network,” NJ PBS said.
current.org current.org
 
We should remember a few things...

First, WNET 13, NYC's main PBS outlet, is licensed to Newark. So it still has obligations to offer New Jersey programming.

Second, with FCC repacking, NJPBS got a LOT of money from Washington by taking two of its four transmitters off the air. It originally had Channel 50 in Montclair (North Jersey), 58 in New Brunswick (North-Central Jersey), 52 in Trenton (Central Jersey) and 23 in Camden (South-Central Jersey). It also has a few translators for places where those full power stations didn't reach. Now 50 shares 58's signal and tower and 52 shares 23's signal and tower. That means large sections of New Jersey don't get a NJ PBS signal anymore. That includes me.

What's funny is, now that Connecticut Public Television is piggybacking on a station in NYC, I get a signal from CT PBS but not from my home state.

My question is, did the money from the FCC repack run out already? I seem to remember NJ PBS got $100 million or some figure like that, for silencing two of its four full power stations. Where did it go?
 
And after the repack, NJ PBS became nearly unviewable in most of the New York City area when WNJN abandoned the Montclair tower and moved in with WNJB. Not that NYC matters, but WNJN had a good signal that covered much of northern NJ. I'm not sure what the footprints are now with just two signals–essentially WNJB and WNJS–covering the whole state.

What we can certainly say at this point is New Jersey Network won't be coming back. It's anyone's guess what happens to the stations come next July 1.
 
Rollo-Smokes said:
And after the repack, NJ PBS became nearly unviewable in most of the New York City area when WNJN abandoned the Montclair tower and moved in with WNJB.
Click to expand...

Here's what NJPBS said about that at the time:

Public Media NJ, Inc. operates NJTV pursuant to an agreement with the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority (NJPBA), which owns the FCC licenses and transmission towers for NJTV. In 2016, NJPBA participated in a nationwide FCC spectrum auction, and sold the spectrum associated with two of its four licenses.

As a result of the spectrum sale, NJPBA’s broadcast signals for NJTV were consolidated in a “channel share” arrangement, which took effect on January 23, 2018. Specifically, WNJN (Channel 50) ceased broadcasting from the Montclair tower, and began sharing a tower with WNJB (Channel 58) in New Brunswick. WNJT (Channel 52) ceased broadcasting from the Trenton tower, and began sharing a tower with WNJS (Channel 23) in Camden.

The vast majority of viewers in New Jersey should not be affected by the channel share. However, certain areas of Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut may no longer receive NJTV. These changes are beyond NJTV’s control and we are sorry that they may result in a loss of some of our loyal viewers.
Click to expand...

As far as I know, the state still owns the Trenton and Montclair towers.
 
Gregg. said:
We should remember a few things...

First, WNET 13, NYC's main PBS outlet, is licensed to Newark. So it still has obligations to offer New Jersey programming.
Click to expand...

I thought of that, but is there any such mandate for noncommercial stations?

But even there is not, strictly speaking, if I'm understanding correctly, WNET is licensed as a commercial station, and has a commercial allocation (no asterisk on the most recent FCC list for OTA channel 12 assigned to Newark), they just choose to run noncommercially. The commercial allocation dates all the way back to when channel 13 was WNTA. Has anything changed?
 
IM42A said:
I thought of that, but is there any such mandate for noncommercial stations?

But even there is not, strictly speaking, if I'm understanding correctly, WNET is licensed as a commercial station, and has a commercial allocation (no asterisk on the most recent FCC list for OTA channel 12 assigned to Newark), they just choose to run noncommercially. The commercial allocation dates all the way back to when channel 13 was WNTA. Has anything changed?
Click to expand...
Further...WATV, at the station's beginnings in 1948.
 
Rollo-Smokes said:
Further...WATV, at the station's beginnings in 1948.
Click to expand...
Yes. Both WATV and WNTA were commercial stations.

Best as I've ever been able to figure out, there is nothing preventing WNET from operating commercially, they just don't. No commercial station has to run advertising. WTSF in Ashland KY would be an example, they are Daystar-owned. (And their various merchandise for which "love offerings" are solicited is arguably commercial in nature, but then again, so are PBS tote bags and DVD sets made available during pledge drives. Kinda-sorta. Put it this way, you wouldn't get them if you didn't donate.)
 
The advantage to operating as a non-commercial license, even on a commercial allocation, is that you don't pay FCC spectrum or application fees, which is a considerable savings in a market as large as NYC.

Also, I believe CPB grants are/we're only available to stations with non-commercial licenses, and same with PBS membership.

As for any requirement to "serve" its NJ community of license, WNET has the same obligations as any other licensee, which is pretty minimal - it has to file a quarterly issues list showing very generally what issues its programming has covered that are in some way relevant to its community. It's in no way obligated to do daily NJ news.
 
Theater of My Mind said:
New Jersey PBS is expected to cease operations in July 2026 unless they can find a new non-profit funding source, following WNET’s decision not to renew its contract with them.

Since 2011, the network's operations have been outsourced to WNET, the parent company of THIRTEEN, the PBS New York affiliate, which has apparently decided to kick its redheaded stepchild from New Jersey out of the house in the wake of Trump's public media funding cuts.

newjerseyglobe.com

New Jersey PBS shutting down in July - New Jersey Globe

New Jersey PBS is expected to cease operations in July 2026 following WNET's decision not to renew its agreement, the New Jersey Globe has learned. The
newjerseyglobe.com newjerseyglobe.com
Click to expand...
Don't be surprised if WHYY in Philly gets into the NJ picture.
 
Gregg. said:
First, WNET 13, NYC's main PBS outlet, is licensed to Newark. So it still has obligations to offer New Jersey programming.
Click to expand...
That's not what the public service requirements mean. WNET can offer programming that addresses "issues" anywhere in its coverage area, which includes NYC. They don't even have to be specifically local issues.
Meaning a "Frontline" doc that addresses the high cost of housing in America's large cities is just as good as one identifying corruption in Newark's city hall.
 


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