“Channel 9” moved to RF38 using 9 for its PSIP. That’s what created the opportunity for PCMC as noted above.
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NJ PBS set to shut down in July 2026
- Thread starter Theater of My Mind
- Start date
The combined population of Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Union and Passaic counties, New Jersey, is 3.7 million people covering an area not much larger than the five boroughs of NYC, comprised of one dense population block with no distinct borders between the individual towns. If this area were all one city, it would be the third largest city in the United States, behind NYC and L.A., and ahead of Chicago.
While some of those residents are NYC commuters, their political, cultural and local news interests are mainly focused on their home in New Jersey, not New York. But since mass media is all about money, every single outlet originally from New Jersey has moved itself to NYC to chase the money in the bigger, more well-defined city. Even WNET, the public broadcaster licensed to Newark, NJ, identifies as New York Public Media because New York is where they can get more donor money.
The same is true on a smaller scale in the central and southern parts of New Jersey closer to Philadelphia. Every outlet close enough to Philadelphia caters to Philadelphia, with the notable exception of WKXW which is a one-sided conservative talk outlet.
It turns out one of the most populous areas in the United States is a bit of a news desert. So, a New Jersey based public broadcaster with a mission of focusing on New Jersey news, culture and politics does fill a programming hole and really is in the best interest of its residents.
While some of those residents are NYC commuters, their political, cultural and local news interests are mainly focused on their home in New Jersey, not New York. But since mass media is all about money, every single outlet originally from New Jersey has moved itself to NYC to chase the money in the bigger, more well-defined city. Even WNET, the public broadcaster licensed to Newark, NJ, identifies as New York Public Media because New York is where they can get more donor money.
The same is true on a smaller scale in the central and southern parts of New Jersey closer to Philadelphia. Every outlet close enough to Philadelphia caters to Philadelphia, with the notable exception of WKXW which is a one-sided conservative talk outlet.
It turns out one of the most populous areas in the United States is a bit of a news desert. So, a New Jersey based public broadcaster with a mission of focusing on New Jersey news, culture and politics does fill a programming hole and really is in the best interest of its residents.
Yes, that's a foregone conclusion, when you're wedged between two of the largest cities in the United States.
Too bad one of the major networks couldn't have gotten firmly situated in New Jersey back in the early days of TV. Then you might have something like, for instance, WABC or WCBS broadcasting from Newark on channel 13 (which was originally a commercial allocation). That way, they could have been the default "news leader" for New Jersey, kind of like the role that WCAX fills in Vermont, or WMUR in New Hampshire.
What is now known as WABC was originally WJZ, located in the Westinghouse electronics plant on Broad Street in Newark. Westinghouse sold WJZ to NBC and it moved to Radio City. WOR was originally in the Bambergers department store on Market Street in Newark.
In fact Channel 13's original studios when it was a commercial TV station was next to Symphony Hall on Broad Street in Newark. NJ Public Broadcasting used those studios when it was owned by the state. So much broadcasting history that's now all forgotten.
The NJ/NYC/Philly situation is far from unique. It happens in lots of massive metro areas where there are multiple population centers in close proximity. Radio waves don't stop at political lines, and the gravitational center of mass media is always going to land where the population is largest and densest.
Places like California's Inland Empire and San Jose, Northwest Indiana, Worcester MA, Tacoma, Akron/Canton, or across the border, Hamilton, Ontario are all areas that would be significant markets on their own IF they were more separate geographically from the even larger cities nearby. But they're not.
Places like California's Inland Empire and San Jose, Northwest Indiana, Worcester MA, Tacoma, Akron/Canton, or across the border, Hamilton, Ontario are all areas that would be significant markets on their own IF they were more separate geographically from the even larger cities nearby. But they're not.
And then you have the situation in reverse, where two cities very near each other do indeed make up separate TV markets, with the dividing line being roughly equidistant from the two cities, and encompassing fairly large stretches of territory behind the respective cities in the opposite direction. Examples would include Washington and Baltimore, Cincinnati and Dayton, and even though it's kind of a bizarre situation (a very large market right next to a small one), Pittsburgh and Wheeling/Steubenville. The W-S market ends literally five (Steubenville) to ten (Wheeling) miles east of its core cities, and then goes fairly deep into eastern Ohio.