NJN Final Broadcast

[MickeyD]

I fail to see what difference moving either radio station to NYC afffects the programming. You can hear it in the old city of license and who really does public affiars programming today?

Fine. You want to save the state a lot of money? Sell Rutgers to University of Phoenix. And shut down the Sports & Exposition Authority. Why does my tax money subsidize horse racing?

I am sure that if you weren't told you would know where a program originates from. So all of a sudden you live in NJ.

 

[TheBigA]

I am sure that if you weren't told you would know where a program originates from. So all of a sudden you live in NJ.

That's not the point. New Jersey gets a bad rap from everyone. It's the Garbage State. Hypodermic needles wash up on its beaches. And there are oil refineries and nuclear plants all over the place. Burial ground for the Mafia. That's the outsider's view of the state. Tell someone from out of state you're going to the Jersey Shore. What reaction do you get? "Say hi to Snookie." Then you have the Housewives show. That's how out-of-staters portray New Jersey. Don't you think it's in the economic best interest of the state to attempt to change that image? Some states invest in improving their image. Not New Jersey.

 

[musichead1029]

I am sure that if you weren't told you would know where a program originates from. So all of a sudden you live in NJ.

That's not the point. New Jersey gets a bad rap from everyone. It's the Garbage State. Hypodermic needles wash up on its beaches. And there are oil refineries and nuclear plants all over the place. Burial ground for the Mafia. That's the outsider's view of the state. Tell someone from out of state you're going to the Jersey Shore. What reaction do you get? "Say hi to Snookie." Then you have the Housewives show. That's how out-of-staters portray New Jersey. Don't you think it's in the economic best interest of the state to attempt to change that image? Some states invest in improving their image. Not New Jersey.

New Jersey getting themselves out of the position of being among the highest taxed states in every category would do a wealth of good in the arenas of retaining wealthy citizens, businesses and retirees. That would speak much more loudly about the state than retaining some little-viewed television and radio network.

 

[TheBigA]

New Jersey getting themselves out of the position of being among the highest taxed states in every category would do a wealth of good in the arenas of retaining wealthy citizens, businesses and retirees. That would speak much more loudly about the state than retaining some little-viewed television and radio network.

Sorry but eliminating an $11 million network isn't going to solve a multi billion dollar budget crisis, or even begin to lower taxes. This was a political decision, not an economic one.

 

[musichead1029]

New Jersey getting themselves out of the position of being among the highest taxed states in every category would do a wealth of good in the arenas of retaining wealthy citizens, businesses and retirees. That would speak much more loudly about the state than retaining some little-viewed television and radio network.

Sorry but eliminating an $11 million network isn't going to solve a multi billion dollar budget crisis, or even begin to lower taxes. This was a political decision, not an economic one.

One wasteful line-item at a time. Pretty soon you're talking about real money. And politically, if you can't cut something as blatantly nonessential as state run broadcasting, you can't cut anything. So now, NJ has proved it can cut something. Onward and upward!

 

[TheBigA]

One wasteful line-item at a time. Pretty soon you're talking about real money. And politically, if you can't cut something as blatantly nonessential as state run broadcasting, you can't cut anything. So now, NJ has proved it can cut something. Onward and upward!
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Had this been part of a plan, had it been grouped with other absolutely useless divisions like Sports & Exposition Authority, I might have agreed. But they gave away an important resource to out of staters, who'll use it for their own purposes. Meanwhile, residents are dependent on other states to tell them who's running for office. Maybe that's really the plan. Dumb down the electorate.

 

[amfmsw]

A, just to clarify, the sports and exposition authority, while a political football, is self sustaining. it is income generating, bringing IN millions in revenue to state coffers annually. it fills atlantic city's boardwalk hall many times over annually making it the nations top billing mid size arena many years in a row. conventions, concerts, ncaa, boxing matches (nationally televised) all fill hotel rooms and restaurant seats, all taxed and sent to trenton. the same at the wildwods convention center. further north at pnc, meadowlands and newark, they generate revenue with the nfl, nhl, nba and concert events. it's been mentiond that the state needs to market itself, this authority does exactly that, with it's own budget. meanwhile, njn consumed more dollars than it generated.

 

[Bill_W]

I am sure that if you weren't told you would know where a program originates from. So all of a sudden you live in NJ.

New Jersey gets a bad rap from everyone. It's the Garbage State. Hypodermic needles wash up on its beaches.

And that's the fault of NEW YORK!!

 

[TheBigA]

A, just to clarify, the sports and exposition authority, while a political football, is self sustaining.

I think you may be overstating this. Just a few months ago, the Star Ledger did a pretty damning story about S&E that said they've been asleep on the job. The Big M Meadowlands race track has been losing money. The big factor there has been that it's in disrepair. When it was new, people would go because it was a nice place to be. Not any more. The Meadowlands arena is losing tenants. The Devils moved to the Prudential Center. The Nets will be moving to Brooklyn. After that, it will be one huge empty building. They're still paying for Giants Stadium even though it was demolished last year.

 

[musichead1029]

One wasteful line-item at a time. Pretty soon you're talking about real money. And politically, if you can't cut something as blatantly nonessential as state run broadcasting, you can't cut anything. So now, NJ has proved it can cut something. Onward and upward!

Had this been part of a plan, had it been grouped with other absolutely useless divisions like Sports & Exposition Authority, I might have agreed. But they gave away an important resource to out of staters, who'll use it for their own purposes.

NJN was not an important resource. It was a little-consumed money sink. Let a real broadcasting entity create some value out of the facilities without tapping the taxpayer for nothing.

Meanwhile, residents are dependent on other states to tell them who's running for office.

Which they can do as well as anyone else. There are also plenty of in-state cable and internet resources available to interested citizens regarding their election choices and issues. Judging by NJN's ratings, they weren't attracting much interest with their political coverage.

Maybe that's really the plan. Dumb down the electorate.

Given where we are today, I don't think that's possible. They may have hit rock bottom. Making substantive decisions on where to save and spend money wisely by knocking down former 'sacred cows' like NJN may be the beginning of the road back to citizen engagement in responsive government.

 

[TheBigA]

Let a real broadcasting entity create some value out of the facilities without tapping the taxpayer for nothing.

That would be wonderful, but so far, it hasn't happened. Commercial broadcasting has mostly left NJ. Only NJ 101.5 and News 12 actually do real news reporting. That's simply not enough for a state with NJ's population. Are you suggesting that WNET and WHYY are "real broadcasting entities?" Really?

As I said in an earlier post, I supported turning over operations and salaries of NJN to the Foundation. Have them pay for programming the way it's done in most states.

I'll say this again, since you obviously didn't read my previous post: I'm no defender of NJN. They used to do a good job. But like most things in the state, they've been lazy and sloppy. They needed real management and direction, and haven't had that for years. It's embarrassing that a state with the population and resources of NJ can't do what smaller states have done. Who is going to make sure that WNET actually fulfills the terms of its contract and provides real news coverage for NJ?

 

[pab]

Even the old NJN did jack as far as most of South Jersey is concerned, and I expect NJTV to do even less if that's at all possible. If he was going to lease the stations to WNET he should have at least tried to lease WNJS to WHYY or WYBE.

 

[musichead1029]

I'm no defender of NJN. They used to do a good job. But like most things in the state, they've been lazy and sloppy. They needed real management and direction, and haven't had that for years.

Handing them off to a broadcaster that has some experience and the incentive to make something of the facilities should change that for the better. But don't expect miracles. With WNET/WNYC and WHYY, there really isn't the need for a shadow PBS/NPR net for general programming.

Who is going to make sure that WNET actually fulfills the terms of its contract and provides real news coverage for NJ?

That would be the same government that did a poor job of running the network in the first place. As I said, don't expect miracles.

 

[TheBigA]

Handing them off to a broadcaster that has some experience and the incentive to make something of the facilities should change that for the better.

This was a fire sale deal aimed strictly at Christie satisfying his Republican friends who hate NPR. Nothing more or less. So he looks like a hero, and the state gets nothing in return.

 

[musichead1029]

Handing them off to a broadcaster that has some experience and the incentive to make something of the facilities should change that for the better.

This was a fire sale deal aimed strictly at Christie satisfying his Republican friends who hate NPR. Nothing more or less. So he looks like a hero, and the state gets nothing in return.

The broke state gets $11M back in its budget every year. That was the goal. NJN was a drain on the budget. It didn't produce anything of lasting value. So giving it away wasn't a fire sale, it was the liquidation of a negative balance. They could have shut it down and sold off the assets and probably made out slightly better.

 

[TheBigA]

The broke state gets $11M back in its budget every year. That was the goal. NJN was a drain on the budget. It didn't produce anything of lasting value. So giving it away wasn't a fire sale, it was the liquidation of a negative balance. They could have shut it down and sold off the assets and probably made out slightly better.

The state will lose $4 million a year in tower rentals. WNET will now get that money. The state will continee to pay benefits to all retired staffers. So there still will be costs associated with this. The entire $11 mil won't go back into the budget.

The governor COULD have turned over all hard costs to the Foundation. He chose to give it to WNET, which still ignores NJ even though it's licensed to the state.

 

[MickeyD]

I am sure that if you weren't told you would know where a program originates from. So all of a sudden you live in NJ.

That's not the point. New Jersey gets a bad rap from everyone. It's the Garbage State. Hypodermic needles wash up on its beaches. And there are oil refineries and nuclear plants all over the place. Burial ground for the Mafia. That's the outsider's view of the state. Tell someone from out of state you're going to the Jersey Shore. What reaction do you get? "Say hi to Snookie." Then you have the Housewives show. That's how out-of-staters portray New Jersey. Don't you think it's in the economic best interest of the state to attempt to change that image? Some states invest in improving their image. Not New Jersey.

I/We don't really care what anyone thinks of NJ. NJ isn't anything like the crap you see on TV about it. NJN served no purpose and should have had the plug pulled on it years ago. Instead of fixing a problem, they would just raise the taxes! Why do you think we have the highest taxes in the country? It ain't from Christie!

 

[TheBigA]

I/We don't really care what anyone thinks of NJ.

No one is asking you. The state is supposed to present a positive image to the rest of the country in order to attract new business and new jobs. The media can do that. Too bad there's no media left in the state. If media companies won't stay in NJ, and instead move to NY, why should any other business? MSNBC used to broadcast from Fort Lee, but they moved back to NYC. Why the high taxes? Business keeps leaving. Declining tax base. What happened to all the auto plants in the state? Gone. The only employer left is the state itself. If the state used media to present a positive impage, perhaps some business might move back. Instead they spend taxpayer money propping up aging horse tracks. How often do you go to the track? But you pay for it.

 

[musichead1029]

If media companies won't stay in NJ, and instead move to NY, why should any other business? MSNBC used to broadcast from Fort Lee, but they moved back to NYC. Why the high taxes? Business keeps leaving. Declining tax base.

Then you "right-size" the expenditures to the base. That's what the citizens of NJ are asking their government to do. Businesses and people are leaving NJ, NY and Connecticut because they have all failed to produce workable budgets and seem to think they'll be able to raise taxes ad infinitum.

The first things to go when restructuring a budget are the nonessentials. NJN was justifiably near the top of that list.

 

[TheBigA]

The first things to go when restructuring a budget are the nonessentials. NJN was justifiably near the top of that list.

You can't convince a lifelong broadcaster that broadcasting isn't essential. Especially on a broadcasting message board. You may get politicians to agree, but not me.

In my view, race tracks are non-essential, especially when they lose money. Owning and maintaining a governor's residence, especially when he chooses not to live in it, is not essential. All of the state cars given to employees are not essential. And they're not required by union contract. But they still get them year after year. There's a ton of fat still in the budget. There is nothing you can say that leads me to believe giving away limited broadcasting channels is less valuable than giving state employees a car.