New Jersey Network

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
New Jersey Network
statewide New Jersey
Branding NJN
Channels

Digital: see table below
Affiliations PBS
Owner New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority
Founded April 5, 1971
Call letters’ meaning all stations:
W New Jersey
4th letter: see table below
Transmitter Power see table below
Height see table below
Facility ID see table below
Transmitter Coordinates see table below
Website NJN.net

The New Jersey Network or NJN is a state-wide public television and radio network serving the U.S. state of New Jersey. It's operated by the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority.

NJN is a member of the PBS network for television and the NPR network for radio, broadcasting their programming as well as producing and broadcasting their own programming, mostly relating to issues in New Jersey. With studios in both Trenton and Newark, it has stations across the state that it uses to rebroadcast its signal.

NJN's television network covers all of New Jersey, plus parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Delaware. The radio network primarily serves several areas of New Jersey that are not covered by the Philadelphia and New York City public radio stations.

Contents

[edit] History

The system was founded in 1968 by an act of the New Jersey state legislature establishing the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority (NJPBA). New Jersey already had a public television station licensed within the state -- WNET, licensed to Newark. However, for all practical purposes, WNET was a New York City station, effectively leaving New Jersey without a public station of its own. With state funding and four UHF licenses assigned years earlier by the Federal Communications Commission, the NJPBA went to work building the state's public television network.

Due to New Jersey being split between the New York City and Philadelphia markets, NJN's television network has one of the highest viewerships in the nation. However, it directly competes with three of the highest-rated PBS stations in the country -- WNET, secondary New York City affiliate WLIW, and Philadelphia's WHYY-TV. As such, it has spent most of its existence searching to carve out a niche of its own. One of its solutions had been to air some of the more popular PBS shows on a delayed basis. Another solution has been to focus its efforts on its news operation. The latter has worked very well, as NJN and its reporters have won many awards for their journalistic efforts. In the 1980s, NJN was the first media outlet to break the "Taggart Affair" political patronage scandal.

In 2008, in the face of a proposed 35 percent cut in funding, NJN officials asked the state legislature for permission to become an independent nonprofit entity. Under this proposal, the network would likely be transferred to its nonprofit fundraising arm, the NJN Foundation. Two consultants looking into fundraising options say that breaking off from the state would trigger an avalanche of private funding.[1]

[edit] Television

As of 2009, the NJN television stations are:

Station City of license Channels
Digital (RF)/
Virtual		 First air date Fourth letter
meaning		 ERP
(Digital)		 HAAT
(Digital)		 Facility ID Transmitter Coordinates
WNJT Trenton 43(UHF)/52 April 5, 1971 Trenton 46 kW 266 m (873 ft) 48465 40°16′58″N 74°41′11″W / 40.28278°N 74.68639°W / 40.28278; -74.68639 (WNJT)
WNJS Camden 22 (UHF)/23 October 23, 1972 Southern New Jersey 197 kW 264 m (866 ft) 48481 39°43′41″N 74°50′39″W / 39.72806°N 74.84417°W / 39.72806; -74.84417 (WNJS)
WNJN1 Montclair 51 (UHF)/50 June 2, 1973 Northern New Jersey 200 kW 233 m (764 ft) 48477 40°51′53″N 74°12′3″W / 40.86472°N 74.20083°W / 40.86472; -74.20083 (WNJN)
WNJB New Brunswick 8 (VHF)/58 June 2, 1973 New Brunswick 11.2 kW 296 m (971 ft) 48457 40°45′22″N 73°59′12″W / 40.75611°N 73.98667°W / 40.75611; -73.98667 (WNJB)
Notes
  • WNJN used the callsign WNJM (the M standing for Montclair) from its 1973 sign-on to 1994.
Signal Reach
  • WNJS: all of southern New Jersey (including Atlantic City), as well as Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware
  • WNJN: all of northern New Jersey (including Newark, Jersey City and Paterson), as well as southern New York state (New York City and western Long Island) and southwestern Connecticut
  • WNJT: most of central New Jersey, partially overlapping WNJS
  • WNJB: most of north-central New Jersey, partially overlapping WNJN

[edit] Translators

Areas in the northwestern part of New Jersey are served by the following low-powered translators:

All translators directly repeat WNJN-TV's signal.

[edit] Cable/satellite availability

The network is available on all New Jersey cable systems. In addition, WNJN is available on many cable systems in the New York City area, as well as the New York DirecTV and Dish Network feeds. WNJS is available on many cable systems in the Philadelphia area, as well as the Philadelphia DirecTV and Dish Network feeds.

[edit] NJN-produced television programs

[edit] Digital television

The network's digital signals are multiplexed:

Sub-channel Programming
xx.1 main NJN/PBS programming
xx.2 JerseyVision (news/public affairs)

[edit] Analog-to-digital conversion

The four NJN stations shut down their analog signals on June 12, 2009 [2], as part of the DTV transition in the United States. Each of the four NJN stations remained on their pre-transition digital assignments[3] [4] [5] [6] using PSIP to display virtual channels for each NJN station corresponding to their former analog channel numbers.

[edit] Radio

Unlike its television counterpart, NJN Radio covers mainly southern New Jersey, with only two transmitters in the northern part of the state. The nine stations all operate at relatively low power, with none having an ERP greater than 6,000 watts. Much of the programming is from NPR with a simulcast of the audio of NJN TV's New Jersey Nightly News following All Things Considered.

Station Frequency City 4th letter
WNJP 88.5 FM Sussex Public Radio
WNJT-FM 88.1 FM Trenton Trenton
WNJS-FM 88.1 FM Berlin Southern
WNJM 89.9 FM Manahawkin Manahawkin
WNJB-FM 89.3 FM Bridgeton Bridgeton
WNJN-FM 89.7 FM Atlantic City Network
WNJZ 90.3 FM Cape May Z (New-Jer-Z)
WNJO 90.3 FM Toms River Ocean
WNJY-FM 89.3 FM Netcong Y (New JerseY)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Behrens, Steve. With its state aid shrinking, NJN asks for independence. Current, 2008-05-12.
  2. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf
  3. ^ CDBS Print
  4. ^ CDBS Print
  5. ^ CDBS Print
  6. ^ CDBS Print

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 40°13′13″N 74°45′34″W / 40.22028°N 74.75944°W / 40.22028; -74.75944

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_Network"
Personal tools