New Jersey ceding NJN television to N.Y. station
New Jersey has reached an agreement to turn over the operation of state-owned NJN television to a new subsidiary of WNET in New York.
Gov. Chris Christie says the new operation to be called NJTV will be contractually obligated to provide a nightly newscast on weekdays and at least 20 hours of New Jersey-centered programming each week.
“We need to have robust New Jersey public broadcasting, but we need to have it in a way that is not continuing to cost the taxpayers and can be perceived as truly independent from state government,” Christie said Monday.
Union officials say the transfer could mean the loss of 130 jobs at NJN.
Some Democrats in the Legislature say they’ll try to block the plan, but it’s not clear if there will be enough votes to prevent it.
This disclosure: WHYY is purchasing five South Jersey NJN radio transmitters from the State of New Jersey.
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