Interim Plans For Jersey Shore TV Station; Area Radio Fills In News Coverage
By David Madden
LINWOOD, N.J. (CBS) -- As we ring in the new year, there will be a major change at a South Jersey shore television station. Viewers will lose their local news outlet on Channel 40, but there are efforts to retain some local programming in 2015.
First off, the station will not go dark. Posted listings show WMGM picking up the "Soul of the South" TV network and a slew of infomercials to fill the time when NBC and syndicated programming, along with the local newscast, cease this Thursday.
Enter Longport Media, a radio chain, which will air a half-hour of local news at 6pm each night on WOND.
"We saw it as an opportunity to step in and try to fill the void," says WOND president Dave Coskey.
Longport Media is also negotiating with the owner of Channel 40, Locus Point, to provide local shows that would meet federal license requirements.
But it is expected that Channel 40 will, in time, be sold for its broadcast spectrum space, to be used to improve Internet service in the area.