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Wmgm-tv

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I'm curious to see if anyone knows when WMGM-TV moved its studios from the swamp in Swainton to the warehouse in Linwood. I heard 1990, but I may be wrong. Thanks in advance!
 
Unregistered said:
I'm curious to see if anyone knows when WMGM-TV moved its studios from the swamp in Swainton to the warehouse in Linwood. I heard 1990, but I may be wrong. Thanks in advance!
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WMGM-TV

1601 New Rd.

Linwood, NJ 08221

609-927-4440
 
It was February 10, 1990. We got orders to pack everything we could fit into our cars, tapes, files, etc. I packed after the 11pm news on the 9th. The next day, we signed on from Linwood, and moved into our cubicles. We didn't air the news that weekend to give the staff time to settle in the new building. First newscast was on a temporary set the next Monday. The new set wasn't ready for another few weeks.
 
Atlantic City up in arms about sale of local TV station

In the world of Nielsen DMAs, Atlantic City NJ is a somewhat distant outpost of Philadelphia – but it does have one local over-air full power television station. But the proposed sale of NBC 40 WMGM to a company widely believed to be a spectrum speculator has spawned a protest movement.

More...
 
WMGM to lose NBC affiliation

From Broadcasting & Cable:

WMGM Losing NBC Affiliation in Philadelphia

The Philadelphia TV market will have one fewer NBC affiliate when WMGM, licensed to Wildwood, New Jersey, loses its affiliation at the end of 2014. Comcast/NBC owns WCAU in Philadelphia, which has a Jersey Shore bureau and a reporter dedicated to South Jersey.
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More wireless bandwidth for the Jersey Shore.
 
It'd be nice if WMCN picked up the news team and newscasts. WMCN is owned by Lenfest that used to operate Suburban Cable and Tri State Media News. They might have some money in the coffers from that Comcast sale of the cable system.

Once WMGM goes off the air for wireless bandwidth, WACP will take over Channel 4 on Comcast Atlantic and Cape May systems. WACP has no programming however whatsoever besides informercials. It'd be better if WMCN got Channel 4 to make it all work without as much issue. I don't know if Lenfest would have pull to get WMCN another decent cable number on Comcast. It seems like a lot of work, but there maybe profit, if it's done over in the Lehigh Valley with WFMZ. WFMZ certainly has a better cable number than Ch.19 in the Lehigh Valley.

In HD and with people conscious enough to figure out what channel to look for, channel positioning might not matter, but it's ideally better being near to the most popular channels (KYW, WPVI, WCAU and WTXF) than somewhere between WGTW and WWSI. It's a minor point, I suppose the major one is if WMCN would focus on So. NJ rather than just all of the region. Atleast it's studio is in Cherry Hill and not King of Prussia or somewhere, so far from the COL.
 
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WMCN has no intention of being an Altantic City station. If they did, they wouldn't have relocated their studio to Cherry Hill located right behind the old Garden State Cable headquarters. They are pretending that they are a Philly station and not a very good one at that. At least they aren't broadcasting infomercials 24/7 anymore like WACP is now. By the way, on FiOS, WMCN is 19/519HD and WACP is 4/504HD. Maybe Disney and Fox could buy these two stations and maybe have South Jersey newscasts. Are both of these stations carried is all of Cape May County by Comcast? They're both carried out here in Chester County by both Comcast and Verizon.
 
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Bill_W said:
WMCN has no intention of being an Altantic City station. If they did, they wouldn't have relocated their studio to Cherry Hill located right behind the old Garden State Cable headquarters. They are pretending that they are a Philly station and not a very good one at that. At least they aren't broadcasting infomercials 24/7 anymore like WACP is now. By the way, on FiOS, WMCN is 19/519HD and WACP is 4/504HD. Maybe Disney and Fox could buy these two stations and maybe have South Jersey newscasts. Are both of these stations carried is all of Cape May County by Comcast? They're both carried out here in Chester County by both Comcast and Verizon.
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While WMCN hasn't targeted AC-Cape May in the past, maybe it was because WMGM was already doing it and WMGM had the advantage of the NBC network affiliation and CH.4 cable dial position, and the market wasn't large enough for another rival. With WMGM soon to be no longer in the picture, dynamics maybe different. You're right that WMCN has been extraneous as a Philly station, so maybe it's possible it can find So. NJ actually as it's niche. I think WMCN is the only hope although slim. Maybe it could keep two studios (one in CH and one in Pleasantville, or merge them to Hammonton) Atleast it has some shows like "Community", "Married with Children" and some local content to fill around a newscast, although if it did news, my guess is it'll lean towards the western side of Southern NJ more than than the eastern, not really servicing exactly what was lost from WMGM.

I don't see ABC or Fox buying out the stations for news purposes. In New York, which is much larger of a market, the networks just run news from the main station, with the main region as the primary focus. Like CBS bought out WLNY, but I don't think it does Long Island news. Up there, however, the cable systems carry local news channels (like News12 NJ), but even if those didn't exist, I doubt the networks would be different. There are always complaints that they don't cover NJ and peripheries of the market well. I don't see why So. NJ would be a special case for them.
 
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Now FTVLive says it's going dark.

Many expected it and now it looks like it's going to happen.

Atlantic City's WMGM was sold to LocusPoint which is buying up properties in anticipating of the spectrum auction.

NBC notified the station that the affiliation would terminate on 12/31.

While the new owners said they would continue to operate the station as an independent, sources tell FTVLive that the staff has been told will go dark on December 31.

Everyone is out of a job.

Happy New Year.
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http://ftvlive.com/todays-news/2014/10/6/atlantic-city-station-to-go-dark
 
mvcg66b3r said:
I think this may have something to do with it:

Trump Plaza closes, making it official: A third of Atlantic City’s casinos have closed this year
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...atlantic-citys-casinos-have-closed-this-year/

Maybe Atlantic City itself is cursed.
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More so now: United Airlines is leaving after eight months:

In another blow to Atlantic City, United Airlines will end flights in and out of Atlantic City International Airport on Dec. 3, saying the service to Chicago and Houston "didn't meet our expectations."

"In every market we serve, we continually review demand for the service," United said, "and our Atlantic City routes are no longer sustainable."
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http://www.philly.com/philly/busine...vice_to_and_from_Atlantic_City_on_Dec__3.html

Now the nearest major airports to Atlantic City are in Philadelphia and Newark.
 
From Myron Falwell on tvnewstalk.net:

Unfortunately, one WMGM freelancer of 30 years doesn't understand the meaning of "inevitable" and "lost cause."

Or he probably wants to publicly shame Access.1 for not engaging in what would be a money-incinerating move; that is, keeping a NBC-less WMGM alive until the spectrum auction - at which point the station would go away anyway - with a combination of infomercials and bare-bones newscasts, if that.

Or maybe Pinky's tone-deaf to the current economics of broadcast television. But what he suggests to his readers can not work and will never work. There are no minds to change, and the spectrum auction will take place regardless of how many people in Atlantic City send cards and letters to WMGM management. He's telling people to give their hopes up on a pointless exercise, and when WMGM signs off for good, he can shrug his shoulders and say, "Welp, I tried, and you tried too, blah blah blah."

The following portion of Pinky's column simply melts my brain with its outright ignorance:

I’m sure that, by now, you know of my feelings as to Atlantic City and its environs. The loss of our television station is beyond my comprehension. The station is filled with a group of young people who are determined to bring you news, sports and an assorted array of programming of interest to many of you. They work diligently and endeavor to do their very best. You can look at some of the Philadelphia stations and others to see some of those who started at WMGM TV40.

How can we stop this from happening? Talk with some of your merchants and owners of varied properties and entities that could serve as a home for the future of this station. Besiege WMGM TV40 with letters and cards urging them to do whatever they can do to find a new location and begin broadcasting again.

The outcry of the public from the loss of the only television station in southern New Jersey should be momentous. This can be stopped if each of us talks to people we know that could possibly step in and help to find the necessary funding.

Let us show the media folks around the country that we care about our community and the one major means of providing news with pictures and people talking directly to them.

We are fortunate in having a newspaper that gives us excellent coverage of what takes place in our area and provides pictures from the scene via the Internet. In addition, we have radio stations that offer local talk shows and present news every half hour throughout the day.

Television stations will be able to improve their product as there is more equipment available to produce news whereever they are taking place as well as within their studios.

The future of WMGM TV40 will be decided within the next 33 days. This portion of the column was written to make you aware of the possibility of the loss of our local television station. Don’t let it happen!
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This article in The Philadelphia Inquirer says WMGM might live on - minus NBC programs, but with more local news - on a new channel.

[T]he statement said Access.1 hoped to preserve and even expand the daily newscasts, saying it had "taken steps to continue and expand our news product on a new broadcast channel."

The statement said Access.1 - which employs about 60 people and whose contract with LocusPoint to operate the station ends Dec. 31 - would take the current news, sales, management, and administration teams and seek a new broadcast channel to continue operations.

The company said it was hopeful that this expanded newscast would find a home (and financial backing) by the spring or summer of 2015.
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http://www.philly.com/philly/busine...40_says_it_will_re-emerge_on_new_channel.html
 
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There is a model in channel 69, WFMZ-TV, another rim-shot indie heavy on local news plus re-runs and syndicated shows. Sp far, WMGM has not pushed must-carry (as WFMZ did) but they could end up on cable/fiber/satellite systems throughout the Philadelphia TV market if they so chose (like infomercial station WMCN).
 
Unless I am misunderstanding here, I think we already know what the new facility is that will replace WMGM-TV (transmitting on 36/Virtual 40).

The new one is WMGM-LD (transmitting on channel 10, surely not to be on virtual 10) which has a construction permit for a transmitter in Waterford Works (WMCN, WWSI, WNJS, etc), and is licensed to Atlantic City. It is a low-power digital station, though, and therefore won't cover Cape May County very well with its over-the-air signal. Here's a bit of irony: it appears it will put a decent over-the-air signal into the WCAU-TV studio in Bala Cynwyd.
 
Bill_W said:
The perfect solution would be WACP. It is really just a waste now with all the infomercials. They also have complete cable coverage on Comcast & Verizon (4 & 504 on FiOS) and I believe satellite coverage too.
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Possibly another option is WMCN. They pitch a create your own show model. It could air some Bounce TV programming including 'A Different World' with newscast programming on the primary channel. But I'm not sure if the on air talent from WMGM would commute to WMCN studios or if WMCN would open a studio actually in Atlantic County.

WACP has the Channel 4 position but just airs infomercials.
 
The channel is losing NBC and the newscasts as they currently are now.

Is the channel itself going off the air? The spectrum auction isn't until 2016. There is still the syndicated shows and maybe it'd slot infomercials around it until the owners finalize what they want to do.

I'd think it could sell the station to Univision so that Univision can get UniMas HD must-carry guaranteed for all cable and sat systems.
 
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ding12 said:
I'd think it could sell the station to Univision so that Univision can get UniMas HD must-carry guaranteed for all cable and sat systems.
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Or how about Daystar? They would gain a full-power outlet in the market and must-carry rights.
 
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