Station instead opted to devote a half hour of coverage tonight to analysis of governor's address
NJ Today anchor Mike Schneider is shown in this file photo. NJTV is taking heat for not broadcasting Gov. Chris Christie's press conference earlier today, though the station said it's devoting the entire half hour of Schneider's show to analysis of the address. TRENTON — Many local and national TV stations broadcasted Gov. Chris Christie’s Big Decision today, but NJTV wasn’t one of them. Instead, the new operator of the state’s public TV network stuck with "Angelina Ballerina" and the rest of its regular lineup.
And that angered several New Jersey lawmakers, who called NJTV’s decision "an embarrassment" and "a boondoggle."
"This was an event of great interest to the people of New Jersey and something many would want to view first-hand," Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex) said in a statement. "Every news outlet in New Jersey and several across the nation were covering this event, and yet New Jersey’s own television station was showing a cartoon."
Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) also criticized the station.
"Once again they’ve dropped the ball and it’s the people of New Jersey who end up on the losing end," Burzichelli said.
NJTV said it did not broadcast live coverage of the press conference, but it devoted the entire half-hour of tonight's "NJ Today" to discussion and analysis of it.
"We are working towards bringing live broadcasts for pertinent events to our viewers in the future, starting with our upcoming election night coverage," spokeswoman Debra Falk said in an e-mail today.
NJTV took control of the former New Jersey Network on July 1, after Christie officials signed a five-year deal with Public Media/NJ, a subsidiary of Channel 13/WNET. Lawmakers attempted to nix the contract, as was their right in the legislation that allowed the state to get out of running a TV network. Led by Burzichelli and Diegnan, the Assembly successfully passed a resolution to nullify it. But the Senate was one vote short of passing a similar resolution, and so the deal went through.
As part of the contract, the state provides more than $4 million a year in federal grants and state revenue to the nonprofit Public Media in exchange for Jersey-centric programs, as well as public television staples like "Masterpiece Theatre" and "Charlie Rose." The contract requires NJTV to coverage election night.
NJTV officials said they needed a few months to get up to speed, hire staff and plan programming. They promised a nightly public affairs program dedicated to state news and issues, and other New Jersey-centric shows, by Labor Day.
Diegnan said NJTV’s failure to coverage today's announcement proves the deal with NJTV should be canceled.
"This station has been an embarrassment," he said. "Since the governor has decided to continue to serve the citizens of New Jersey, I suggest he start by directing his legal staff to nullify the contract with NJTV."
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