N.J. just made a huge deal to sell 2 public television stations

TRENTON -- New Jersey has sold off two regional public broadcasting television licenses for $332 million in a nationwide auction of broadcast television spectrum for wireless network providers.

New Jersey cleaned up in the auction, with the country's top and fourth-highest-grossing non-commercial licenses sold. It will receive $194 million for WNJN Channel 51 Montclair and $138 million for WNJT Channel 43 Trenton.

Both licenses sat on prime spots of the ultra-high frequency band, while the two licenses that didn't sell -- WNJB Channel 8 New Brunswick and WNJS Channel 22 Camden -- were on less desirable spectrum.

The maximum the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority could have received for relinquishing all four stations was $2.3 billion, but state officials made clear those types of proceeds were not realistic.

Read more: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/04/nj_sold_two_public_television_stations_for_332m.html