PREPARED FOR STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY, DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATION
Project No. 4050131
TECHNICAL OVERVIEW OF NEW JERSEY NETWORK TELEVISION STATIONS
AS OF DECEMBER 1, 2010
January 27, 2011 Mr. Michael Jonas, Operations Manager Mr. Rick Williams, Assistant Director, NJN Engineering 50 West State Street, 8th Floor PO Box 211 Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0211 Phone: (609) 777-5257 Re: Technical Overview of Television Stations WNJN(TV), WNJB(TV), WNJT(TV),
WNJS(TV), and Television Translators W36AZ, W49BE and W43CH, licensed to Montclair, New Brunswick, Trenton, Camden, Sussex, Hackettstown and Belvidere, New Jersey, respectively, as of December 1, 2010
Dear Mr. Jonas and Mr. Williams:
Pursuant to your request, BIA Advisory Services, LLC (d/b/a BIA/Kelsey) has inspected
selected tangible assets and technical facilities of WNJN(TV), WNJB(TV), WNJT(TV), WNJS(TV), and Television Translators W36AZ, W49BE and W43CH, for the purpose of performing an on-site engineering due diligence of the stations’ facilities, note technical concerns, and provide an estimate of future capital expenditures, as of December 1, 2010.
Respectfully Submitted, BIA Advisory Services, LLC
Geoffrey C. Price Vice President
15120 Enterprise Court, Suite 100 Chantilly, Virginia 20151
Phone: 703.818.2425 Fax: 703.803.3299 www.bia.com
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STATEMENT OF INTRODUCTION
Statement of Introduction
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STATEMENT OF INTRODUCTION
BIA Advisory Services, LLC (d/b/a BIA/Kelsey) has been authorized by the State of New Jersey to perform an on-site engineering due diligence of the broadcast facilities of Television Stations WNJN(TV), WNJB(TV), WNJT(TV), WNJS(TV), and Television Translators W36AZ, W49BE and W43CH, note technical concerns, and provide an estimate of future capital expenditures for the stations, as of December 1, 2010. These stations operate as part of the New Jersey Network, a statewide public broadcasting network. Sidney E. Shumate, a broadcast engineer contracted by BIA/Kelsey, visited some of the stations’ facilities on November 18, 19 and 23, 2010. For the remaining stations, Mr. Shumate relied on an inventory provided by New Jersey Network.
In the course of the report, BIA/Kelsey was provided with industry related data and other
information. BIA/Kelsey has made no investigation as to the accuracy of this data or to the title of any of the assets.
Purpose and Methodology The purpose of this report is to relate the results of an on-site engineering due diligence
of the New Jersey Network’s television facilities. This report is being prepared in order to determine the condition of the stations’ facilities, note any technical deficiencies, and determine what the stations’ future capital expenditure needs may be.
While calculating future capital expenditures for the stations, the appraiser used current
industry equipment prices appearing in appropriate manufacturers’ price lists and catalogs or solicited current market data from dealers of used equipment as well as relying upon published used equipment price lists, catalogs, and listings in trade magazines and publications. The appraiser also discussed current market trends with used equipment dealers/brokers and manufacturers.
Statement of Introduction
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Appraisal Certificate This engineering due diligence of the New Jersey Network television stations has been
made for the purpose of performing an on-site engineering inspection of the stations’ transmitter facilities, note technical concerns, and provide an estimate of future capital expenditures for the stations, as of December 1, 2010.
The appraiser was not informed of any serious structural deficiencies with any of the
stations’ facilities and technical equipment, except if stated elsewhere in this report. BIA/Kelsey assumes no responsibility for conformity to specific local and Federal government requirements or for any hidden defects in either the real or personal property.
Rights and Limiting Conditions
It should be noted that this report on the technical facilities of the New Jersey Network television stations has been prepared exclusively for State of New Jersey, including any advisors and designees, and is not to be reproduced in whole or in part for any reason without the express written consent of State of New Jersey and BIA/Kelsey.
The appraisers assume no responsibility for matters of a legal nature affecting the
properties inspected. The appraisers also assumed property free and clear of all liens and other encumbrances. The information provided by the clients was assumed to be accurate and no steps were taken to independently verify the material.
This report is valid only for the report date or dates specified herein and only for the
appraisal purpose specified herein. The client warrants that any reports, analyses, or other documents prepared for it by the appraisers will be used only in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
Statement of Introduction
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Statement of Appraisers’ Independence
• The statements of fact contained in this report are, to the best of the appraisers’ knowledge, true and correct.
• The reported analyses, opinions and conclusions are limited only by the reported
assumptions and limiting conditions, are our personal, unbiased professional analyses, opinions and conclusions.
• BIA/Kelsey has no present or prospective interest in the properties that are the subject of this report, and has no personal interest or bias with respect to the parties involved
• BIA/Kelsey’s compensation is not contingent on an action or event resulting from the
analyses, opinions, or conclusions in, or the use of, this report.
• BIA/Kelsey’s analyses, opinions and conclusions were developed, and this report has been prepared, in conformity with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).
• No one provided significant professional assistance to the persons signing this report.
BIA ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC (BIA/KELSEY) Geoffrey C. Price Sidney E. Shumate Vice President Broadcast Engineer
15120 Enterprise Court, Suite 100 Chantilly, VA 20151
703-818-2425 January 27, 2011
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TECHNICAL OVERVIEW
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TECHNICAL OVERVIEW OF NEW JERSEY NETWORK TELEVISION STATIONS
The tangible assets of the four New Jersey Network (NJN) full power Television Stations WNJN(TV), WNJB(TV), WNJT(TV), WNJS(TV), and three Television Translators W36AZ, W49BE and W43CH, all programmed from studios in Trenton, New Jersey, that the appraiser inspected and identified include: land, leasehold improvements, buildings, towers, television antenna systems, television transmitter equipment, technical equipment, ENG/EFP equipment, microwave equipment, translator equipment, satellite equipment, two-way radio equipment, ENG/EFP vehicles, program/production materials and supplies, furniture and fixtures, office equipment, test equipment, tools, and spare parts.
An inspection and appraisal inventory of the NJN television technical operations center
(TOC) in Trenton, and the WNJT(TV) transmitter site, was performed by Sidney E. Shumate for BIA Advisory Services, LLC, (d/b/a BIA/Kelsey), on November 18-19 and 22-23, 2010. The WNJS(TV) transmitter site had been visited and inspected by the appraiser on October 13, 2010, as part of a recent and related appraisal of the radio tangible assets of NJN. The appraiser was provided with an inventory of all technical assets, a schedule of real estate owned and leased by NJN, engineering diagrams of the Trenton studios, and other related financial and technical records. Mr. Richard Williams, Assistant Director of Engineering for NJN, conducted the tour of the Trenton studios, and of the visited radio and television transmitter sites, and provided information concerning the radio stations technical equipment, engineering maintenance procedures, and operating practices. The appraiser compared his appraisal inventories to the NJN inventory, supplementing where necessary, and then relied primarily on the NJN inventory to value the uninventoried sites on a Mass Appraisal basis.
When performing a Mass Appraisal, it is assumed, except as noted, that the uninspected
sites are of similar age and condition to the sites inspected. The assets are discussed below. This report represents an overview of the technical facilities based on information provided by station personnel or based on the inspector’s visual observation during a combined due diligence inspection and appraisal inspection and inventory. No measurements, other than the recording of transmitter readings and informal off-air tests, were performed in order to verify proper operation
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or compliance with any federal laws on any equipment in the facilities or in the field. All comments regarding the condition of the tangible assets at the inspected sites are based on observations made during the appraiser’s inspections. Unless otherwise stated in this report, all references to the condition of an asset or assets apply as of the date of the appraiser’s inspection.
Stations Overview All four of the NJN television stations and the three television translators are licensed to
the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority (NJPBA), which was founded in 1968 by an act of the New Jersey State Legislature.
WNJN(TV), licensed to Montclair, New Jersey, is a non-commercial UHF digital
television (DTV) station, licensed to transmit on Channel 51 with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 200 kilowatts (kW), with a non-directional pattern, at an antenna height above average terrain (HAAT) of 764 feet. NJPBA also holds a Construction Permit (CP) for WNJN, BPEDT-20080620ALF, to increase ERP to 443 kW at a HAAT of 778 feet.
WNJB(TV), licensed to New Brunswick, New Jersey, is a non-commercial DTV station, licensed to transmit on VHF Channel 8 with an ERP of 17.9 kW, at a HAAT of 705 feet, utilizing a directional pattern. Due to interference issues with WABC(TV) in the New York, NY market and WGAL(TV) in the Lancaster, PA market, WNJB is operating under a Special Temporary Authority (STA), file number BDSTA-20100107ADL, with 40.82 kW of ERP from an antenna HAAT of 715 feet. NJPBA has submitted an application for WNJB, BMPEDT-20100107ACX, to increase ERP to 21.72 kW at a HAAT of 715 feet.
WNJT(TV), licensed to Trenton, New Jersey, is a non-commercial UHF DTV station, licensed to transmit on Channel 43 with an ERP of 46 kW, at a HAAT of 873 feet, with a non-directional pattern. NJPBA also holds a CP for WNJT, BPEDT-20080620AGH, to increase ERP to 59.4 kW.
WNJS(TV), licensed to Camden, New Jersey, is a non-commercial UHF DTV station, licensed to transmit on Channel 22 with an ERP of 197 kW, at a HAAT of 866 feet, with a non-directional pattern. NJPBA also holds a CP for WNJS, BPEDT-20080620ALH, to increase ERP to 566 kW. WNJS identifies itself as Channel 23, its former analog channel.
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W36AZ is a UHF television low power analog translator licensed to Sussex, New Jersey.
W36AZ is licensed to transmit on Channel 36 with 14.6 kW of ERP, at a height above ground level of 53 feet.
W49BE is a UHF television low power analog translator licensed to Hackettstown, New Jersey. W49BE is licensed to transmit on Channel 49 with 10 kW of ERP, at a height above ground level of 138 feet.
W43CH is a UHF television low power analog translator licensed to Belvidere, New Jersey. W43CH is licensed to transmit on Channel 43 with 1 kW of ERP, at a height above ground level of 115 feet.
Overview of Station Facilities Studios and Offices of the New Jersey Network Television Stations All four of the NJN Television Stations normally simulcast the same statewide-
networked program feed, originating from the NJN Technical Operations Center (TOC) in Trenton. The TOC, with four full production studios, live production control rooms, multiple post-production facilities, master control facilities, main newsroom for the state network, and operations and executive offices, occupy a 100,000 square foot building with six stories above ground, basement electrical and woodworking shops, and a sub-basement containing an emergency generator and main power conditioning, switching, and power and telephone distribution equipment. The sixth floor includes a microwave and satellite equipment room, with the rest being rooftop on which the satellite receive antennas are mounted. An approximately 60 foot tall self-supporting studio-to-transmitter link (STL) tower, which appeared to be in good condition, is mounted atop the sixth floor equipment room. This facility, constructed specifically for NJN’s use in 1992, is owned by the State of New Jersey and leased by NJN, and is located at 25 South Stockton Street, in Trenton.
The NJN radio studios are co-located at the Trenton TOC. The radio studios, work room,
tape storage room and office occupy six rooms, primarily on the fourth floor, and rack space in the central rack room and sixth floor microwave and satellite equipment room. In addition, the
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NJN radio stations maintain one satellite dish on the roof. The rest of the building is occupied by the television operations, and by administrative, operations, and engineering offices and shops that support both the television and radio operations.
The NJN Newark studios occupy three leased floors of a hotel building, and are located at
50 Park Place, in Newark, New Jersey. NJN also operates a news bureau, identified as the South Jersey News Bureau, located near Atlantic City, in leased office space located at Room E035, Richard Stockton State College, in Pomona. The appraiser was not contracted to visit the Newark studios and the South Jersey News Bureau, and relied on the NJN inventory, financial records, and information from Mr. Williams, for this paragraph of the report.
Studio Equipment of the New Jersey Network Television Operations With respect to NJN Television stations WNJT, WNJN, WNJB, and WNJS, NJPBA
owns and maintaisn technical equipment for use in their daily broadcast operations. The air control rooms, the “master control” center that controls the distribution of the signals to the transmitter sites, have been recently refitted (2008-09) with new Barco and Miranda Kaliedo visual monitoring systems, are completely automated and digital, providing a nearly tapeless operating environment. The air control rooms utilize video and audio storage of most, if not all, programming and announcements on Omneon video servers. The NJN stations can receive, store and transmit programming in High Definition. Most local origination is in standard definition, often up-converted from analog. While the production suites are being converted to second or third generation AVID desktop editing suites, many with High Definition capability, the live studios are operating with aging production switching systems, manufactured primarily by Grass Valley, often dating to the original equipping of the TOC in 1992. The studios were designed to support both analog video and audio, and serial digital standard definition signal distribution when they were installed in the early 1990’s. The studios have both aging analog and more recent serial digital routing systems manufactured by Grass Valley and nVision. The studio cameras are standard definition, studio configured Sony cameras, capable of being switched from 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratios. The news operation is utilizing primarily Sony serial digital standard definition field camcorders, and editing equipment that is a mix of analog and desktop editing system equipment to produce the news. Where videotape is still being used, Sony MPEG IMX digital multi-format recorders are the primary choice of format, with aging capability for BetacamSP, Betacam, Umatic and 1 inch type C still available for use in utilizing archive and injesting (converting to digital) outside source material arriving on videotape.
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Other equipment in use at the NJN television studios and production suites in Trenton
includes: Grass Valley, Panasonic, Yamaha and Mackie audio consoles; JBL, Electro-Voice, Crown, Symetrix, Fostex, Roland, and Wohler audio monitoring; RTS intercom and cue systems; Leitch master and slave clock display systems; Vinten studio pedestals and pan-tilt heads; QTV teleprompters; Mole, Strand-Century, Kliegl, and Desisti lighting fixtures and elevator-equipped studio lighting systems; Colortran studio dimming systems; Electro-Voice, Shure and Sony wired and wireless microphones; Sony, Ikegami, Panasonic, Electrohome, and JVC video monitoring; Tektronix and Videotek waveform monitoring; Orban, Symetrix, Rane and Yamaha audio processing; 360 systems digital audio storage and editing systems; Evertz, Leitch, and Grass Valley routing, distribution, and format conversion systems; Sony, Tektronix and For-A frame synchronizers; and ADC video and audio patch panels and audio and video studio interface wiring panels. The Trenton studio technical equipment, except as noted, appeared to be in overall fair-to-good condition.
NJN Television Program Delivery Network The stations are connected with an extensive, two-way, microwave relay system and
electronic newsgathering microwave link system. Most of the 2GHz microwave transmitters and receivers used for newsgathering, have been replaced by new NuComm microwave equipment, controlled by Troll remote control systems, within the past two years, as per the nationwide swap-out of equipment agreement resulting from the FCC microwave band realignment. NuComm and older Microwave Radio Twin Stream and FLR-series transmitters and receivers are used for the STL and Intercity Relay links. The NJN Radio stations also utilize additional subcarriers on the television station’s microwave relay system for a major part of their signal relay system, out to the co-located television and radio transmitter sites.
The microwave STL relay system delivers the television signals from the TOC, in
downtown Trenton, to the co-located WNJT and WNJT-FM transmitter site located in the northeast suburbs of Trenton, via two-way 13 GHz microwave television relay links.
From the WNJT transmitter site, the signal path splits north and south. The northern leg
utilizes microwave relay links to the WNJB New Brunswick television transmitter site in Warren Township. From the WNJB site, microwave relay links feed to the WNJN television transmitter in Montclair. The microwave relay system also extends to the Newark Studios. From the WNJB
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site, the radio audio signals are relayed onward via NJN radio’s 944 MHz FM radio STL links, one to Hamburg Mountain, where television translator W36AZ and the WNJP FM transmitter are located, and one to WNJY (FM) at Netcong.
The southern microwave relay link leaves the WNJT transmitter site, and is relayed, via 7
GHz television microwave relay links to the Mt. Laurel (formerly Mt. Holly) microwave relay site at 1020 Briggs Road, in Mt. Laurel. From the Mt. Laurel site, the signal is again relayed via 7 GHz television microwave relay links to the WNJS Camden television transmitter site in Waterford Township, at which the WNJS-FM radio transmitter is co-located. From the Waterford Township site, television microwave relay links extend to the Stockton Microwave relay site tower located at 46 W. Jimmie Leeds Road, at Stockton State College, near Pomona, NJ, near where the NJN South Jersey News Bureau is located. The radio audio signals arriving via the television microwave relay system are also demodulated and relayed from the WNJS (TV) and WNJS-FM Waterford Township site via NJN radio’s 945 MHz radio STL links to WNJZ, WNJN-FM, WNJM-FM, and from WNJM-FM over the air to WNJO(FM).
At the three television translator sites, W36AZ, W43CH, and W49BE, the primary digital
television program feed is received off-the-air from the associated full-power DTV transmitter, and down-converted to provide a single analog program feed to the still-analog translator transmitters.
The microwave relay antennas and transmission line systems utilize a mix of Andrew,
Mark, Cablewave, Nurad, Microwave Radio and RFS equipment. Overall, the inspected microwave relay systems, not including the nearly new NuComm equipment, appeared to be in fair-to-good condition.
The Trenton operations center has multiple satellite receive antennas mounted atop the
roof; the larger dishes have permanent roof mounts and range up to 5 meters in size, several of which are heater-equipped for snow or ice conditions. The satellite dish antennas include those by ADC, Vertex, Miralite and Andrew Receivers include MPEG receivers by Standard and General Instruments. The satellite receive equipment appeared to be in overall fair condition.
Other tangible assets inspected include program/production materials and supplies,
furniture and fixtures, office equipment, and spare parts. At the time of the appraiser’s inspection, the custom wood and Formica studio technical furniture, which had been primarily
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professionally built in-house, appeared to be in overall good condition. The office furniture and studio chairs appeared to be in overall fair-to-good condition. Overall, except where noted, the tangible assets of the NJN Television Network appeared to be in fair-to-good condition.
NJN Vehicles The general-use vehicles utilized by the NJN are part of the state motor pool and,
therefore, are not included in the appraisal. Parking space for the general-use vehicles and NJN employees is in the parking garage across the street, which is part of the Motor Vehicles Commission offices.
The specialty ENG/EFP and production vehicles owned and utilized by the New Jersey
Public Broadcasting Authority include a production remote truck utilizing a box-bed mounted on a cab-over Sterling chassis. This production remote truck is equipped with roll-in racks for rapid reconfiguration, and capable of High Definition digital production. A separate satellite uplink truck is also equipped for microwave relay use. Two ENG microwave relay vans are based out of Trenton. The newer van is equipped for multiple-camera basic operation and editing as well as microwave relay, while the older van is a basic ENG microwave relay-only truck. The NJN production truck, the satellite truck, and the newer ENG van, are parked in garages that are part of the NJN TOC building, and the oldest ENG truck is parked on adjacent, fenced-in property. The NJN ENG/EFP vehicles appeared to be in average-to-good condition for their age and use.
WNJT Transmitter Site The WNJT transmitter site is located at 301 Grover’s Mill Road in Lawrence Township,
Mercer County, on the northeast outskirts of Trenton near the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and I-295. This land is owned by the Division of Parks and Forestry (DEP) and currently leased by NJN. However, the purchase of this land by NJPBA is reported by NJN to be in negotiation. NJPBA owns the transmitter building and an 900-foot tall Stainless G-8 guyed tower structure at this site, which was constructed in 1971.
The building appeared to be in fair to good condition. The relatively recent Comark
analog television transmitter, made obsolete by the digital transition in June 2009, and now surplus, is still installed and in place.
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The tower appeared to be in fair condition, with weakening of the outer northwest tower anchor due to ground water damage resulting from a beaver dam, for which corrective funding has been authorized. In addition, a calculation error during a pre-digital refit tower analysis, performed by the tower manufacturer, resulted in a tower overloading error created during refitting for digital transmission.
The antenna system for WNJT includes a Dielectric TUA-04-12/48H-1-R wideband
antenna, approximately 1,000 feet of rigid transmission line, and a multi-station combiner that is currently in use by the DTV transmission and for a lessee, and previously for the analog transmission. The antenna system appeared to be in good condition. The WNJT DTV transmitter is a Thales solid state UHF transmitter in good condition. Other transmitter equipment includes Sencore, Belar and Tektronix monitoring, and Access remote control systems, all of which appeared to be in overall fair-to-good condition.
WNJS Transmitter Site The WNJS transmitter site is located at 1647 Arrowhead Drive in Waterford Township,
Camden County. The appraiser visited and inspected this site as part of the radio appraisal and due diligence inspection in October 2010, but inventoried only the radio equipment during the visit. The ownership of the land at this transmitter site continues to be in dispute. Reportedly, the land was transferred from the Division of Parks and Forestry (DEP) in 1971 for a consideration of $26,200, but the DEP disputed the ownership in 1998, and Governor Hughes never signed off on the resolution agreement. This issue remains unresolved. NJPBA owns the transmitter building and an 820-foot guyed tower structure at this site, which was constructed in 1972. The WNJS antenna system includes a Dielectric TFU-30GBH-R 06 DC non-directional UHF pylon antenna, and 900 feet of rigid transmission line. The WNJS DTV transmitter is a Thales TDU-2-12KOO LV solid state UHF Channel 22 DTV transmitter, which has been upgraded by Thales from a 1.25 to 12 kilowatt output. WNJS-FM’s transmitter and antenna are co-located at this site. The obsolete analog television transmitter, now a surplus asset, is still in place. The building, tower, and equipment appeared to be in overall fair-to-good condition.
WNJN Transmitter Site The land is leased at the WNJN transmitter site, located at 42 Clove Road, Montclair
(Little Falls), in Passaic County. The appraiser did not inspect this site, so this section of the
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report is based on the NJN inventory and records alone. NJPBA owns the transmitter building and a 567-foot tall Stainless 656-SS self-supporting tower structure at this site, which was constructed in 1973. The WNJN antenna system includes a Dielectric TFU-30GBH-R 08 DC non-directional DTV top-mount pylon antenna and 600 feet of rigid transmission line. The WNJN DTV transmitter is a Thales TDU2-12KOO Channel 51 UHF transmitter.
WNJB Transmitter Site The WNJB transmitter site is located at 7 Geiger Lane, in Warren Township, Somerset
County. The appraiser did not inspect this site, so this section of the report is based on the NJN inventory and records alone. At this site, the land, transmitter building and a 353-foot tall Stainless G-8 guyed tower structure are owned by the NJPBA. The site, including the building and tower, is listed in the NJN inventory as having been originally constructed in 1971-1972. The WNJB antenna system includes a top-mount Dielectric TVU-32GTH/6HV-R 06/S190 antenna system that is used to transmit a VHF DTV signal, and 400 feet of rigid transmission line. The WNJB DTV transmitter is a Thales TDV2K50LV solid-state Channel 8 VHF DTV transmitter.
NJN Translators The appraiser did not inspect the translator sites, so this section of the report is based on
the NJN inventory and records, and other information provided by Mr. Williams. The W36AZ translator is located on Hamburg Mountain, on land leased from the
Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife (DEP) and accessed via leased use of a right-of-way easement held by Service Electric Cable TV Company, leading from Sand Point Road, Hardyston Township, Sussex County, to the transmitter site. The equipment shelter and tower at this site are owned by NJPBA.
The W43CH translator occupies leased building and tower space at 1 Demeter Road, in
Washington, New Jersey, and the W49BE translator occupies leased building and tower space near the intersection of Thomas Drive and Cheryl Drive, in Hackettstown, New Jersey.
The Mt. Laurel microwave relay site utilizes leased equipment shelter and tower space at
1020 Briggs Road, Mt. Laurel. At the Stockton Microwave relay site, NJPBA leases the land
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and equipment shelter space from Richard Stockton State College, and owns a 90-foot tall Rohn self-supporting tower, located at 46 W. Jimmie Leeds Road, in Pomona.
The NJN television translators utilize Information Transmission Systems translator
transmitters and Scala antennas. Three, now terminated sites, for the W25BB TV translator, located on Pittstown Road
(County Road 615) in Frenchtown, for TV Booster WNJB2(58) located on Hope-Blairstown Road in Blairstown, and for TV Booster WNJB1(58), located on West Bangs Avenue at Route 18 in Long Branch, all in New Jersey utilized leased land, equipment shelter space and tower space. Despite being terminated, they are still represented on the NJN equipment inventory.
Digital Conversion Status of the Television Translators The three owned active NJN Television translators are reported as having not been
upgraded to digital, and currently utilize DTV converters to down-convert the over-the air digital signal from the television stations, for analog re-transmission. The FCC currently has open a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes to establish a date of June 12, 2012, three years from the initial date of conversion to digital broadcasting for full power television stations, as the date by which all remaining analog television transmissions, including LPTV stations, Class A television stations, and television translators, must convert to digital transmission. Final action on this NPRM is expected in the Spring of 2011.
Immediate Technical Concerns Continuing problems with beaver dams near the WNJT Tower site have weakened the
northwest tower anchoring point, requiring reinforcement of the anchor. An estimate, dated as of December 2003, of the repair costs recommended a budget of $127,000 for the repairs; adjusted for inflation using the CPI-U, this value would now be approximately $151,000. Funding has been requested from the Treasury Capital Fund for this work, and it is anticipated that the work will be completed and capitalized in 2011.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) normally allows only three years for
television construction permits to be completed, or the CP will be cancelled. Obtaining a waiver
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of this deadline, called “tolling” the CP, now requires a significant showing of reason for the delay. When reviewing the FCC records, it was noted that the file numbers of the power increase CPs for WNJT (file #BPEDT-20080620AGH) and for WNJS (file #BPEDT-20080620ALH), indicate that their time to construct will expire in mid-2011. If the power upgrades have already been performed, the license applications to note completion of the modifications should have already been submitted to the FCC. If not, they should be completed to prevent incursion against the stations’ protected signal contours.
Long-Term Technical Concerns Based on recent actions in progress at the FCC, it can be expected that the three
translators will need to be converted to digital operation no later than June 12, 2012. Mr. Williams reported that during the calculation of the modifications for the WNJT
tower for refitting for digital operation, an error occurred in the computerized tower analysis calculations. This error was not discovered and revealed until after the modifications had been made. This has resulted in a stress overload condition of the WNJT tower. Repairs are expected to be completed in December 2010.
Continuing digital conversion of studio technical infrastructure, news and live on-air
operations, to High Definition-capability facilities is a concern. No EPA hazard issues were noted at these sites. None of the equipment appeared to be
old enough to contain components containing PCB’s.
Capital Expenditures and Recommendations The following projected capital expenditure requirements and recommendations are
based, in part, on conditions observed during an inspection of the studios and offices, and three of the nine transmitter sites, of the NJN Radio Stations on October 13, 2010 and the Television Stations on November 18-19 and 22-23, 2010. The capital expenditures proposed for 2011-2013 are made with the assumption that the stations’ program formats and production needs will
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remain substantially unchanged for this period. The capital expenditures assume that the current dependency upon the television station’s microwave relay system as part of the radio network’s program STL system will continue, and that only the radio stations’ STL equipment, including the modules attached to the television microwave relay systems, are being maintained by the radio station’s capital expenditure budget.
Item Cost
Address correction of tower overloading condition at WNJT tower 106,000$
Total 106,000$
Remainder of 2010
Item Cost
Tower painting, guy wire coating, and strobe replacement. 250,000$ Completion of transmitter power upgrade construction permits. 100,000 Reinforce northwest anchor of WNJT(TV) tower. 151,000 Ongoing HD digital conversion of studio facilities. 250,000 Total 751,000$
2011
Item Cost
Tower painting, guy wire coating, and strobe replacement. 250,000$ Upgrade three translator sites to digital transmission. 225,000 Ongoing HD digital conversion of studio facilities. 250,000 Total 725,000$
2012
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Item Cost
Tower painting, guy wire coating, and strobe replacement. 250,000$ Ongoing HD digital conversion of studio facilities. 300,000 Total 550,000$
2013
Future Annual Capital Expense Projections In addition to the above specific capital expenses, a continuing Capital Expense budget of
approximately $450,000 per year, adjusted for inflation, should be used for future budgetary planning to maintain the existing plant. Consideration of adding emergency power to the other three transmitter sites, by comparison a relatively low priority, should be made starting in 2014 or later.
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APPENDIX A
QUALIFICATIONS
Qualifications
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Appendix D Qualifications
Of Geoffrey C. Price
Geoffrey C. Price is a Vice President for BIA/Kelsey (BIA), a financial consulting firm specializing in the fair market valuations, asset appraisals, strategic analyses, and business plans of broadcast and telecommunications properties. In his current position at BIA, Mr. Price is responsible for the managing and operating of the company’s nationwide leading Consulting Group. Mr. Price has been at BIA since 1988 and has appraised hundreds of media and telecommunications properties worth in aggregate in the tens of billions of dollars. As a Vice President with BIA, Mr. Price has been responsible for the preparation of asset appraisals, valuation studies, strategic consulting assignments, and litigation support for clients in the communications and broadcast industries. He has also been responsible at BIA for assisting many publicly traded and privately held broadcast companies with their valuation needs associated with FASB 141/142. In addition, Mr. Price is part of the business development team at BIA and is responsible for the client relationships with many of the largest broadcast companies nationwide. Mr. Price’s appraisal and valuation experience is diverse, including reports for firms in the cellular, paging, SMR, cable, print, tower, and broadcast industries. Prior to joining BIA, Mr. Price was employed by ADT Security Systems, Inc. in its Accounting Center located in Alexandria, Virginia. Mr. Price earned his B.S. degree in Finance from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Mr. Price received his M.B.A. from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Qualifications
BIA/Kelsey
21
Qualifications Of
Sidney E. Shumate
Sidney E. Shumate is the Senior Appraiser and Director of Engineering for the BIA/Kelsey, a financial consulting firm. At BIA/Kelsey, Mr. Shumate is primarily engaged in the appraisal of tangible assets of broadcasting, print, Internet and related media properties, expert witness support, and preparation of business plans and technical evaluation reports. Mr. Shumate received his B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University Institute of Technology, and received EIT certification in 1975. He holds a General Class Radiotelephone Operators License, and a Virginia Contractor’s License endorsed for building, electrical, and specialty construction. He is a member and former chapter Chairman of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and is also a member and currently serves on the Advisory Committee (ADCOM) of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society. Mr. Shumate started as an engineer and DJ at WSLW, White Sulphur Springs, WV, in 1973, and later served as Chief Engineer of WMON, while in college. Since receiving his degree he has served at different times as Senior Engineer, Assistant Chief, and, from 1979 to 1995, as Director of Engineering at WVIR-TV in Charlottesville, VA. In between, he was a Senior Engineer at WPGH-TV, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was Director of Engineering for WAFF-TV in Huntsville, AL, where he was also responsible for WHOS and WDRM-FM in Decatur, AL. In Charlottesville, he relocated the studios to new facilities in 1984, and in 1985, made WVIR-TV the first stereo TV station in VA. In 1992, he upgraded the transmitter facilities to be a five-megawatt, omnidirectional transmitter site incorporating the largest common-mode TV transmitter built to date. Mr. Shumate attended Thales first IOT-based transmitter school. He also designed and built microwave relay systems, ENG and EFP vans, a news bureau in Staunton, Virginia, and a translator with a special nulling antenna system at Massanutten Peak. Mr. Shumate is also the owner of Blue Ridge Video Services, and, from 1988 to 2006, was also the founder, promoter, builder, original owner, and General Manager of WVGV-TV (now
Qualifications
BIA/Kelsey
22
WVNS-TV), Lewisburg, WV. Prior to joining BIA/Kelsey in 1997, Mr. Shumate was employed by High Mountain Broadcasting, Inc. to relocate and upgrade WVSX (TV). While at BIA/Kelsey, Mr. Shumate has presented papers at the 1998 (“Methods and Costs of Installing Initial and Interim DTV Transmission Facilities on Existing Towers”), and 2006 (“Evaluating Your HD RadioTM Coverage”) NAB Broadcast Engineering Conferences.
