Statehouse dome.JPG

A shot of the top of the Statehouse in Trenton.

(The Star-Ledger file photo)

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.

The auction wrapped up in February, and the Federal Communications Commission released the much-anticipated results Thursday. The FCC purchased spectrum from 175 broadcasters that will receive some $10.05 billion for the public airwaves. The FCC repackaged the spectrum and sold it off to wireless providers like AT&T and T-Mobile.

The broadcasting authority said the auction was a "unique opportunity" to make money off the broadband without reducing service.

New Jersey's Public Broadcasting Authority holds licenses for the four broadcast television stations over which NJTV operates. Loss of the two towers in the northern and southern parts of the state will not affect NJTV's ability to broadcast, said spokeswoman Debbie Falk.

"The overlap of our tower signal in New Jersey allows us to continue broadcasting per usual even if some of that spectrum is eliminated," she said.

"The big question is what are they going to do with the money," said Mike Rispoli, campaign director for the Free Press Action Fund that's advocating for the state to reinvest the proceeds in local journalism and media.

"These are the public airwaves. These are public assets," he said. "We want to make sure this money goes back to communities and make sure they get the information and media they want to see."

Other such public media license holders as WVTA in Windsor, Vermont, are using the proceeds for network upgrades or supporting endowments. WITF in central Pennsylvania announced in February it will use the $25 million it received to share "surplus spectrum" to create a new news organization and new children's programming.

Falk said NJTV is asking the state for a portion of the proceeds.

Gov. Chris Christie's proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 includes $325 million from asset sales, including the spectrum. It's unclear how much of that revenue is from the spectrum sale or real estate.

The broadcasting authority said it doesn't expect to receive payment from the sale until July at the earliest.

Samantha Marcus may be reached at smarcus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.