Goodbye to our Friends from South Jersey’s NBC 40

December 31st might just be the end of an era in South Jersey. Our only local network-affiliated TV station appears to be going away.

At the end of the year, NBC 40 will sign off - at least in its present form.

While TV 40 has been a stepping stone to "bigger and better things" - it has been the home to three of the nicest people I've had the pleasure of meeting.

News Anchor Michelle Dawn Mooney, Meteorologist Dan Skeldon, and Sportscaster Pete Thompson are as nice and friendly in person as they are on TV.

Mooney is a gifted singer and entertainer, and a sought after motivational speaker. She gives her time to countless charities and causes throughout South Jersey.

Skeldon has really become the weather expert for South Jersey. His forecasts - especially during rough weather - are truly "must-see-TV." Off camera, there probably isn't a school in South Jersey that Dan hasn't visited to share his weather insights with youngsters.

Finally, the always smiling Thompson is a true cheerleader for local sports throughout South Jersey. Pete is a very likeable guy who seems to truly enjoy what he does.

All three of the above, plus the rest of the TV 40 staff, has done a wonderful job of keeping our little corner of the world informed. We certainly hope we haven't seen the last of this team!

Here's the official statement about the station's future, from their website, nbc40.net:

As you may or may not know, over the past year, there have been many changes here at WMGM-TV NBC40.

In 2013, NBC decided that they no longer wanted to have a separate affiliate in South Jersey. Effective January 1^st, WMGM-TV will no longer be an NBC affiliate. Additionally, the station was sold last year. In the meantime Access.1 Communications has been continuing to manage the station and will do so until December 31^st of this year.

Here is the good news – while Access.1 will not be operating the WMGM-TV channel, the company has taken steps to continue and expand our news product on a new broadcast channel. This plan calls for our new company to be comprised of our current news, sales, management, and administration teams and would expand to nine counties in southern New Jersey, filling a much needed void for news, weather and sports coverage here in South Jersey.

If all goes as planned, we hope to once again be serving the area with a bigger and better newscast in the spring or early summer of 2015, so stay tuned.