Loss of NBC affiliation
On April 16, 2014, Broadcasting & Cable reported that WMGM-TV would lose its NBC affiliation at the end of 2014, at the conclusion of a two-year extension of the station's most recent affiliation contract (which expired at the end of 2012). The station's former general manager, Ron Smith, claimed that the move was a result of NBCUniversal and its parent company Comcast wanting to protect WCAU. Smith argued that the loss of the NBC affiliation would make it difficult for WMGM to continue operating.[10] The loss of NBC also coincided with the end of Access.1's management agreement with LocusPoint Networks. In addition to the Philadelphia region, NBC also had an owned-and-operated station in Washington, D.C. (WHAG-TV served western Maryland, which was also served via WRC-TV), and an affiliate in Salt Lake City, Utah (KENV served northeastern Nevada, which was also served via KSL-TV); both of those areas would go on to lose their secondary affiliates within the next few years.
In July 2014, WMGM-TV introduced the "Friends of 40 Summer Membership Club"[11] in which viewers contribute money in return for benefits such as station merchandise, discounts, and invitations to its outings; this form of fundraising is more commonly associated with public broadcasting. According to general manager J. Roger Powe III, "The membership club allows all the folks who have been loyal and supportive to keep engaged in a more intimate fashion;" while some of the money raised goes to the station's operations, much of it is used to pay for the club's benefits. As WMGM remained a commercial, for-profit station until December 31, 2014, contributions to the club were not tax-deductible, unlike with public broadcasting stations.[12]
In September 2014, it was reported that the WMGM-TV studio facilities had been put up for sale; at the time, a station spokesman stated that despite the action the station would remain in operation into 2015.[13] The following month, the FCC pushed back the spectrum auction to 2016.[14] On December 9, 2014, Access.1 made a statement on WMGM's website, indicating that it was planning to "continue and expand our news product on a new broadcast channel" in early to mid-2015, retaining and re-locating the station's staff, news operation, and sales department to a new, unspecified outlet and studio.[15] Local personality Pinky Kravitz (whose WOND radio show was aired on WMGM) disclosed that the station was seeking $3 million in funding for these planned changes.[15] Access.1, at the time, still retained ownership of WMGM-LP, a low-power analog rebroadcaster of WMGM-TV.
WMGM-TV aired its final night of newscasts and NBC programming on December 31, 2014; its final program under Access.1 was an hour-long documentary focusing on the station's history and staff entitled NewsCenter 40: The Stories Behind the Station. Following the end of its affiliation, WMGM began to carry programming from Soul of the South—a network focusing primarily on the African-American community.[16] The station was also reported to be in preliminary talks with the owners of WOND to produce local programming. WMGM-TV's new programming was reported to be an interim measure, assuming that LocusPoint did manage to sell the station during the 2016 spectrum incentive auction.[16][17] On January 1, 2016, due to Soul of the South winding down their operations because of financial struggles, the station switched to programming from the religious Sonlife Broadcasting Network but within a few months WMGM dropped Sonlife and began broadcasting as an independent station.
Local programming returned August 1, 2016, under a brokered programming arrangement with Advantage Broadcasting, they sold time to SNJ Today to air a news program featuring former WMGM staff and talent.[18] As an independent station, WMGM-TV mostly aired infomercials during the day. SNJ Today newscasts were also carried on WACP, a new Atlantic City television station that signed on in 2012.
