TV channels & antenna towers in Paterson, New Jersey

Paterson is a city of about 148,000 people in New Jersey. There are 56 licensed TV transmitters within 70 miles: 21 full-power, 5 Class A, 25 low-power and 5 translators. Based on each transmitter's power, antenna height and distance, 39 are likely to arrive at fair strength or better, and 16 at good or strong strength.

39 of them are within 25 miles of Paterson, 7 sit 25 to 45 miles away and 10 are more than 45 miles out. Six of the 10 network stations in range are licensed to New York, NY, so most of the network channels you will find here come from New York's stations.

The best-placed network stations are ABC on channel 7 (WABC-TV), CBS on channel 2 (WCBS-TV), NBC on channel 4 (WNBC), Fox on channel 5 (WNYW), CW on channel 11 (WPIX), ION on channel 31 (WPXN-TV), Telemundo on channel 47 (WNJU), Univision on channel 41 (WXTV-DT) and MeTV on channel 33.1 (WJLP). Spanish-language viewers can pick up Telemundo (strong signal) and Univision (good signal). 12 full-power stations in range have no network listed in our data; these are typically public television, religious, shopping or independent stations.

Point your antenna SSE, at about 147°. The main network towers for Paterson sit in that direction, so a single directional antenna can pick them all up.

Five network stations, WCBS-TV, WNYW, WNBC, WNJU and WPXN-TV, transmit from the same tower site about 16 miles southeast of Paterson (149° SSE). That one direction covers every station on the site.

Of the 9 full-power and Class A network signals that reach Paterson at fair strength or better, all arrive from the southeast, so this is an easy place to aim.

All of the main network towers are within their radio horizon as seen from Paterson, so signals arrive fairly directly and a well-placed antenna should hold them steadily.

The farthest main network tower for Paterson is WNYW (Fox), 16 miles away with a good estimated signal. That is why we suggest an indoor antenna here. Viewers who do not need that station can often manage with less.

An amplifier only helps here if you run a long cable (over about 50 feet) or split the antenna to several TVs. Otherwise better placement does more. See the amplifier guide.

With 39 stations at fair strength or better, Paterson ranks 174th of 537 places in New Jersey: more than the typical New Jersey town (37). Its nearest major network tower is 15 miles away, against a state median of 26 miles.

33% of New Jersey's cities and towns get the same recommendation: an indoor antenna. The nearest larger city is Manhattan, 14 miles away.