Sale of KOCE moving forward

Marisa O’Neil

The Coast Community College District board of trustees voted last

week in a closed session to go ahead with a plan for KOCE-TV’s

foundation to purchase the station from them, keeping it a public

broadcasting channel.

Trustees for the district, which now holds the broadcast license

for Orange County’s only PBS affiliate, voted 4 to 1 in October to

accept a $32-million bid by the station’s fundraising arm.

Wednesday’s vote allows attorneys to draw up the proper agreements

and seek the Federal Communications Commission’s approval for the

license transfer.

In a press release, the district said the final acquisition

agreement would come before the trustees in February.

Before the vote, KOCE Foundation President Bob Brown said he

expected the closed session would be straightforward and approval was

likely.

“I’m very confident we’re close to a deal,” Brown said. “There are

a couple minor points to be hammered out, but we’re very close. It

depends what the trustees decide to do, but if all the deal points as

we discussed are ratified, it’s a go.”

The foundation has not come up with all the money yet, but

district trustee Jerry Patterson said he didn’t have any concerns.

“I think they have enough guarantees the money will be there,”

Patterson said before the vote. “The first big chunk payment isn’t

due until June for the transfer of license, so it’s not a big

problem.”

KOCE-TV initially entered a $10-million joint bid with Los Angeles

affiliate, KCET-TV, the lowest in the original round submitted.

Religious broadcasters Daystar Television Network and Costa Mesa’s

Trinity Broadcasting Network came in with the initial high bids of

$25 million each.

After KOCE-TV’s partnership dissolved because of time constraints,

foundation members drew on local leaders in business and education,

including Broadcom Corp. Chairman Henry Samueli and Peter Ueberroth,

former Major League Baseball commissioner and organizer of 1984

Olympics in Los Angeles, to gather support and funds. KOCE submitted

the $32-million sweetened bid, with $8 million up front and the rest

in a long-term note, just before the Oct. 8 deadline.

“We don’t need [the full amount] for closing,” Brown said

Wednesday. “We have a clear plan. We still need support from the

community, but we’re confident we can come up with the money.”

The trustees chose the foundation, the only bidder promising to

keep the station’s PBS format, as the highest responsible bidder at

their Oct. 15 meeting. Almavision Hispanic Network had submitted a

slightly higher bid, but the trustees did not agree that the

broadcaster could provide proof they had the money.

Some of the rejected suitors threatened to sue the district, but

none have so far.

“No one has filed a suit yet,” Patterson said. “We had some

threats at the last meeting and some letters, so perhaps we will have

people watching [what happens].”

The Coast Community College District originally cited budget woes

in the decision to sell KOCE-TV, which is housed on the campus of

Golden West College in Huntington Beach. They estimated it cost $2

million annually to run and would require further investment to

upgrade to a federally mandated digital format, which they said they

couldn’t afford.

KOCE-TV broadcasts television-based courses to about 10,000

students. At an October press conference, KOCE Foundation board

member Joel Sluzky said they planned to continue broadcasting the

telecourses and wanted to establish KOCE-TV as a source of news,

culture and education in Orange County.

* MARISA O’NEIL is a reporter for Times Community News and may be

reached at (949) 574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].