Foundation’s bid should win
After months of debate and discussion, after years of threatening to
sell, Coast Community College District’s board of trustees must make
a decision on Wednesday -- who will it sell KOCE-TV to. Five bidders
are poised to take over Orange County’s only public television
station, although only one prospective buyer would leave the
programming as is.
The board faces a tough decision. Of the five prospective buyers,
four are religious stations that offer sizable bids but will put an
end to KOCE’s local news and educational programming. The fifth
bidder, the KOCE Foundation, offers the weakest bid financially, but
the most attractive to those who hold the station dear.
Since a group of six big-business CEOs have announced they will
support the foundation -- keeping its bid at the dollar amount it
offered while affiliated with the L.A.-based KCET-TV -- we are
dismayed that its bid is still the lowest.
During its last week of deliberation the board’s members should
consider the pleas and polls of Orange County residents. Granted
those sentiments don’t pay the bills, but they should be taken into
consideration.
A phone survey, done by Cal State Fullerton’s Center for Public
Policy, found that more than 80% of Orange County residents favored
keeping KOCE-TV as a PBS affiliate, airing local programs rather then
selling to a religious broadcaster for a higher price.
KOCE has never been in it for the money. The Coast Community
College District could use the extra cash, sure, but is also not
about making money.
The first priority of both the district and the station has always
been education. Therefore there is one clear choice. KOCE should be
sold to the foundation to be preserved as a local news and
educational resource for the county. No viable offer from the
station’s own foundation should be turned down.
In a county as well off as Orange County, saving the sole local
television station, the only source of local news programming, should
not be so difficult.
Once the station is saved, its foundation should begin a
fund-raising drive to raise money for an endowment fund to safeguard
against as such threats in the future.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.