KOCE bid offers more O.C. coverage

Jenny Marder

Live community broadcasts, an innovative business program and

expanded coverage of the county’s art scene could all be part of

KOCE’s future if the KOCE Foundation is awarded final rights to the

station’s license later this year.

The Coast Community College District Board of Trustees voted 4 to

1 on Oct. 15 to pursue the KOCE Foundation’s bid to acquire the

station’s license, a move that would allow KOCE to remain a public

broadcasting station. The decision, which came after a six-month

bidding process, was met with cheers from a densely packed auditorium

at Orange Coast College.

“I don’t think there are words to describe how good I feel,” said

Joel Slutzky, board member of the KOCE Foundation. “Even when we

negotiate the agreement, it will be like getting a passport to a

great journey. Maybe it’s the end of the beginning, but it’s

certainly the beginning for the station.”

But the station isn’t out of the woods yet. Over the next month,

the district will enter into exclusive negotiations with the

foundation to develop a final contract, which will be voted on Dec.

10.

“There’s a lot of details that still need to be worked out,” KOCE

spokeswoman Erin Cohn said. “It’s not a done deal until Dec. 10.”

To win the rights to the station, the KOCE Foundation must prove

that it can shoulder its $32-million dollar bid, which will be paid

as $8 million cash and $24 million in a long-term note.

“At this point, the devil is really in the details,” Cohn said.

Slutzky, who is confident that the final vote will side with the

foundation, is already preparing for KOCE’s future.

Plans call for programming to focus more on Orange County-based

education, performing arts, visual arts and business.

“We intend to really do a lot more in those areas,” Slutzky said.

Foundation members hope to raise enough money to get a remote

transmitter for live coverage of community and educational events.

“We want to go into the classroom of the teacher of the year and

show everybody why the teacher was chosen teacher of the year,”

Slutzky said. “Whether we’re having a Pavoratti opening or a play at

the college, we should be there.”

Mel Rogers, the station’s president, called KOCE “an embryo of

what it will be some day.”

Rogers said he hopes to see the station become more integrated

into the life and events of the county that it represents.

“I think it’s really important that the station become a part of

the fabric of Orange County, part of the life of this community,”

Rogers said. “We want to be a reflection of Orange County to Orange

County and to everybody else.”

Once the contract is finalized by the district, it must still be

approved by the Federal Communications Commission. If all goes as

planned, Slutzky predicts the transfer would go through sometime next

spring. But he wants to start implementing some of the new

programming ideas sooner.

“We have ambitious plans, so we’re going to need ambitious

fund-raising, and we’ll need the community get behind us,” Slutzky

said. “This is a great thing for the county if we take advantage of

the asset. If used right, it can leverage up everything we’ve got in

the county.