Sale of KOCE to foundation will go ahead

Marisa O’Neil

Coast Community College District trustees voted Wednesday night in

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 board of trustees in February.

Before the vote, KOCE Foundation President Bob Brown said he

expected the closed session would be fairly 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 board 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

PBS channel 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 Chairman Henry Samueli and former baseball

commissioner Peter Ueberroth, 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].”

Coast Community College District originally cited budget woes in

the decision to sell KOCE-TV, which is on the Golden West College

campus in Huntington Beach. They estimated it cost $2 million

annually to run and would require further investment to upgrade to a

fully digital format, which they said they couldn’t afford.

KOCE-TV broadcasts TV-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 covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.