Judge’s ruling clears way for sale of KOCE

Marisa O’Neil

Orange County residents will finally have a station to call their own

when the KOCE-TV Foundation takes the reigns of Orange County’s only

PBS channel later this year.

The foundation came one step closer to sealing the deal Monday,

when a superior court judge denied Christian broadcaster Daystar

Television Network’s claim that Coast Community College District

should have sold the station to them and not the foundation. That

ruling helps clear the way for the foundation to move ahead with

fundraising and planning programs for their anticipated June

takeover.

“Now we’re focusing on nailing the money,” KOCE-TV President Mel

Rogers said. “We’ve had a lot of people waiting in the wings for

resolution, now we’re trying to raise as much money as possible.”

Private and corporate donations will augment a loan the foundation

is securing for the $8-million down payment, which is due once the

Federal Communications Commission approves the license transfer --

estimated to take place in 60 to 90 days. Several banks have offered

loans, foundation President Bob Brown said, and they are just

hammering out one last detail on a $10-million loan.

The college district, which is selling the station it could no

longer afford to support, set a June 10 deadline for the foundation

to provide proof it has secured a loan.

KOCE-TV will run a tighter ship, Rogers said, and will reduce its

operating costs from $8 million annually to about $6 million. That

means letting about 20 people go, he said, though most are eligible

for retirement or transferring to other jobs within the district. He

expects to lay off only three or four employees.

The station will also have to consider whether it wants to stay in

its current location, on the Golden West College campus, or find a

new home.

New programming will roll out gradually, he said.

“You’re not going go blink your eyes June 30th and have the new

KOCE,” Rogers said. “These things take time.”

Multiple projects are in the works, said foundation member Joel

Slutzky, including expanded local news coverage and programs with

more of an Orange County angle, in addition to regular PBS

programming.

“The new KOCE is going to creatively engage the communities we

serve,” Slutzky said. “We want to cover arts, education and the

environment and want to do it in a very entertaining way.”

They also want the “Real Orange” news program, which airs

weeknights and mornings, to include more coverage of events in the

community. He said they are exploring different ways of doing that

until they can purchase trucks equipped for remote broadcasts from

the field.

Slutzky hope is to fill the local news void left by the Orange

County NewsChannel, which went off the air in 2001 because of

financial problems.

“Orange County is the only community [of its size] in the country

that doesn’t have its own commercial news coverage or 24-hour cable

news station,” said Rick Reiff, executive editor for the Orange

County Business Journal. “The closest thing to its size is Long

Island, which is a captive of the New York market, like we’re a

captive of the Los Angeles market. It’s slightly smaller than Orange

County but it has a 24-hour cable news channel.”

Reiff is seeking sponsors for a program that will profile local

residents and businesses on KOCE-TV. He described the show as a cross

between CNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews” and KCET’s “Visiting

... with Huell Howser,” which visits Los Angeles communities.

Daystar is planning to appeal this week’s decision, but that would

not affect the license transfer, said Milford Dahl, an attorney for

the district. Judge Corey Cramin’s opinion, Dahl said, left little

room for legal maneuvering.

Attorneys would have to prove the judge misinterpreted the law to

get an appeal, Dahl said. But, because the appeal process can take up

to two years, that could keep everyone on pins and needles even after

the foundation takes control of KOCE-TV.

“To hold this up for two years wouldn’t be good for the community

and the school,” Dahl said.