COOPER RAISES $106,000, SAVES TV SHOW FOR FALL

KOCE-TV’s weekly “Jim Cooper’s Orange County” public affairs program is assured of a 24-segment series in 1987-88, thanks to $106,000 in new pledges from private donors, the station announced Monday.

Cooper, whose program has aired since 1972 and is KOCE’s only regular local series, said the first new segment will be broadcast Oct. 2. Topics planned for the new season include the “slow-growth” movement, transportation and child care, he said.

“I’m delighted and thankful for the response, not only from our business community but also from our viewers,” said Cooper, whose show recently won its second Los Angeles area Emmy Award.

Last season the station allocated $75,000 for the show. This spring it announced it could not continue to underwrite the series because of cuts in station support, especially from the federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The station said it would drop the series unless Cooper could raise his own funding from private sources.

Of the $106,000 raised to date, 90% has been pledged by corporations and foundations, said William Furniss, president of the Huntington Beach-based public station. These include Disneyland, Signal Landmark Inc., Robert Half Personnel, Accountemps, Crean Foundation and Peter and Mary Muth Foundation.

Furniss said KOCE hopes to raise another $44,000 for a full 32-segment season for the series.