Two trustees back Foundation’s bid

Marisa O’Neil

Orange County’s only public broadcasting channel may be saved, after

two trustees recommended that the Coast Community College District

accept the KOCE Foundation bid to buy the station’s license.

With two more bidders dropping out of the running this week, the

board of trustees is set to vote tonight on which of three remaining

bids to accept. The KOCE Foundation, which submitted a revised bid

before last week’s deadline, is the only bidder that promised to keep

the station a PBS affiliate.

“I do think this is a win-win situation,” said KOCE-TV board

committee member and district trustee Jerry Patterson, one of the two

in recommending they accept the foundation bid. “They were the

highest responsible bidder. [Our recommendation] will carry a certain

amount of weight. I hope the rest of the board buys it”

Patterson said that he has supported keeping KOCE in its present

format from the beginning of the process. The other committee member

backing the foundation bid, George Brown, was convinced after

meetings with the media broker Media Venture Partners, attorneys and

district staff that it was the best deal.

Almavision Hispanic Network submitted the highest revised bid

before the Oct. 8 deadline, with $35 million cash. The committee

decided the group did not have sufficient proof it could come up with

the money.

KOCE-TV Foundation came in with the second-highest revised bid. It

offered a total of $32 million, $8 million cash and the rest over 10

or more years.

The foundation originally partnered with Los Angeles PBS affiliate

KCET to offer $10 million, the lowest bid of the group. That

partnership dissolved after they decided they could not ink a deal in

time.

The KOCE Foundation announced last week that it had significantly

raised its bid with the help of community members and business

leaders.

“Since this whole thing came up, the community has really stepped

up to the plate,” Patterson said. “They have some big hitters. They

had a resurgence of financial support.”

Two religious broadcasters, Costa Mesa’s Trinity Broadcasting and

LeSEA Broadcasting Corp. withdrew their initial proposals. Daystar

Television submitted a revised bid of $40 million after the Oct. 8

deadline, making it ineligible.

The district also received a bid from commercial broadcaster

Pappas Telecasting Companies for $25 million, but rejected it because

it came after the initial deadline in July.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].