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CCCD
BOARD COMMITTEE TO RECOMMEND ACCEPTING KOCE-TV FOUNDATION
BID FOR LICENSE
A
committee comprised of two members of the CCCD Board of
Trustees is recommending entering exclusive negotiations
with the KOCE Foundation for the possible sale of the KOCE-TV
license for $8 million in cash and $24 million in notes,
a total purchase price of $32 million. The full five-member
Board of Trustees will be asked to vote on this recommendation
at their meeting tomorrow night. The meeting will be held
at 6:30 p.m. at Orange Coast College in the Robert B. Moore
Theater.
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CONTACT:
Erin
Cohn
District Director,
Public Affairs
(714) 438-4605
October
14,
2003
NEWS |
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The
Board committee making the recommendation (see attached) includes
Trustees Jerry Patterson and George Brown. According to their recommendation,
the committee called the KOCE-TV Foundation bid the highest responsible
proposal, and specified reasons why the other bidders – including
two religious broadcasting organizations – were not being
recommended.
“This is a win-win situation,” said Trustee Jerry Patterson. “The
District wins by realizing a savings of $2 million in operating
costs per year. KOCE-TV and the KOCE Foundation win by maintaining
the
station as an Orange County PBS affiliate with a larger audience
and a longer reach. Most importantly, the public wins by keeping
an Orange County PBS affiliate that provides local news and educational
programs.”
“The board committee has worked diligently to develop the best solution
for the District,” said Trustee George Brown. “We hope
the recommendation is unanimously ratified by the board.”
At
a well-attended meeting August 20, the Board got its first look
at the bids received from parties interested in purchasing
the KOCE-TV
license, which the District owns, and heard public testimony on
the proposal to sell the PBS station. At that time, the Board
directed
its media broker – Media Venture Partners – to continue
negotiating with the five bidders. The results of those negotiations
will be presented to the Board at tomorrow night’s meeting.
If the full Board were to vote in favor of the Board Committee’s
recommendation, the media broker would begin negotiating exclusively
with the KOCE-TV Foundation, and would submit a final proposal
to the Board for official action on December 10.
BACKGROUND
Since early 2003, the Coast Community College District began exploring
its options in relation to its ownership of the license to operate
KOCE-TV, Orange County’s PBS television station. The long-term
indebtedness of the station, its annual operating losses and the
mandated conversion from analog to digital have created financial
challenges for the District, which have been exacerbated by the
current state budget situation.
Last spring, the District’s
Board of Trustees hired a media advisor to help prepare a bid package which was
distributed to
institutions interested in partnering with the District as co-owners
of KOCE-TV,
or interested in purchasing the station outright.
Proposals were due to the District’s media advisor – Media
Venture Partners – by July 10, 2003. At a meeting August 20,
Media Venture Partners presented five bids for the KOCE license to
the Board of Trustees for consideration. One of those bids was a
joint proposal from the KOCE-TV Foundation and KCET, a Los Angeles-based
PBS station, offering a purchase price of $10 million. KCET has since
withdrawn from the joint bid with the KOCE-TV Foundation. Four other
bids for the station – all from religious broadcasters – offered
up to $25 million. The Board directed its media broker to continue
negotiating with the five remaining bidders in pursuing the best
possible partnership or sale of KOCE-TV, while retaining the right
to reject all proposals or bids if necessary.
Since that time, two bidders – LeSEA Broadcasting Corp and
Trinity Broadcasting – have withdrawn their proposals and
are no longer part of the bidding process.
A report on the remaining bidders’ “best and final” offers
will be presented to the Board at their meeting tomorrow (Wednesday).
A summary of final proposals is also attached to this release.
The
Coast Community College District is the seventh largest community
college district
in
the nation in credit enrollment,
serving more
than 60,000 students each semester. The district is comprised
of Coastline Community College headquartered in Fountain Valley,
Golden
West College in Huntington Beach, Orange Coast College in Costa
Mesa, and KOCE-TV, the district’s public broadcasting station.
KOCE-TV operates analog Channel 50 and digital Channel 48, transmitting
from
La Habra. The station has also submitted an application to
the Federal Communications Commission to construct a new analog
transmitter on
Mt. Wilson. ###
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