Now It’s Cal Poly Pomona in KOCE Bid

Cal Poly Pomona has joined the list of potential suitors for KOCE, Orange County’s public television station, a Coast Community College District official said Wednesday.

But the district, which holds KOCE’s broadcast license, would prefer not to sell if it can possibly avoid doing so, trustees said at a board meeting Wednesday night.

“It’s not for sale, absolutely not,” Trustee George Brown said after the board voted unanimously to direct its staff to explore all options that would let the district keep the station.

The district had considered selling the station because it must raise as much as $8.5 million by 2003 to convert it to the digital format mandated by the Federal Communications Commission. If fund-raising efforts fall short, the district would have to make up the difference unless Congress or the Legislature allocates money to help with the conversion.

Earlier Wednesday, Vice Chancellor Gene Farrell said Cal Poly officials contacted him last week and expressed interest in acquiring the station. A meeting between Cal Poly officials and KOCE executives is set for next week, he said.

Owning a PBS station burnishes a university’s image and allows it to offer hands-on training for film and television students. Officials of two other schools--USC and Chapman University--said earlier that they would consider acquiring KOCE, valued at between $26 million and $39 million according to a recent appraisal commissioned by the community college district.

The possibility of a sale, however, has drawn vociferous opposition from some Orange County officials, who say that KOCE provides an invaluable service to the community.

Trustee Paul Berger said earlier this month that KOCE’s programming and education courses have raised the district’s profile and benefited its students. “It’s a valuable asset,” he said, “and brings us a lot of prestige.”

The district, which also operates Coastline and Golden West colleges, provides about $1.5 million of KOCE’s $5.5-million annual budget, with individual, corporate and other donors providing the rest. Mel Rogers, the station’s general manager and president, said at Wednesday’s board meeting that operating costs will rise after the conversion, in part because more technical support is required for digital equipment than analog.

The station cannot be sold without approval of both the five-member college district board and the FCC.

Located on the Golden West campus in Huntington Beach, KOCE is the 15th most watched among the nation’s 353 public TV stations and has won 27 Emmy awards. Its signal reaches north to Van Nuys, south to San Clemente and east to Corona.