KOCE-TV NEEDS SHOW OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT TO SECURE ITS FUTURE IN ORANGE COUNTY!
On Wednesday, June 21, 2006, the Coast Community College District Board (CCCD) will make key decisions that will affect the future of KOCE-TV and its ability to serve Orange County with quality public television programming as well as the community’s ONLY broadcast source of local news, information, and programming. Without visible and vocal support from the community, KOCE-TV could end up in the hands of an out of state company that operates television stations around the world, with no intent or ability to serve the unique needs of Orange County.
Please attend this meeting to demonstrate your support for KOCE-TV and communicate the importance of maintaining KOCE-TV as a valuable community asset.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
6:30 p.m.
Coast Community College District Office
1370 Adams Avenue
Costa Mesa, California 92626
Talking Points
It is likely that the District Board will discuss and decide this issue in closed session; however, they will take public comments during the open session of the meeting. If you wish to speak on behalf of KOCE, you will need to fill out a speaker’s card that will be available at the meeting. Following are some points that you might wish to consider in making your own comments:
• KOCE is the unifying force that unites Orange County’s diverse population with local issues, events, institutions and each other.
• KOCE-TV is the only television station serving Orange County with educational programs that are integrated into K-12 classrooms throughout the county and meets state curriculum standards.
• In addition, KOCE-TV partners with CCCD to provide telecourses for adult students pursuing a wide range of goals. Some seek Associate of Arts degrees or continuing education credits, while others simply seek lifelong learning and personal enrichment opportunities.
• KOCE-TV is the only broadcast station that serves Orange County with locally produced and focused news, information, current events, documentaries and special programs as well as quality PBS programming.
• More than 40,000 Southern California residents support KOCE-TV through membership donations and additional contributions each year. These are voluntary gifts and an important expression of support!
• Without KOCE-TV, college students throughout Orange County will no longer have access to the internships that help them secure jobs in broadcast journalism, entertainment, production and non-profit administration.
• KOCE-TV employs 42 full-time and 25 part-time people and will continue to provide more job opportunities for Orange County residents as the station continues to grow. These jobs range from entry-level administrative support to senior-level production and management positions. The second place bidder operates stations throughout the world from a central headquarters outside of California, with no local employees.
• KOCE-TV’s $10 million budget is spent largely in Orange County, both in the form of salaries paid to employees who live and work in Orange County and in the form of products and services from Orange County businesses.
• Orange County needs at least one station committed to enhancing local education, business, art, and to unifying our diverse and extraordinary community. That station – KOCE-TV -- already exists, and must continue to exist to serve our community.
• We urgently request that the CCCD Board take whatever steps are necessary to maintain KOCE-TV in Orange County, owned and operated by the KOCE-TV Foundation.
Background Information
• In 2004, the CCCD offered the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) broadcast license and assets of KOCE-TV for sale through a qualified bidding process.
• KOCE-TV Foundation, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit, public benefit foundation representing the viewers, members, and residents of Orange County, was the highest bidder in that process. During the bidding period, KOCE Foundation launched an intensive, focused fundraising campaign to raise cash and pledges from individuals, foundations, and corporations. These secured the Foundation’s position as a qualified bidder.
• Following the close of the bidding period, the second highest bidder, Word of God Fellowship, Inc. dba Daystar Television Network, approached the CCCD and made an offer that exceeded the KOCE Foundation bid. However, this was rejected because it was made after the close of the bidding period.
• Following the acceptance of the KOCE-TV Foundation bid, specific terms of sale were negotiated, including a note carried by the District and a “credit” for the value of telecommuting courses that KOCE Foundation agreed to continue without charge to the CCCD.
• Daystar Television filed a petition with the FCC to deny the transfer of license from the CCCD to the KOCE Foundation. However, the FCC found no cause to deny the transfer and considered the sale of the station legal and binding. KOCE-TV Foundation remains the legal community licensee, and holds the broadcast license as a public trustee to serve the citizens of Orange County.
• Daystar later filed lawsuits in state and federal courts. The state lawsuit alleges that Daystar and not the KOCE-TV Foundation should be awarded the broadcast license because Daystar made the largest cash bid. The federal lawsuit names the CCCD and individual trustees as well as KOCE-TV Foundation, it’s President and General Manager, Mel Rogers, and other unnamed members of the board, alleging that all of the involved parties violated the RICOH act (in essence, racketeering and organized crime) and alleges conspiracy to commit religious discrimination against Daystar as a religious entity.
• The federal lawsuit is still pending. The state lawsuit was decided and appealed twice. Both decisions represent a very narrow interpretation of the “Qualified Bidding Terms” set forth by the District and calls for the sale to be voided, but neither the original decisions nor the subsequent appeal opinions call for the transfer of KOCE to Daystar. In fact, they specifically decline to name Daystar the “rightful owner” by virtue of the bid process. These decisions simply void the sale and remand the case back to the Superior Court of California for directives as to the next steps.
• There are many complicating factors in the case as it now stands, among them the fact that KOCE-TV Foundation is currently the FCC’s designated legal community licensee. California courts have no jurisdiction over the FCC.
• While the CCCD has many options available, including an appeal to the State Supreme Court or the start of an entirely new bidding process, the most important thing for the CCCD Board Members – all of them elected to serve the public interest – to know at the June 21 meeting is that the community is committed to retaining a local non-commercial, public television station to serve the community.