Huntington Beach’s KOCE-TV is gearing up to become the region’s flagship Public Broadcasting Service station after KCET-TV of Los Angeles opted to pull out of the role earlier this month.
KOCE, now a secondary regional PBS affiliate, plans to up its role as part of an alliance with two other stations.
“We are coming in to pick up the ball,” said Mel Rogers, president of KOCE. “But we are going to have some help.”
KOCE is expected to lead a group that includes San Bernardino’s KVCR-TV and the Los Angeles Unified School District’s KLCS.
The three stations will share resources, costs and marketing as a three-way PBS affiliate for Southern California, according to Rogers.
The stations recently started working together to cut costs, avoid duplicated schedules and to raise money from viewers amid a downturn in donations and corporate support.
With more than 5 million viewers in its broadcast area, KOCE is set to lead the three-way PBS affiliate.
The other stations are “going to take some of the burden, while we are going to take the vast majority of it,” Rogers said.
The move comes after KCET ended its 46-year partnership with PBS in a dispute over how much it was paying to air programs such as “PBS News Hour” and “Sesame Street.”
KCET is set to go independent on Jan. 1.
In August, KCET threatened to scale back or break away from Washington, D.C.-based PBS if it didn’t get a break on its $7 million in annual programming dues.
Many in the industry, including Rogers, expected PBS and KCET to come to terms.
“The thing that I publicly predicted wouldn’t happen happened,” he said. “KCET drew a line in the sand about not wanting to budge on the issue of dues.”
PBS wasn’t inclined to give KCET a break, fearing its other affiliates across the country also would push for lower fees.
KCET was offered a payment plan, according to Rogers.
KOCE is set to see its dues rise as it becomes the region’s primary affiliate, though it’s not expected to pay as much as KCET has been paying.
PBS charges dues based on a formula that counts local fundraising for regular operations and special productions.
KOCE runs on a yearly budget of $10 million from donations, corporate sponsors and government grants, compared to KCET’s $35 million to $50 million annual budget.
As a partial PBS member station, KOCE now gets about a quarter of its programming from PBS.
It also shows programming from British Broadcasting Corp. and National Geographic Society, as well as producing its own shows, including “Real Orange” and “Inside OC” with the Business Journal’s Rick Reiff.
OC Focus
KOCE is set to take on more PBS programming but plans to keep its OC focus, according to Rogers.
“Our lineup is going to be impacted pretty dramatically,” he said. “But we’re not going to be like other stations and start ignoring Orange County.”
The station expects to spend “in the seven figures” to boost the amount of PBS programming it carries, according to Rogers.
The station also will have to expand operations.
“We have some equipment to ramp up,” Rogers said.
KOCE is set to keep its headquarters in Huntington Beach on the campus of Golden West College and open an office in Los Angeles, according to Rogers.
The station expects to hire a handful of people.
The challenge for KOCE: going from serving largely OC to all of Southern California, including Palm Springs and Santa Barbara—cities that now fall beyond the station’s broadcast tower.
“We’re trying to find a transmitter for Santa Barbara and are working with KVCR in San Bernardino to deliver PBS to Palm Springs,” Rogers said.
Before KCET made the decision to go independent, the station was in talks with KOCE, KVCR and KLCS about forming a four-way PBS consortium.
Rogers said he’s long advocated that the region’s stations work more closely together.
“I’ve long been the only guy advocating it, so now I get an opportunity to see if it will work,” he said.
KCET now plans to buy and produce programs focused on Southern California.
The move to go independent brings its own challenges, according to Rogers.
“If you’re going to focus on creating content, that’s a very expensive proposition,” Rogers said. “Far more expensive than PBS dues are.”
The move has put KOCE and the other stations under the gun to be ready for the switch.
“We’re still trying to get our arms around it,” Rogers said.
