October 25, 2012
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tracy Rosenberg, Executive Director, Media Alliance (tel) 510-684-6853
KCSM-TV Sale Postponed
San Mateo Community College District Votes to Reject All Bids for the 5th Largest Public Television Broadcasting License in California
San Mateo, CA-On October 24th, the San Mateo Community College District Board of Trustees voted unanimously to reject the final two bidders (of an original six) for the broadcast license for KCSM Television, bringing to an end an 18-month process by the District to try to sell the television broadcast license housed at the College of San Mateo since 1964. KCSM Television reaches 10 Bay Area counties and is broadcast on 60 municipal cable systems in Northern California.
Democratic communication advocates Media Alliance filed a public records request with the District to obtain the details of the bids for the broadcast license in March of 2012, but had not received the information as the District was not willing to move ahead with the request while negotiations were in progress. The District reported the information would be provided to Media Alliance this week and district staff have indicated this is the case.
The final 2 unsuccessful bidders for the broadcasting license were Public Media Company, a division of the Colorado LLC Public Radio Capital, the radio brokers who recently purchased the University of San Francisco radio license that broadcasted as KUSF at 90.3FM for more than 25 years and has recently been reconstituted as Classical SF, and San Mateo Community Television, a newly established non profit connected with Independent Public Media of Colorado.
Media Alliance executive director Tracy Rosenberg comments “After watching this process for close to a year, I concluded the public had a right to know about the fate of this media asset, and filed a public records request to try to ensure that. Everyone is sympathetic to the financial travails in CA higher education, but noncommercial broadcast infrastructure on the scale of KCSM is not just an object to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, but a public interest obligation that needs to serve Bay Area residents and their informational and educational needs. I am glad to hear there is another opportunity to arrive at a good outcome for KCSM Television”.
The District Board of Trustees stated they were unwavering in their decision to eventually sell the television broadcast license due to what they believe are unmanageable operating costs for the District and will begin discussions on a new process in Mid-November.
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