Odessa's KOCV for sale

[DG]

I've heard it from two different sources that the Public Radio station at Odessa College, KOCV-FM, is now up for sale. No word on what it's selling for.

Evidently the college, facing massive budget cuts along with everyone else, has finally decided to get rid of it.

The station has been in a very bad state for the last decade since the local public television station was sold off. The TV staff did many functions for the radio station and when they left, there was no one on the radio side to do them, so it quickly fell into disrepair. There was very little fundraising, some underwriting and little support from the college.

They aired some NPR programming but were not a full NPR-member station.

KOCV originates from the OC campus, but their signal just barely covers Odessa, and doesn't reach the majority of Midland 10 miles to the east. Their transmitter is also in very bad shape. They went to a 24-hour broadcast schedule just so they could leave the transmitter on, fearing that if it was shut-off, it wouldn't come back.

Before the economy tanked, several outside entities expressed an interest in buying or otherwise helping the station, but OC was holding out for big money to come calling and it never did. Now it appears Midland/Odessa will be the largest market in Texas (and the US) not to have direct public radio service. There is a translator from Eastern New Mexico University just NW of Midland, but its coverage is sporadic at best, and they offer nothing in the way of local programming...

 

[hayseed]

Midland/Odessa is the largest market to not have a lot of things... particularly good radio.

 

[DG]

Bid proposals for KOCV-FM are due at 2pm tomorrow (15 Feb) at Odessa College.

An impromptu press conference is being held over at UTPB following tomorrow's deadline.

Odessa College says they will announce the bid winner for KOCV next Tuesday, 22 Feb 2011.

 

[fredcantu]

It's all about fundraising. If the station cannot get its listeners to support it with their pocketbooks it will not survive.

 

[DG]

And the new owner of KOCV-FM is...

Marfa Public Radio!

http://www.oaoa.com/articles/radio-60785-public-marfa.html

http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_416963be-8b22-5182-bee8-8b1f691196d8.html

 

[Garrett]

I'm surprised Texas Tech bid for it.
But I'm also surprised at the number of times Texas Tech bids for things that it does not get (See George W. Bush Library). Texas Tech must not be very good at making presentations.

 

[fredcantu]

If they can make a go of public radio in Marfa they can certainly do Odessa.

 

[uncamark]

If they can make a go of public radio in Marfa they can certainly do Odessa.

And the windowpane gang at Keeping Public Radio Public will probably shut up when they see that Marfa Public Radio's schedule is mostly music and mostly local (other than the flagship news shows, the only strip NPR programming they carry is "TOTN"). That is, of course, if the KPRPers aren't spending too much time dropping windowpane acid and putting off taking baths and getting haircuts.

 

[JustinT]

And the windowpane gang at Keeping Public Radio Public will probably shut up when they see that Marfa Public Radio's schedule is mostly music and mostly local (other than the flagship news shows, the only strip NPR programming they carry is "TOTN"). That is, of course, if the KPRPers aren't spending too much time dropping windowpane acid and putting off taking baths and getting haircuts.

Is Keeping Public Radio Public a gang? I thought it was one guy.

 

[hayseed]

Wow, Mark Are you bitter much?

 

[earshot]

Not surprised Tech didn't get it. The budgets at state schools are being slashed. If anything, they're trying to sell them (Houston). Unless the school backs it and knows how to raise money (UT) a college radio station is a money pit. What money they have should go to attracting and keeping instructors.

Re. Marfa: Public radio should be an alternative to what's out there. I don't see being a local alternative to short playlists and voice tracking piped in from out of town as a bad thing. If they aren't clearing NPR's full schedule, there are plenty of sources to find it, including NPR's own app.

Marfa understands fundraising and how to get their community behind it. They'll do fine in their new market.

 

[DG]

Not surprised Tech didn't get it. The budgets at state schools are being slashed. If anything, they're trying to sell them (Houston)...

I'm not surprised either. But as Kenney says, "You got to know when to walk away...".

;D

And San Antonio offered Odessa College alot more money than Marfa, go figure.

Regarding KTRU, Rice is selling it to the University of Houston, one of those "state schools" getting less. Whereas KTRU was a "college radio" station, KOCV was not. It was a very poorly run and poorly supported Public Radio station, that did have students doing a few things on air, but it wasn't a "college radio station" in the usual sense.

There are numerous threads under the Non-Comm topic on these boards that explain how College Radio differs from Public Radio.

...Unless the school backs it and knows how to raise money (UT) a college radio station is a money pit. What money they have should go to attracting and keeping instructors...

I agree. College radio stations being run as little more than a toy for students are indeed a waste of resources. A few are still used as training tools, but many have been sold off for use as Public Radio stations. The former college station here is planned to return for use as an academic tool for students, but such an outcome is the very rare exception to the rule.

...Re. Marfa: Public radio should be an alternative to what's out there. I don't see being a local alternative to short playlists and voice tracking piped in from out of town as a bad thing. If they aren't clearing NPR's full schedule, there are plenty of sources to find it, including NPR's own app...

AMEN! I couldn't agree more. I just hope Marfa itself isn't forgotten in favor of the more lucrative Permian Basin market.

...Marfa understands fundraising and how to get their community behind it...

This is where I disagree and say Marfa has some significant hurdles to jump.

Marfa understands fundraising IN MARFA and how to get MARFA behind the MARFA STATION.

That doesn't necessarily mean they can and will do the same in Odessa.

In Marfa, KRTS is the only radio game in town. It's kinda hard to NOT get the community behind you when you are the only local station around, but I cannot deny that they have done a marvelous job of that. KRTS is hyper-local and well-suited to Marfa. They had 2 full-time employees to cover things there last I checked, but they are going to have to expand for their entry into Odessa.

Quadrupling their audience (or more) will place them into a higher tier for calculating their programming costs, and their network programs will be much more expensive as a result. CPB grants are also expected to decrease in the years ahead, so they'll be relying on those Marfa supporters to offset the costs until the Permian Basin begins to show a return, which will take awhile. While KRTS has lots of local community programs on their air, those may not translate to the Permian Basin. Odessa listeners know NPR shows very well, and those network costs will be increasing.

As for fundraising, Marfa is a West Texas version of Santa Fe or Taos- it's an artsy town with lots of wealthy locals that have money to spend. Odessa is a different critter. While there are lots of wealthy folks in the Permian Basin, donating to Public Radio isn't likely on their list of causes to support. I'm not saying Marfa cannot change that, just pointing out that their strategy West of the Pecos may not work East of the Pecos.

To their credit however, many in Odessa (and Midland) will donate just because Odessa College is no longer involved. But while the majority of folks in Marfa are probably aware of KRTS and even support it financially, the majority of locals in Odessa (and Midland too) have never even heard about KOCV. Worse, the few who actually listen now to KOCV have not been asked to support it financially in 4 years.

Unlike at home, Marfa will face competition in the Permian Basin, and will have to overcome years of KOCV being run into the ground. There's also the political leanings of the community, which typically have not been supportive of Public Broadcasting in general, let alone Public Radio.

I think having Marfa in the Permian Basin will be a fantastic and refreshing alternative to what's available there now. But to think this will be a cakewalk for them just because they're MARFA is utter nonsense. I do wish them well and hope they can deliver what they promised.

 

[earshot]

...Marfa understands fundraising and how to get their community behind it...

This is where I disagree and say Marfa has some significant hurdles to jump.

Marfa understands fundraising IN MARFA and how to get MARFA behind the MARFA STATION.

That doesn't necessarily mean they can and will do the same in Odessa.

In Marfa, KRTS is the only radio game in town. It's kinda hard to NOT get the community behind you when you are the only local station around, but I cannot deny that they have done a marvelous job of that. KRTS is hyper-local and well-suited to Marfa. They had 2 full-time employees to cover things there last I checked, but they are going to have to expand for their entry into Odessa.

Quadrupling their audience (or more) will place them into a higher tier for calculating their programming costs, and their network programs will be much more expensive as a result. CPB grants are also expected to decrease in the years ahead, so they'll be relying on those Marfa supporters to offset the costs until the Permian Basin begins to show a return, which will take awhile. While KRTS has lots of local community programs on their air, those may not translate to the Permian Basin. Odessa listeners know NPR shows very well, and those network costs will be increasing.

As for fundraising, Marfa is a West Texas version of Santa Fe or Taos- it's an artsy town with lots of wealthy locals that have money to spend. Odessa is a different critter. While there are lots of wealthy folks in the Permian Basin, donating to Public Radio isn't likely on their list of causes to support. I'm not saying Marfa cannot change that, just pointing out that their strategy West of the Pecos may not work East of the Pecos.

To their credit however, many in Odessa (and Midland) will donate just because Odessa College is no longer involved. But while the majority of folks in Marfa are probably aware of KRTS and even support it financially, the majority of locals in Odessa (and Midland too) have never even heard about KOCV. Worse, the few who actually listen now to KOCV have not been asked to support it financially in 4 years.

Unlike at home, Marfa will face competition in the Permian Basin, and will have to overcome years of KOCV being run into the ground. There's also the political leanings of the community, which typically have not been supportive of Public Broadcasting in general, let alone Public Radio.

I think having Marfa in the Permian Basin will be a fantastic and refreshing alternative to what's available there now. But to think this will be a cakewalk for them just because they're MARFA is utter nonsense. I do wish them well and hope they can deliver what they promised.
[/quote]

If I were betting, I'd say before the bidding begun, Marfa's management already contacted...or were contacted by...Midlanders with deep pockets. They also have until March 17 to apply for a PTFP grant, if they choose.

It's just a guess but I'd say while it's very possible they might import some of their shows from Marfa, there will still be a local presence.

That said, I'm happy that San Angelo benefits from Tech providing an NPR outlet and that Texas Public Radio is serving communities like Llano and Del Rio, where otherwise it would be unlikely an NPR would exist.

And yes, you're absolutely right about college radio and NPR being two different breeds of cat.

For those passionate students at colleges selling their stations, I hope they become proactive and look into streaming and for any local HD stations who might give them a secondary channel. Maybe even a PBS who would agree to give them part of their bandwidth to run audio on a subchannel. Back in the dark ages when I went to school, those opportunities didn't exist.

 

[fredcantu]

I won't pretend I know the market. But I'm thinking a hybrid of NPR news shows and classical music might fill a void and also work well from a fundraising standpoint. Thoughtful shows like Morning edition and All Things Considered in drive times should attract broad support. And classical would attract that old money that normally doesn't support public radio. But first KOCV has to upgrade its signal. 5kw at 230 feet isn't going to cut it in an elongated market. That's a class A signal operating on a class C2 channel.