Next chapter weighed for KCSM-TV studio

Community access channel PenTV expressed interest in leasing the studio, but district officials agreed an open bid process should be launched to assure preferential treatment is not granted to any particular outlet.

School board President Maurice Goodman said he favored any forthcoming offer which would both serve the needs of district students seeking broadcast education, as well as the community’s interest.

“The motive wouldn’t be a financial one,” said Goodman, of the opportunity for the district to lease the facility on the College of San Mateo campus. “It’s about providing and enhancing the educational services for our students and benefiting the county as a whole.”

Mark Simon, co-chair of the PenTV board of directors, said the community station would share such a goal.

“The educational mission at the community college district is very much in synch with PenTV,” he said.

Following the board discussion, Goodman said he is uncertain regarding details moving ahead, as district administration will take the lead on preparing a request for proposals from interested organizations.

Simon said PenTV plans to participate in the public bidding for the studio, and is heartened by the initial indications from the board.

“I do think they want to move quickly on that. I got the sense they liked the idea of making good educational use of the KCSM facilities. How quickly? I think they are sufficiently excited about the idea that they would like it to happen soon. But we cannot shortcut the process,” he said.

The opportunity to lease the facility is granted by officials finalizing a sale of KCSM-TV last year to the Rural California Broadcasting Corporation for $11.5 million. The deal initially was tangled in litigation, when a previous district partner hired to guide the sale sued to halt the process due to allegations the deal is invalid.

LocusPoint Networks filed a 2017 claim in county Superior Court asserting the sale of the station is illegitimate, according to allegations the purchase disobeys terms of an earlier contract between LocusPoint Networks and district.

Those legal issues have since been cleared though and the sale is final, Goodman said, allowing the broadcasting rights of KCSM-TV to exchange hands and freeing district officials to examine the next chapter for the studio.

A recommendation going into last month’s board meeting lobbied for officials to consider a deal with PenTV, which specializes in broadcasting community events and platform programs for local elected officials.

“That potential partnership between [the district] and [PenTV] in which the community-based television station becomes a long-term tenant of the KCSM-TV facilities presents a tremendous prospect for both organizations to advance their mutual missions of community engagement and educational opportunities through the full range of multi-media programming,” said a district report. “It could be described as a perfect partnership.”

Under terms of proposed deal, PenTV would exclusively lease the district’s facility for an extended period, during which time it could produce original content and offer educational and internship opportunities to students. Potential financial terms of the lease agreement were not discussed, said Simon.

PenTV currently occupies studios in the auditorium of the SamTrans offices in San Carlos, but is looking for a different location to grow its operations, said Simon.

For his part, Goodman said he was happy PenTV expressed interest in rejuvenating the facility which currently only houses some campus technology support services. But he balanced that perspective by noting any benefits offered by the partnership must focus primarily on the advancement of education programs for district students.

“We were very happy to hear that they would provide revitalization for the space and making sure that a great amount of interest is put back into the students and community and making sure real world experience would be available for students who have an interest in broadcasting,” he said.

Coming from the initial discussion, Goodman said he looks forward to more a comprehensive examination of the facility’s future.

“We will continue to have a conversation about how to proceed,” he said.

Simon meanwhile expressed confidence that PenTV and the college district would flourish under any potential future deal.

“This could be a truly great partnership,” he said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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