Odessa College radio still under discussion

Odessa College officials say they will meet an Aug. 31 budget-imposed deadline to have a plan for the campus radio station.

OC has had to put in close to $100,000 a year to cover a shortfall in the station's expenses. KOCV has not had a full-time station manager in a long time, and its transmitter is from the Vietnam War era and losing power. The station only reaches a small portion of Midland County.

"We have made progress toward solidifying partnerships, but it's still part of talking possibilities," Vice President For Instruction Clayton Alred said.

He said the college is looking at two key areas: programming and facility needs.

"We've got to do more about location of the tower, but we are still in ongoing discussions and that's where it's at," he said.

He said trustees instructed the administration to have a plan by August, and the work is being done now to meet that deadline. He said collaborative partnerships were most likely and cited how Basin PBS and the radio station both were joined at one time.

Basin PBS station manager Daphne Dowdy Jackson said she met with OC officials this week and also brought in a consulting firm that helped the PBS station become viable several years ago.

"We are listening to the community, but I am not sure how it will all come together," she said.

She said different players are coming together to try to develop the plans, such as OC itself, Basin PBS and Midlander Bill Dingus' group Keep Public Radio. OC President Gregory Williams said in the past that the college would like to retain the license of the station if possible. However, paying more than $90,000 for the station without any academic components was difficult.

Dowdy Jackson said she is trying to grow Basin PBS and is working to see what PBS could do to help public radio in the process, to help both entities. She negotiated an extended lease for the television tower to remain on campus through 2011, so her most urgent concern is finding a new home after that date.

"If it would be possible to serve KOCV with that as well, we would like to do that," she said. OC's tower will need relocating as well to better reach Odessa and Midland.

Dingus said he is no longer concerned that the station will go off the air, it is just a matter of who will partner to keep it running and successful, which may later involve fundraising to move the tower.

He said in the past he was opposed to any partnership with Texas Public Radio, a San Antonio-based network of stations offering to help keep NPR in the Permian Basin.

"After talking with them, I feel they would be a perfectly suitable fit if that is pursued," Dingus said. He said he was concerned local flavor would be lost by turning over station management to an outside group.

TPR station manager Dan Skinner said he hasn't had any contact with OC in a couple months, but the offer of providing help still stands. He said even though TPR broadcasts from a main studio elsewhere, local flavor would still be kept with announcements.

"Local is very important to us," Skinner said.

Dingus said he's just glad the issue hasn't been dropped.

"May have been a little slower, but the news is all good," he said.

PARTNERS

Publicly identified groups interested in helping keep Odessa College radio on the air:

>> Bill Dingus' group Keep Public Radio.

>> Basin PBS.

>> Texas Public Radio.