Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS. : SCHOOLS : KOCE to Become ‘Television Academy’

The fate of Orange County’s only Public Broadcasting System television station, KOCE, was finally resolved: It will become a “television academy” for student courses.

The station has been on the financial brink for years, as its operator, the Coast Community College District Board of Trustees, repeatedly threatened to eliminate its funding in the face of competing costs of operating its three colleges.

However, the board voted Wednesday night to retain the station’s license but convert it into a center for teaching college students television and video industry job skills.

The station will continue its PBS broadcasts, but will pay for them through grants, sale of services, private donations and fund drives.

Even so, Channel 50’s future is by no means secure. The college board made it clear that future financial support depends on how much it costs to run this new “Cooperative Television Academy.”

And the college faculty, which has been jealous of the resources devoted to Channel 50 over the years, was still not enthusiastic, recommending “caution” until an assessment determines whether Orange County really needs a television academy.