Dallas based Christian broadcaster Daystar Television Network has entered a bid to buy Orlando’s WMFE, currently a PBS TV station, the Orlando Sentinal reported yesterday.
Daystar Television Network, an evangelical Christian broadcaster based in Dallas, plans to buy public television station WMFE-Channel 24 for about $5 million, several sources knowledgeable about the deal said Sunday.
WMFE announced Friday that it was selling the PBS station because it is no longer financially viable. Jose Fajardo, WMFE president and CEO, said he couldn’t confirm the buyer and price until the information becomes public in a Federal Communications Commission filing. The information could be released today.
Some of the online comments are interesting.
I used to volunteer regularly and so did my late husband. Then they started eliminating volunteer opportunities. An answering service takes care of all callers, My husband did an awful lot of work with the volunteers and we both thought that using local people and organizations to man the phones, give tours, etc. and read to the blind on the radio among other things, was one way of introducing the local public to the station. Volunteering, meeting radio and TV “personalities”, seeing how a station works, going”backstage”, gets people excited. Jose was the fair haired guy and was very obviously groomed for the job, after a while, he didn’t care for volunteers and started farming out the work. The Reading Service went away on his watch, too. I think he ran the station into the ground. I’m sure the economy was a very major factor, but leadership is necessary to weather storms. This is a “Public Station” so why weren’t the public invited to offer solutions? Why weren’t the public involved at all?
The Dallas broadcaster’s collection so far includes:
KLTJ (TV), GALVESTON, TX (FILE NO. BALET-19990729IA )
WTSF (TV, ASHLAND, KY (FILE NO. BALCT-20030729ADC)
KDTN (TV), DENTON, TX (FILE NO. BALET-20030818ABI)
KRMT (TV), DENVER, CO (FILE NO. BALET-19970226IA)
KKAP (TV), LITTLE ROCK, AR (FILE NO.BTCET-20010309AAT)
WYDN (TV), WORCESTER, MA (FILE NO. BTCET-20000602AGO)
KDTP (TV), PHOENIX, AZ (FILE NO. BLET-20010205ABS)
KWBN (TV), HONOLULU, HI (FILE NO. BTCET-20000914AAY)
KWDK (TV), TACOMA, WA (FILE NO. BTCET-19991202ABV
currentpublicmedia has an update with a link to the FCC application.
Community Educators of Orlando Inc. — which has the same mailing address and president as Daystar religious broadcasters — has filed with the FCC to purchase WMFE in Orlando, Current learned today (April 4). Greg Guy, a managing partner at media broker Patrick Communications in Elkridge, Md., confirmed the $3 million price. The FCC application, filed by WMFE licensee Community Communications Inc., can be viewed here.
Why do I “have a bad feeling about this?”
