KCET to sell Sunset Boulevard studios

KCET, which three months ago divorced itself from PBS, plans to sell its 300,000-square-foot headquarters on Sunset Boulevard to the Church of Scientology for $14.1 million, the Los Angeles Times reports. From the story:

The Los Angeles television station, which is struggling to rebuild viewership after its recent split from PBS, plans to move its operations to a smaller location, real estate brokers said. Station officials have been touring potential sites, brokers said.

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Dropping the PBS brand meant getting rid of the dues burden but also losing signature shows such as "Sesame Street," "News Hour" and "Charlie Rose." ...

The effect was immediate. KCET's ratings have plunged without its familiar schedule. And individual donations — the lifeblood of any public broadcaster — have taken a sharp hit as well. March pledge drives raised much less money than expected, according to a station insider who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Four today

1. Michael Pollan ("The Omnivore's Dilemma") and Eric Schlosser ("Fast Food Nation") will join KCRW's Evan Kleiman on February 9 at USC to talk about the way we feed ourselves. LA Weekly

2. KOCE has rebranded itself PBS SoCal and plans to expand its staff in Los Angeles as it becomes the main PBS affiliate in Southern California, taking over from the PBS divorcee KCET. Franklin Avenue (via LA Observed)

3. When ordered to turn over information about several users in connection with the federal investigation of Wikipedia, Twitter successfully challenged the court's gag order and told the subjects of the investigation what had happened. Wired

4. Media organizations need to update their codes of ethics to keep up with the times. Poynter

KCET goes its own way

KCET has cut ties with the national Public Broadcasting System, turning the affiliate into an independent public television station. From the LA Times blog:

Starting in January, station officials intend to replace such iconic PBS fare as "Charlie Rose," "NewsHour," "Sesame Street" and "Masterpiece" with news and documentaries from Japan, Canada and elsewhere, along with old feature films. (KCET will continue to carry PBS programming through the end of December.)

The drastic move comes after a months-long battle over the dues KCET must pay the national organization. Last year, the dues totaled nearly $7 million, or almost one-fifth of the station's $37-million net operating revenue. Station officials say that amount is far too high. PBS, fearing that a reduction in the sum could lead to demands for similar discounts from other member stations, refused to budge.

"After four decades as the West Coast flagship PBS station, this is not a decision we made lightly," said Al Jerome, KCET's president and chief executive, in a news release. "We have been in discussions with PBS for over three years about the need to address challenges that are unique to our market as well as our station."

"As an independent public television station, KCET will be committed to investing in Southern California by developing, acquiring, producing and distributing content across all media platforms," he added. "We will continue to offer the KCET audience programming from leading national and international sources. Some of these series are currently on our air."

Four today

1. KCET's Ophelia Chong tries her hand at satire after reading Daniel Hernandez's bitch slap of The Entryway project (all found via LA Observed). KCET

2. As far as bitch slaps go, former Republican strategist Tony Quinn goes after Steve Poizner's increasingly embarrassing gubernatorial campaign: "Facing political collapse, he has resorted to the historic tactic of a political scoundrel, race baiting, in this case making immigrant bashing the central theme of his faltering campaign." Fox and Hounds

3. Online April Fool's hijinks, as catalogued by TechCrunch (found via Andrew Sullivan). TechCrunch

4. Everyone wants an iPad app. Nieman Lab

Four in the afternoon

1. Something funky in the South Bay. Daily Breeze Managing Editor Toni Sciacqua tweets: "That funky smell some of you may have noticed is apparently a methane pocket that "belched" near the Redondo Marina. Story soon."

2. KCET.org continues its "Better Know a SoCal blogger" series with a profile of Cindy Mosqueda, who blogs at "Loteria Chicana." KCET

3. Female journalists age 18 t0 30 have a chance to earn minimum wage, plus cash bonuses, for a mysterious and possibly scuzzy Hollywood outfit. fishbowlLA

4. Is something amiss inside the union representing LANG journalists? Stress-Telegram