By Greg Horner, Senior Editor.
The community can give a sigh of relief — Q-TV and PBS aren’t going anywhere.
The Delta College Board of Trustees has voted to not have WDCQ Q-TV participate in the FCC’s spectrum auction during a special meeting held on Jan. 12. The Board had until 6 p.m. to make the decision before the FCC’s anti-collusion quiet period took effect.
“I’m just elated that the Board saw the importance of Q-TV after all,” says Bay City resident Andy Rogers. “They needed to hear from the public, and they did. I’m just thrilled that they decided to opt out of the auction completely.”
The board voted to rescind the authority granted to President Jean Goodnow, Board Chair Mike Rowley and Executive Director Pam Clark in acting on behalf of Q-TV in moving forward, which was approved during the Dec. 8 board meeting. The Board then passed a resolution clarifying that WDCQ would not be participating in the auction.
The decision came after the college hosted two public forums on Jan. 7 and Jan. 9 to inform and hear feedback from members of the community. The opinion of the public was overwhelmingly against participation in the auction.
President Goodnow says that the complexity of the issue and working with the FCC was extremely challenging for the Board. “Delta quality TV and our radio station have been a key part of this institution for a number of years… We know that [Q-TV] have provided on-air educational programming not only for children, but for seniors as well, and they’ve been educating and inspiring people throughout the region.”
Clark says that, as a result of the decision, Q-TV will be left untouched. “It was a lot of the public comments that were made and continuing to assess the situation that led the Board to making the decision…We will continue as we have been for 51 years and we will not participate in the auction.”
Rowley says the administration did a great job in managing with the FCC’s deadlines and that the Board’s decision was the right one. “This was interesting and challenging because we had to learn the FCC’s rules for something that has never been done before. Learning how it was going to work and dealing with the changing dates and deadlines – it was a mixture of understanding the process and the technical aspects behind it.”
Rowley believes that the public forums and comments were instrumental in the Board’s decision to not participate in the auction. “As an open body, that loves to be transparent to the community, getting public input was important and I very much appreciate all the comments that people made.”
Goodnow agrees. “The [public comments] were taken very seriously, not only by the administration, but by the Board of Trustees too.”
The Board and Delta College will still have to honor the FCC’s mandated quiet period — even though Q-TV will not participate in the auction.
For Samia Lama, who arrived too late to give public comment, the decision was a reaffirmation of her trust in the community. “In spite of the fact that the information wasn’t very clearly advertised…It did bring peace of mind hearing some of [the Board’s] comments and hearing that they were taking into consideration the public’s input.”
Lama says that she is proud to raise her daughter in an area that respects quality information. “I’m relieved that our community’s access to public broadcasting was in good hands. Equal access to public broadcasting should be not only preserved and maintained — but protected.”