Early Reviews Are In!
How was KOCE received when it was just a nascent station?
Thanks to the L.A. Public Library’s digital archives, we didn’t have to search too far to find an answer.
On November 20, 1972, the day before KOCE broadcast its first content, the Los Angeles Times published a piece on its Op-Ed page welcoming the new channel to the area. The Times noted:
KOCE considers the entire Orange County community its campus … In the period of great county growth, one area, culture, has lagged badly. The new station will offer an invaluable vehicle for bringing art and culture—and public affairs programs, focusing on Orange County people and issues—to mass audiences.
The column concludes with “Channel 50 is a welcome addition to Orange County.”
Even all these years later, the L.A. Times can make us blush!
Over the decades that followed, KOCE has grown far beyond what anyone at the station (or at the L.A. Times) imagined at that time. In 2011, we became the primary PBS channel for the entire Greater Los Angeles area and Southern California — with that came a boost in our primetime programming — and in our membership across the region, too. (Thank you for your support.)
We’re proud to serve this region and excited to look back and see how we’ve grown even more.
This article was updated Jan. 20, 2023.
