John Gittelsohn of the Orange County Register reported yesterday that KDOC-TV and the Orange County Register have announced plans to bring regular local news back to Orange County. See full article. Daybreak OC is slated to air daily from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. looping approximately thirty minutes of content during the two hour broadcast. The broadcast is set to commence September 10th.
The format will be somewhat similar to that of former Adelphia-owned OCN. OCN was dropped by Adelphia in 2001 as a result of Adelphia sustaining significant annual losses on the broadcast. Many of us have missed OCN and while OCN was not an overwhelmingly sensational broadcast, it at least provided mediocre coverage to Orange County local viewers.
On September 11th and in the immediate days following there was uncertainty across the nation about whether the devastating attack on the World Trade Center, The Pentagon, and Flight 93 were isolated incidents or whether this was part of a much broader terrorist plan. I found myself missing OCN and wishing that Orange County had a local broadcast station. I wanted to know details about John Wayne Airport and what our local city and county officials were being told. Orange County was essentially left in the dark.
Orange County residents are in a unique position. Sandwiched between the massive metro sprawls of Los Angeles and San Diego, the nearly 3,075,000 residents of Orange County are without a broadcast network of their own. The LA networks cover such a broad area already that is impractical to think that they could adequately cover Orange County news. I get out my pompoms when Rancho Santa Margarita shows up on the weather map.
By nature people are curious. They want to know what’s happening in their neck-of-the-woods. They want to see the good, the bad and the ugly of their community. They want information that relates to them. The latest LAPD scandal is of little interest to the majority of Rancho Santa Margarita residents; nor is a robbery in Simi Valley. Local residents want local news and I applaud KDOC-TV and the Orange County Register for recognizing and acting on this.
I’ve read several critical comments posted in response to John Gittelsohn’s article yesterday. One notable post addressed the fact that the combined number of KDOC-TV and OC Register staff assigned to Daybreak OC is severely limited and that the broadcast is doomed to fail in the same manner as OCN. Another touted Daybreak OC as an extension of the OC Register’s poor and biased reporting. Curiously I no longer see these comments posted.
The truth of the matter is that I DON’T CARE! Issues of quality and content can be presented to Daybreak OC by viewers as the need arises. If the broadcast is successful perhaps subsequent funding will allow for additional staff. The point is that KDOC-TV and the Orange County Register are planning to bring a much-needed and much-wanted local news broadcast to Orange County. I say that’s cause for celebration and I’m looking forward to seeing Rancho Santa Margarita included in this broadcast. Are you?