A TV News Mag With Local Flavor

A live, half-hour news magazine devoted exclusively to Orange County will debut Monday on public television station KOCE-TV Channel 50, which is producing the program in association with The Times Orange County edition.

Airing weeknights at 7 and repeating at 11, “Real Orange” will cover business, health, technology, family, education, politics, multiculturalism, consumer affairs, media and the arts in depth.

“We’re trying to tell the story of everyday life in Orange County, the real story,” said executive producer Jack Gallagher.

Robert G. Magnuson, president of The Times Orange County, said, “this is a great opportunity for us to expand our impact and broaden our audience. We’re delighted to be partnering with KOCE in this exciting venture.”

Peter Murphy, a former Orange County NewsChannel (OCN) anchor and KTTV reporter, and Maria Hall-Brown, a former actress and corporate spokeswoman, will host the program from a set casually outfitted with stools.

The show’s still-evolving format will begin with a summary of the day’s news, Gallagher said. Field reports and in-studio interviews or debates among newsmakers will follow.

Story segments may last eight minutes or more, offering more depth than those typically seen on the 24-hour news channel OCN, said KOCE President Melvin R. Rogers.

For instance, KOCE-TV’s coverage of a serious bus accident, he said, would “deal with the broader issues of public safety and transportation regulations and all the people involved.”

Originating from a studio at Golden West College, “Real Orange” will be available to 1.4 million households throughout all of Orange and parts of Los Angeles counties, programming director Roberta Smith said.

A staff of about 10 will produce and report the program. Gallagher also intends to invite anyone who can produce compelling, well-reported material to serve as contributing correspondents. Reporters from The Times may appear as guests to discuss issues they’re covering for the paper.

Each broadcast will feature an entertainment calendar and a recap of local business news.

“Business is such an important part of this county,” Rogers said, “that it has to be part of our focus.”

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Production costs will total about $500,000 annually, some of which will come from The Times and other local sources, Rogers said. Six 15-second announcements will credit the underwriters, he said, rather than one acknowledgment preceding the program.

The program will be sandwiched between the Miami-based “Nightly Business Report” and ITN World News, out of London. It replaces “The NewsHour” with Jim Lehrer, which airs twice a night on KCET-TV Channel 28 in Santa Monica.

“Our goal here is to provide a very differentiated service than KCET,” Rogers said.

In the past, the 24-year-old KOCE has produced original programs about literacy, health, arts and local politics, many of them aired nationally.

In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, it broadcast an Emmy-winning, twice-weekly live news show that died for lack of funding, Smith said. One-third of the station’s $5.3-million annual operating budget stems from member donations.