Local Orlando group incorporates to purchase WMFE-TV

Dick Batchelor, a former Florida state representative, has incorporated Orlando Community Television Corp. to partner with Independent Public Media in the purchase of WMFE-TV, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Batchelor declined to name other individuals involved because a deal has yet to be finalized. He owns the Dick Batchelor Management Group consulting firm, is a political analyst on local television and describes himself as “a very big fan of PBS.” IPM, formed to purchase struggling pubTV stations in order to save the noncom spectrum, has made a bid on WMFE-TV, which has been for sale for a year.