CPB nomination, scrutiny, and closing
In one of his last acts before resigning, on August 8, 1974, Nixon nominated Joseph Coors for consideration by the United States Senate to be named to the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.[15] The nomination was renewed by Gerald R. Ford after he became president.
The March/April 1975 issue of the Columbia Journalism Review carried as its cover story a feature by Stanhope Gould entitled "Coors Brews the News".[16] The piece expressed concern over pressures exerted by Wilson and the subtle "nudging" of the service to, per Wilson's words as quoted by Tom Turley, "put our philosophy in the news: gradually, subtly, slowly". Further attention was attracted when one part of a multi-part front page story reported that May by The Washington Post staff writer Stephen Isaacs profiled TVN and its issues, as well as Coors's attitudes toward public broadcasting; it also disclosed a letter written by Coors to CPB chair Henry Loomis in January 1975 expressing disdain for a public television documentary he felt "wrongly" attacked the funeral industry and noting his interest in "watching closely" such activity.[17] The Coors reputation for conservatism dissuaded at least one station, WRC-TV in Washington, from signing up, though that city's WTTG and WTOP-TV were subscribers and generally found its content useful.
That September, nomination hearings began for Coors, scheduled for two days instead of the matter of hours contemplated for other CPB nominees. Another letter to Loomis, asking the CPB to hold off on expenditures for satellite interconnects of public television stations and suggesting it contract with a commercial firm for a system similar to that TVN was considering for its own distribution, also figured prominently.[18] On the second day, Senator John O. Pastore, presiding over the hearing, asked Coors if he would commit to stepping down from his role at TVN if confirmed to the CPB board; Coors refused, citing his fiduciary duty to Coors stockholders.[19] He briefly, however, agreed to consider resigning.[20] He also admitted to being a contributor to and generally agreeing with the views of the John Birch Society. During the hearing, Pastore told Coors, "No nomination which has come before this subcommittee has bothered me more than yours."
On September 29, TVN announced it would cease operating on October 31, citing a continuing "lack of revenues" for exiting the business and a lack of interest in a conversion to satellite distribution; the TVN Enterprises film production unit would remain in operation.[21] At the time, it was estimated that TVN lost $50,000 a month, in part due to low rates offered to entice stations to join. However, prior loss figures provided by Coors were significantly higher. When the brewing company filed a prospectus in May 1975 ahead of an initial public offering, it stated that it had lost $2.2 million on TVN in 1973 and $3.2 million in 1974, with another $3 million in losses projected for the third year of the business.[22]
The same day TVN closed, by an 11–6 vote, the Senate Commerce Committee rejected the Coors nomination, in large part because he refused to resign.[23]
