South Coast Community Media Access Center Dba Tv Santa Barbara

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
710910704
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Phone
8055711721
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Television

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$607,722
Expenses
$588,883
Assets
$530,920
Liabilities
$379,491

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • ERIK DAVIS (Executive Dir.): $102,555 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide citizens with access to television and other electronic media resources in order to facilitate public dialogue, free speech and participatory democracy; to foster local creativity, education and culture; and to reflect our diverse community.

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization oversees the operation and distribution of public and educational access program content on various distribution platforms including traditional cable access channels. The organization manages a community media center that provides access to media production equipment and promotes localism and a free exchange of ideas and information. The organization provides training to the community to effectively use these media resources. The organization provides production services to support local organizations and individuals in the production of noncommercial media content. The cable channels reach over 58,000 homes.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 68% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 56
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 57.4%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 59.2%; rating input score 59
  • Fundraising efficiency: $13.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 3.1%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.9; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.71; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.4%; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 57.4% of revenue deployed · 59.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $349K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $103K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 27 of 28 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 59/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 20/100.