Kauai's KKCR and KKCU Radio On Air

Kauai's Community Radio stations, long under construction for the past two years have finally hit the airwaves this month. The two FM stations are undergoing test broadcasts with regular programming to start in September. The radio station is broadcasting on two frequencies and blankets the entire island of Kauai and Niihau. KKCR FM is located at 90.9 on the dial while KKCU is at 91.9 FM. According to details posted at their website, KKCU's signal is strong enough to be heard in parts of West Oahu. The progrmaming mix is slated to be a combination of Hawaiian, reggae and worldbeat music. The station facilities are built to withstand a powerful hurricane, should one hit Kauai again. For more details on KKCR/KKCU visit their website located at http://www.cruzio.com/~kusp/kekahu/index.html.

KITV 4 To Go Digital

KITV 4 recently announced that it will be the first Hawaii television station to start broadcasting in the new digital television format. This will commence sometime after KITV moves their studios to the new One Archer Lane condominium complex now under construction on South King Street in Honolulu. The federal government has mandated that all TV broadcasts go digital by the year 2006. More information on this may be available at KITV's website.

Honolulu Weekly Readers Pick Best Broadcast Entities

In its annual survey of the "Best of Honolulu," readers of Honolulu Weekly chose the following broadcast entities as their best:

Best Local Radio Show: (apparently a 3 way tie)
Perry & Price, KSSK
Rick Hamada, KHVH
KHPR (undefined)

Best local newscast:
Joe Moore's 6 o clock news on KHON TV 2

For more information on Honolulu Weekly's best of poll, visit their website at http://www.honoluluweekly.com.

August 9, 1997.

Another 5 for Leahey at KFVE

Longtime University of Hawaii Rainbow Sports announcer Jim Leahey has signed a new 5 year contract with KFVE TV, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported yesterday. Leahey has resigned with the station for an undisclosed sum. The veteran sportscaster has been the longtime voice of the Rainbow sports program, most notably with the football, basketball and baseball broadcasts. Leahey indicated that he will be doing more live sportscasting by taking on volleyball, women's basketball, soccer and swimming. KFVE TV recently signed a $6.2 million, 5 year exclusive contract with the University of Hawaii.

KFVE TV Drops 9 o clock News

After nearly two years, KFVE TV has dropped its 9:PM newscast. The nightly news show ceased broadcasting after it aired its last newscast Sunday night, August 3. Weekend news anchor Barbara Wallace announced the show's demise at the end of the broadcast. KFVE has filled the timeslot with an hour long, syndicated show for weekdays and other programming on weekends. The newscast produced by sister station KHNL, continues at 5, 6 and 10 p.m. on Channel 13.

KISA Radio Splits Programming From KWAI

After signing on earlier this year as a simulcasting facility for KWAI radio, station KISA is now broadcasting its own programming. The format remains the same, with news and talk shows. KISA is still affiliated with KWAI.

New Website for KIKU TV

KIKU TV Channel 20 has a new home on the web. The new site is at http://www.kikutv.com, and is hosted by LavaNet. The website contains a monthly schedule of KIKU's multi-cultural TV programming, a 30 year history of Japanese television in Hawaii, and a community calendar.

July 31, 1997

Hilo Radio Stations Change Formats

Hilo Radio Stations KKOA 107.7 FM and KHWI 100.3 FM changed their progrmaming formats this week. According to industry observer Charles Bohenke radio station KKOA FM changed its format from "Hot New Country" to a rock format, geared towards a younger audience. The station is billing itself as "Island 107 is Jammin'". Meanwhile over at KHWI, which previously had an A/C-rock format switched to oldies. It's now "Kool Oldies" and have added the syndicated Mark and Brian Show to the station's morning line-up. The Mark and Brian Show is a staple in Honolulu airing weekdays on KKLV FM.

-- Contributed by Charles Bohenke.

Oceanic Cable Announces Major Channel Realignment

Subscribers to Oahu's Oceanic Cable will have to reset their TV sets and VCRs on September 8, when a new channel realignment on the service takes effect. Thirty-seven of the service's 78 channels will be moving to new positions on the dial, according to the TV Tune-Up card sent to subscribers. The change cuts across all service levels including standard, value plus, pay and pay-per-view. Animal Planet, a cable network geared towards wildlife will be added as a new standard service.

July 25, 1997.

News Updates for July 1997

Here are some really quick tidbits that has caught my attention in the past weeks.

July 25: New Faces At KGMB TV: Jim Lemon, current News Director of KSNT, Topeka has been named News Director at KGMB-TV in Honolulu. The move reunites Jim with his old boss Ray Depa -- who is the new GM at KGMB-TV.

-- from Don Fitzpatrick's Shop Talk via Mary Lou Barker

July 24, 1997.

KKLV 98.5 FM recently launched a new website. Their URL is http://www.live985.com. The site features links to classic rock artists, station profiles of on air personalities, a link to the Mark & Brian show, and demographic information for advertisers.

KGU 760 AM recently changed their format to one featuring a predominantly sports line-up. All of their talk shows revolve around sports with CBS network newsfeeds on the hour. The station is billing itself as "The Ball". KGU was one of the first radio stations in Hawaii to go on the air.

Ag radio on hold: K. T. Cannon-Eger "Focus on the Economy" newsletter reports that the Ag Radio show slated for KKOA 107.7 FM will not be happening for the time being due to lack of sponsorship.

Former KITV sportscaster Russell Shimooka is back on local television. He recently surfaced on KGMB TV and is hosting the encore showings of the station's 10 year old music series "Island Music, Island Hearts." The shows air Friday nights at 7:PM.

UHF Channel 26 is back on the air as KAAH-TV. The station formerly known as KOBN is once again airing programming from the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN). All American Television, owners of KAAH have a website. The URL is http://www.aatv.org/kaah/index.html.

Oceanic Cable will be realigning their channels in September. A couple of new Value Plus networks were recently added to the lineup including CNN/SI and The Golf Channel. Oceanic will also be entering the consumer internet business in November, offering high speed access to the internet via Ethernet connections. For more information visit the Oceanic Cable website.

End of Cable FM Near: On the audio side of things, Oceanic Cable has announced that they will be ending the FM cable service in August. All of the FM stations offered through the service will migrate to the higher priced "Music Choice" service.

The popular Filipino Beat variety show has moved from KWHE Channel 14 to Oceanic Cable Channel 31. The show now airs Monday nights at 6:PM. Channel 31 is also airing Philippines Today and Philippine Music Hour on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at the same time.

MOVING: The syndicated Rosie O'Donnell show is moving from KHON TV 2 to KHNL News 8 (Channel 13 broadcast) starting in August. The new time for the popular talk show will be weekdays at 4:PM.

Bows Go National: ESPN has announced that it will carry the University of Hawaii vs. Notre Dame football game to a nationwide audience in November.

June 28, 1997.

Tributes Abound After Bruddah IZ's Passing

Island radio stations abruptly changed their programming yesterday as news of the passing of popular island singer Israel Kamakawiwo`ole (popularly known as Bruddah IZ or simply IZ) flooded the airwaves during the early morning hours of June 26. Listeners flooded radio station phone lines with calls of how the singer touched their lives through his music and life. Several stations played non-stop music from Kamakawiwo`ole's solo albums as well as his work with his former group, the Makaha Sons of Niihau

By the day's end, all the local stations carried the story as their lead news item and 2 TV specials were announced. KFVE TV aired their special Friday night consisting largely of clips from their Hot Hawaiian Nights TV show, interviews with close associates, and IZ's last public performance with the Makaha Sons at last year's Na Hoku Hanohano awards, which airs yearly on KFVE.

KGMB TV also announced a special for airing on July 6.

Funeral arrangements are pending for the 38-year old singer.

Kauai Residents Protest Tower Location

Kauai residents are up in arms over the approval of a radio tower to be constructed atop the scenic Haupu Ridge. A group formed to save the ridge is now expected to sue the developer, Stangl Broadcasting on a number of environmental charges including endangerment of native birds in the area. Stangl is expected to start construction of the facility next month.

Ron Jacobs Outs of 107.9 FM

Island DJ Ron Jacobs has reportedly quit 107.9 FM over managerial differences according to Wayne Harada's Entertainment column in the Honolulu Advertiser. The popular DJ from the old KPOI "Poi Boys" days was slated to become Oldies 107.9 FM's afternoon drive jock, and had been functioning as the station's program director for a short time. Harada also reports that the morning DJ team of Michael W. Perry and Larry Price have been offered a million bucks each to switch from KSSK to KRTR radio. Stay tuned....

Internet Radio Hawaii Active Again

Rabbett's Internet Radio Hawaii (IRH) recently resumed broadcasting after a month off the air due to financial difficulty. The popular and now several times imitated Hawaiian music webcast has come back in a big way offering several Real Audio based stereo broadcasts and its own tribute to the late Bruddah IZ. IRH can be found at http://irh.com. Webmaster Robert Abbett is asking for donations to keep the webcast on the air.

Big Island Radio Conglomerate

Seven Big Island radio stations have recently merged their operations into a single broadcast entity. Radio stations KIPA AM, KHWI FM, KLUA and KPVS FM, KAOY and KAOE FM and KKON AM have been folded into a new company headed by veteran broadcaster Buddy Gordon. The new conglomerate will be known as Big Island Radio and is a partnership with Gordon's Big Island Broadcasting Company and the ASA Corporation, a subsidiaryof Persis Corp.,owned by former Honolulu Advertiser publisher Thurston Twigg-Smith. While several of the stations have similar programming, so far no changes have been made. KAOE and KAOY presently repeat the programming of Maui's KAOI FM.

--- Charles Boehnke

June 25, 1997.

Radio Waves Out of Hilo

Charles Boehnke, a contributor of Big Island news tips to this site reports that a new Christian FM station is now broadcasting at 91.9 out of Hilo. According to Charles, "Moody Bible Institute out of Chicago has gotten their "Satallator" working fairly well now. It relays the MBN stations from either Moline, IL or Chicago. Their transmitter is up at Piihonua near the Channel 9 TV relay site and runs a mighty ten watts! For some time they had problems with the satellite setup and only had programming for a few hours a day. Now it's 24 hours."

Meanwhile Charles also reports that KHLO 850, a longtime operation in Hilo, has still not gone back on the air after a windstorm blew their transmitter tower down last February. Station personnel at 850 have stated, "we're working on it but it will be a while yet." The station may eventually share a site with another station.

Agricultural Report on KKOA, Hilo

KKOA, FM107.7 "Hot Country" began broadcasting a new program directed at the agricultural community of East Hawai`i. The 15 minute show started on Monday and airs from 5:45 to 6:00 a.m.

"We plan to start small and grow," said station salesperson and part-time rancher Gail Kawamoto. "We hope to cover everything from weather to crop prices interspersed with interviews, cultivation and marketing tips, and information on commodity associations."

Kawamoto said the station's range extends from Volcano to Hawaiian Beaches, up to Kaumana, Hilo and out to Laupahoehoe. For more information, to inquire about sponsorship or to schedule an interview, contact Kawamoto at 961-0651.

- from Focus on the Economy
By K. T. Cannon-Eger, billeger@gte.net

June 9, 1997.

KGMB Revamps Morning News

The KGMB Morning News signed on with a new look and new anchors today as the show took to the airwaves at its 5:00 AM time slot. Gone is George "Granny Goose" Groves and the folksy talk show personna the program had. Replacing him is KGMB news anchor Stacey Loe and weatherman Mark Geldmeir. The show is more news oriented and concentrates on getting the latest local news, weather, and traffic reports out. The local news is supplanted by CBS Morning News segments. The new show airs on weekday mornings.

Channel 26 To Resume as KAAH TV

KAAH TV started a test broadcast on UHF channel 26, a spot previously occupied by KOBN TV. The station is apparently under new ownership and is being run by the AATV network, a religious broadcast entity. Once on the air, KAAH will resume transmitting the Trinity Broadcasting Network's programming, which previously aired on KOBN, and is now carried by Oceanic Cable. For more informatin on KAAH TV, visit their webpage at http://www.aatv.org.

CSPAN Bus Tours Hawaii

CSPAN's bus completed its 50 state tour recently in Hawaii when the organization toured Oahu and Maui in late May / early June. The CSPAN crew made several stops on their tour and chronicled them on their website. The CSPAN crew also did a live television broadcast of Rick Hamada's morning radio talk show on May 28 (see below). Guests on Hamada's show included Senator Daniel Inouye, State Representative Quentin Kawananakoa and State Sen. Sam Slom among others. The show was beamed live from Hawaii to a national audience on the CSPAN network. For more information on CSPAN visit their website at http://www.c-span.org.

May 20, 1997.

Rick Hamada's Morning Show To Be Simulcast on CSPAN

Rick Hamada's morning drive talk show on KHVH Radio (830 AM), will be broadcast in its entirety on national television May 28. The CSPAN public affairs network will be simulcasting the show live from 6:00 A.M. to 9:00 A.M. Hawaii Standard Time. The broadcast is part of CSPAN's routine broadcast of radio talk shows throughout the nation. Rick Hamada's weekday morning show is centered on hot local issues of the day.

Honolulu Advertiser Revamps TV Week Publication

The Honolulu Advertiser revamped the format of its weekly TV Week publication. The revised publication is now known as Cable & TV Week and has abandoned its former tabloid size format in favor of a new, more colorful stapled format. The television listings are presented in a colorful series of grids with sports and time blocked programs highlighted. Most of the broadcast and cable TV channels are listed in the daily grids, though the public access cable channels have been exiled from the grid to a rather hard to read listings page.

Campaign On To Lure Miss Universe Pageant to Hawaii

Officials from the State and the City and County of Honolulu are trying to get the next Miss Universe pageant to be broadcast from Hawaii. The l997 pageant which was held in Florida this year, saw Hawaii's own Brook Mahealani Lee win the crown of Miss Universe, which prompted officials to start the campaign to bring it here. Should the pageant air in Hawaii, it would be held at the new State Convention Center and reach an estimated audience of 2 billion worldwide. The major stumbling blocks to getting this pageant would be scheduling and the cost, which some say could be at $2 million.

Hawaii Radio & Television Guide Website of the Week

While I really don't like tooting my horn here, I just have to send out a great big public MAHALO to MidWeek columnist Ron Nagasawa for picking the Hawaii Radio & Televison Guide as the Website of the Week for May 21. Right on Ron! If you have any website that you think is interesting, feel free to drop Ron a line at rnagasawa@midweek.com. MidWeek maintains an interactive TV Guide as well as an online version of their publication here: http://www.midweek.com.

May 2, 1997.

Patterson Broadcasting Sold To Texas Firm
Radio Stations KSSK, KIKI, KHVH, KKLV and KUCD Affected by Sale

In the latest news involving the consolidation of radio stations, it was recently announced that a Texas based radio conglomerate will buy Patterson Broadcasting Inc., the mainland firm that owns 7 Oahu radio stations. Capstar Broadcasting Partners, will purchase Patterson for a reported $215 million. Patterson owns 36 stations nationwide and this purchase will add to the inventory of Capstar's holdings at around 200 stations.

The Honolulu based radio stations affected by the sale are KSSK AM & FM, KIKI AM & FM (Hot I-94FM), KHVH AM, KKLV FM (Live 98.5) and KUCD FM (Hawaii's Smooth Jazz CD 101.9 FM). There were no plans to change any of the programming formats of the affected stations. KSSK and KIKI have both been the top rated stations in the local market [see story below].

The new acquisition of those radio stations is the latest in a string of corporate buyouts that have affected broadcast properties in Honolulu. Most recently KITV's parent company was sold to a large publishing firm. Radio stations KUMU and KDEO will/have gone under ownership changes in the past 5 months.

KSSK, I-94 Still On Top, KGMZ Makes Big Gain

The latest Arbitron radio station ratings were recently released for the Honolulu-Hawaii market. Perenial ratings leader KSSK radio held on strong to their top position in the highly competitive morning drive slot as well as the overall day and evening time blocks. KIKI FM/AM (I-94) has in recent years been in a strong #2 position for top Arbitron ratings. The big news is KGMZ's 3 point leap from deep within the ratings cellar to capture the #10 spot for the overall day/evening parts. The station which switched from an album rock format broadcast out of Maui to an all oldies format made a signifcant gain from a 0.5 share last Fall to a 3.2 share this winter.

Breakdown of the ratings are as follows:

Morning Drive Time 6:am to 10:am, Mon.-Fri.

                                       Winter 97         Fall 96
 1. KSSK AM/FM  (Perry &  Price)        28.9              27.3
 2. KIKI FM/AM  (I-94 FM simulcast)    10.9              11.2
 3. KRTR FM / KULA AM (simulcast)       7.8               7.9
 4. KQMQ FM/AM (simulcast)              6.1               6.3
 5. KUMU FM                             5.7               5.0
 6. KCCN FM (FM 100)                    5.5               5.3
 7. KHVH AM                             4.9               5.5
 8. KINE FM                             3.2               5.7
 9. KKLV FM (Live 98.5)                 3.1               4.2
10. KPOI FM                             2.7               2.8

Day and Night (6:AM to Midnight Monday - Sunday)

 1. KSSK FM                            11.6              10.3
 2. KIKI FM (I-94 FM)*                 11.2              13.1
 3. KRTR FM / KULA AM (simulcast)       9.6               8.3
 4. KSSK AM                             8.8               8.3
 5. KCCN FM                             7.6               7.0
 6. KQMQ FM &  AM (simulcast)            7.5               6.9
 7. KUMU FM                             6.3               5.7
 8. KINE FM                             4.8               6.1
 9. KHVH AM                             3.9               4.1
10. KGMZ FM                             3.2               0.5

* KIKI AM started simulcasting with the FM in February.
Source: Arbitron Ratings / Honolulu Advertiser

KFVE TV Drops U.H. Coaches Shows

Television station KFVE which recently secured a renewed University of Hawaii Sports Broadcast contract announced that they will be dropping the weekly U.H. sports coaches shows. The station will be replacing the shows with an all encompassing news magazine type of program that will cover a wider aspect of the U.H. Sports program. Audiences will be able to get the latest news and features on all the major U.H. sports as well as the less visible ones such as sailing and water polo. The new sports show will supplement the extensive package of live U.H. sports broadcasts which the station secured last month.

T.V. Stations Moving Out of Kakaako Area

Honolulu television stations KHON Channel 2 and KITV Channel 4 have indicated that they will be moving out of their Kakaako area facilities in the coming months. KITV plans to move into a new building under construction by the Myers Corporation on South King Street, while KHON is putting feelers out in its effort to look for a new facility. The reasons stated for the moves is the changing demographics of their neighborhoods (skewed heavily toward commercial retail) and the fact that newly constructed high rises will interfere with satellite reception.