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April 30, 2004 Former Legislator Decries Local TV Coverage of Legislature Former State Representative Jim Shon has pointed to a recent letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission complaining about the lack of local TV news coverage given to the Hawaii State Legislature. The alleged letter or a part of it was posted to the Hawaii Radio & Television Guide Message Board on April 26. Shon stated that local TV news coverage of the Legislature at the time he was in office "was enormous compared to now." Other legislators have noticed a lack of TV coverage this session, as some stations have pulled news crews from regularly covering events going on at the capitol. TV station spokespersons have disputed the allegations. MORE DETAILS AT THIS LINK | DISCUSSION TOPIC
Georgia Congressman Nathan Deal (R) has introduced an amendment to the "Video Programming Choice and Decency Act of 2004" that would allow cable and satellite TV subscribers the option to pick and pay for only the channels they want to view instead of accepting packaged tiers now offered by those companies. A press release from Rep. Deal's office stated, "Today we have the opportunity to take a step toward protecting the American family from indecency that can be anticipated by giving them a choice as to the programs that come into their home. This choice is commonly referred to as a la carte." "At present, programmers require providers, both cable and satellite, to purchase large packages as a condition for receiving the broadcast networks. The latter have been given to the programmers by the Congress and represent an asset of the American public. The providers, in turn, require the consumer to purchase packages that may include programs they do not want and may regard as objectionable. Although the cable industry has agreed to block these channels at the consumer's request, the consumer is still being required to pay for something he does not want to receive. However, since the cost of the packages to the providers is contractually cloaked in perpetual secrecy, we do not know the exact costs." Cable and satellite TV operators are expected to oppose this citing increased costs and technological barriers. Consumers Union, publishers of Consumer Reports Magazine and the Consumer Federation of America are 2 of the early supporters for the legislation.
CONSUMER'S UNION ARTICLE
Digital Cable Popular With Island Viewers Despite the higher cost and the need for additional equipment, respondents to our latest poll have chosen Oceanic's digital cable service as their favorite way to access content and programming on TV. Our latest informal, unscientitic and small poll sample indicate that 50% of respondents are digital cable subscribers. The next highest was analog cable followed by a tie between viewers using traditional antenna reception and those not being Hawaii residents. Our previous poll which asked which mainland talk radio show was your favorite, showed that most respondents listened to some talk radio even though those who did not listen to talk radio at all lead the poll results. The final results from the last 2 polls can be accessed from the links below: TV ACCESS POLL RESULTS | TALK RADIO POLL RESULTS Don't forget to participate in our latest poll which should generate a heated result as we ask you "Which is your favorite urban CHR radio station in Honolulu?" You have now to May 6 in which to participate in this poll.
Hawaii's Jasmine Trias survived another round of American Idol and made it into the Top 5 and next week's program. She got more than 4.2 million phone in votes according to a report aired last night on KHON TV Channel 2. She sang the Gloria Estefan song "Here We Are," and was in the bottom 3 in yesterday's results show. She got some good comments from the judges and ultimately survived the round after John Stevens was voted off. MORE DETAILS: STAR-BULLETIN.COM | HONOLULU ADVERTISER
Emmis's Rick Balngiardi was named "Small Business Journalist of the Year" for the City and County of Honolulu in the annual Small Business Administration Awards luncheon yesterday. Pacific Basin Communications' Cathy Cruz, a writer for Hawaii Business magazine was named "Small Business Journalist of the Year" for the State of Hawaii, while Jim Wilson of the Hawaii Tribune Herald got the same honor for the island of Hawaii. Peter Robson and Randy Finlay were the state's awardess for "Small Business Persons of the Year." They operate Unlmited Construction Services out of Lihue, Kauai. MORE DETAILS AT THIS LINK | U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Idol Watch: Hawaii's Jasmine Trias Survives Latest Elimination Hawaii's contestant Jasmine Trias survived another week of votes in the highly rated Fox TV (KHON Channel 2) broadcast of American Idol. Reports indicate that Jasmine pulled in at least 4 million phone call votes, placing her in the top 3 after singing a relatively obscure Barry Manilow song on Tuesday night's broadcast. She moves on to next week's broadcast where the contestants will feature the music of Gloria Estefan.
MORE INFORMATION: ADVERTISER | STAR-BULLETIN
University of Hawaii home football games will not be blacked out if cable TV network ESPN carries the live coverage. UH officials and Coach June Jones had wanted the ESPN broadcasts blacked out for Hawaii in order to bolster the UH's home attendance and its local Pay-Per-View Broadcasts aired over Time Warner Oceanic Cable. The University of Hawaii's ESPN broadcast will be part of a new contract that the network is crafting for the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), of which the UH is a member.
Cec Heftel Speaks on Broadcast Consolidation Cec Heftel, former U.S. Congressman from Hawaii and former radio and TV station owner of KGMB TV and KSSK radio, spoke before a luncheon crowd at the Pacific Club yesterday about the perils of broadcast consolidation and the erosion of the industry's commitment to the local communities they serve. Heftel was a Hawaii congressman in the late 1970s and early 80s and owned KGMB TV and radio during those stations' heydey of the 1960s and 70s. Those properties were sold after he entered public office. Heftel later created a broadcast empire in California on the strength of operating radio stations targeted to the Hispanic audience. The luncheon was sponsored by the Honolulu Community Media Council.
Time Warner Oceanic Cable unveiled a new feature for 130,000 of their digital TV subscribers that enables them to interactively play along with game show broadcasts aired on the GS Channel. The feature was implemented this week after being previewed at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental Hotel by officials from Oceanic cable. Oceanic is also rolling out a service that will allow digital viewers to select and sort their favorite TV programs, enhance subscriber features at the Oceanic TV store and the unveiling of Digital Channel 912 which will be a resource for employment opportunities throughout the state. MORE INFORMATION AT THIS LINK | TIME-WARNER OCEANIC CABLE
Hawaii Public Radio, operators of KHPR and KIPO FM got approval from the FCC to construct a translator facility on the Big Island town of Waimea to relay their Classical Music and news programming to the growingly affluent ranch community. The FCC approved HPR's application to build the tower on April 13. The new facility will bear the call sign of K234AN and occupy the frequency of 94.7 FM. MORE INFORMATION | FCC INFORMATION | HAWAII PUBLIC RADIO
Big Island's "Lava 105" Now On-Air The newest radio station on the Big Island of Hawaii signed-on last Friday with its new progamming and format. KBGX, "Lava 105" at 105.1 on the FM dial is owned by Thomas Troland, owner of Skynet Hawaii LLC. His firm also owns and operates KIPA AM 620 and KKOA FM 107.7, both currently off the air and being developed to fill programming holes on the island. The station's format is concentrated on a mix of oldies from the 50s, 60s and 70s with emphasis toward Motown. They are targeting the 25 - 54 audience demographic. In other news from the Big Island, Aloha Radio Group LLC is undergoing some changes. MORE INFORMATION | LAVA 105 WEBSITE | BIG ISLAND RADIO DIAL
Hawaiian Hard Drive, the monthly computer newspaper is running a story on Cox Radio's melding of their broadcast promotions and the various radio station websites they maintain. The websites are kept current with contest information, registration forms, lists of latest played songs and streaming audio for every station.
"American Idol" Very Popular with Radio TV Guide Visitors The final results from our first unscientific visitor poll this year show that a majority of you are regular "American Idol" viewers. 65% of the 97 or so poll respondents are regular viewers. Will the numbers drop off after the last Hawaii contestant is voted off the show? We'll never know as a follow-up poll will not be taken here. The results from the last day of voting are inserted below:
Be sure to participate in our new poll!
Banned Word Makes it On Air at KHNL KHNL News 8 reporter Sharon Chen committed a broadcast "no-no" when she let a banned word slip over the air during her live broadcast feed last Thursday night. The expletive slipped out after the reporter spotted her car rolling away from its parked position. The station could face a possible fine from the FCC for the on-air slip of the tongue.
"American Idol" Does Good for KHON Channel 2 The top rated "American Idol" television show has been a success for KHON TV's ratings according to this report. The Fox program which until yesterday saw two Hawaii based contestants among the top 10 singers pulls in an average viewership of 26.5 million people each week. Local viewership of "American Idol" along with its dominant ratings for the station's local news has helped KHON maintain its #1 rating in the race for prime time, and making it the top Fox affiliate in the nation. MORE DETAILS AT THIS LINK | CAMILE VELASCO OUSTED FROM "IDOL"
"Hawaii" TV Series Wraps Filming New TV series pilots are being shot on Oahu. One of them, "Hawaii" a new cop series being filmed for NBC is nearly done with filming its pilot episode. Cast and crew spent the weekend filming near the lookout past Hawaii Kai. The series is under consideration to be added to NBC's fall lineup. Another TV series which recently wrapped its pilot episode production is "The North Shore" for the Fox Network. That network has already ordered 12 additional episodes which will be in their upcoming fall season line-up. "The North Shore" goes into production next month on their first 12 episodes.
KITV Revamps Morning News Paul Udell and Jill Kuramoto are out of the morning news anchor desk as KITV refocuses their morning news broadcast to feature more hard news and breaking stories with new morning anchor Mahealani Richardson. Udell and Kuramoto have been reassigned to news reporting. The new lineup starts Monday. MORE DETAILS AT THE LINK | KITV 4 / THE HAWAII CHANNEL | MESSAGE BOARD TOPIC
Maui based Visionary Related Entertainment LLC has gotten approval from the FCC to finalize its purchase of Maverick Media's KUMU AM & FM and KAHA FM radio stations in Honolulu. The approval will allow Maverick to complete the $5.3 million sale. KUMU is one of Honolulu's oldest call letters in use and features a light rock format on FM, and adult standards format on AM. KAHA is the firm's classic rock station known as "The Big Kahuna." Visionary owns several radio stations on Maui and Kauai. MORE DETAILS | MESSAGE BOARD TOPIC | VISIONARY OWNED STATIONS (link)
The Air America Radio Network, a liberal based talk format made its debut in several major markets this week. So far no Hawaii based station is airing the talk format content, but listeners interested in tuning in may access Air America's website to listen to streaming broadcasts with Real Audio software.
U.H. Football Rakes in More Than $1 Million From Pay-Per-View TV The Univerisity of Hawaii's Pay-Per-View (PPV) telecasts shown statewide on most Time Warner/Oceanic Cable systems have raked in more than a million dollars in sales. The income from the PPV telecasts have offset some of the losses from its renogitated contract with KFVE TV, longtime broadcaster of U.H. sports. Cable subscribers pay up to $100 per season for a TV game package, or $25 to $35 on a per-game basis. The PPV broadcasts have not hurt attendance at the football games held in Aloha Stadium.
Emme Tomimbang's long running "Emme's Island Moments" television program moved back to its original station yesterday after the airing of a 20th anniversary broadcast on Channel 2 last night. The program has been on the air for 20 years and originally aired on Channel 2 before moving to KITV Channel 4 and KGMB Channel 9 in the ensuing years. "Island Moments" is indepdendently produced by Ms. Tomimbang's multimedia firm which also produces her celebrity lifestyle show, "Emme's Island Living" which has been picked up for a 13 week run on KGMB TV starting in April.
Three members of Ozzy Osbourne's family are on the island of Oahu shooting segments for their MTV reality program "The Osbournes," now in its third season. The Osbournes have been a hit on the cable music channel and are known for their dysfunctionality and eccentricity. Ozzy Osbourne was the former lead singer of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath.
A one hour talk show focusing on technology, culture and the internet made its debut on KORL radio Tuesday night. "Rough Take" hosted by Honolulu Advertiser columnist Burt Lum, who writes a weekly tech feature for the paper. A weekly slate of guests are set to appear on the paid program. The program airs every Tuesday night at from 6 to 7pm on KORL radio 690 on the AM dial.
New KHPR Tower Broadcasting at 36,000 Watts
PRESS RELEASE -- KHPR's new antenna on Wiliwilinui Ridge was hooked up to its main transmitter on Tuesday and went on line at 36,000 watts. This was a great relief to many public radio listeners who, in many parts of Oahu, have been suffering poor reception while the new antenna was being installed, and while necessary upgrades were being carried out on its supporting tower. For the past six weeks the station has been working at very low power of 1100 watts on a temporary antenna. Since the broadcast site is accessible only by helicopter, recent bad weather has caused the project to be delayed beyond its originally scheduled three weeks.
Leslie Wilcox Renews Channel 2 Contract Newscaster Leslie Wilcox renewed her contract with KHON TV for another five years. There were rumours circulating that Wilcox would leave her position with Channel 2. Wilcox anchors Channel 2's afternoon newscast at 5 pm on weekdays. Wilcox has been with KHON since 1992 after spending many years with KGMB TV. She joined the station as executive producer and morning co-anchor of the Channel 2 Morning News with Howard Dashefsky (who is now with KHNL). She also worked as a reporter with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Details of her contract were not released.
PRESS RELEASE - An Irish memorial for Dave Donnelly, long time Star-Bulletin columnist is set for 5:30pm, Thursday, February 5, at Murphy's Bar & Grill, 2 Merchant Street, as announced by his friend, Don Murphy. Donnelly passed away January 24. "Dave was very clear on what he wanted. It will be an Irish wake but the music, food and friends representing the many interests and people he held dear will range from the Irish, Hawaiian and his lifelong involvement with the theater," said Murphy. Former broadcasting pal and showman, Tom Moffatt, will MC the evening which will include singer Jimmy Borges, Don Conover, Irish fiddle player Lisa Gomes and a host of other local entertainers. Murphy also noted that friends of Dave Donnelly are developing a scholarship at the University of Hawaii Theatre Department in his memory. "Dave loved to watch young people coming up and sharing his love of the theater. This is a fitting honor for him and we are pleased to pull it together," said Murphy. Donations may be brought to Thursday's event or sent to the University of Hawaii Foundation, noted as "Dave Donnelly Memorial," at PO Box 11270, Honolulu, HI 96828. For further information, call Murphy's at 531-0442 or Sweeney Communications at 533-0033.
Veteran Broadcaster and Entertainer Wili Moku Dies Radio personality Wili Moku passed away at St. Francis West yesterday. Moku was a well known radio voice who got his start on Honolulu radio in the late 1970s. He ruled the afternoon drive slots when top 40 radio on AM was king, having done shifts at the original KORL radio 650, KKUA at 690 before moving on to FM at KQMQ and KHUL. He most recently hosted a Sunday night oldies radio show at KGMZ 107.9 FM Oldies Radio. A benefit concert was held on Moku's behalf in June of 2000 to help him pay for medical costs associated with his kidney and diabetes ailments. Moku was also known as a musician and had a local hit record in 1982 based on a Frank and Moon Zappa single called "Palolo Valley Girls." MORE DETAILS | DISCUSSION TOPIC | OLDIES 107.9 FM
JN Productions Ends Programming Arrangement with KIKU TV PRESS RELEASE - JN Productions (JNP), the local media production house, will end a 10-year relationship with KIKU-TV (Oceanic 9/Digital 89, UHF 20, Craig TV 10) at the end of February 2004. JN Productions had managed KIKU's prime-time Japanese programming since 1993 under an agreement with KSCI-TV in Los Angeles, KIKU-TV's parent company. KIKU will take over duties previously provided by JNP and will program prime time on its own beginning March 1. Under a separate agreement, JN will continue to subtitle Japanese programs for KIKU. Joanne Ninomiya, owner and president of JNP, founded the company in 1981 and has been a key figure in bringing Japanese programming to Hawaii since the early '70s. In addition to KIKU, JNP's clientele include Japanese, mainland, and local businesses, including Viz, LLC.(San Francisco), TV Asahi, TBS, and Shogakukan (all from Japan), Daiei, Sony Hawaii, Estee Lauder Travel Retailing, and Shirokiya. In addition to its video production and graphics work, the company also transformed itself into a full-service DVD production house with the release of the Kikaida DVDs. JN Productions | KIKU TV 20 | More Details
Didi Ah Yo, spokesperson for one of Hawaii's major travel agencies, Creative Holidays died today after losing a battle to leukemia. While not associated directly with the broadcasting industry, she became a familiar face on local TV with a series of commercials she made for her firm and the tagline she used, "It's away we go with Didi Ah Yo." Her death comes only months after her husband Paul, died after a sudden heart attack.
A new website for KJMD 98.3 FM on Maui was recently unveiled. The new website can be accessed from this link: http://www.dajam983.com/. The station airs an urban contemporary hits format with an island mix. Visionary Related Entertainment paid $5.25 million for its purchase of Maverick Media's KUMU and KAHA radio stations. More details here (scrolling page). Hilo's Moody Radio should be repaired by this weekend after a severe thunderstorm knocked the station off the air. The religious station broadcasts at 90.3 FM in Hilo.
Columnist, Media Personality Dave Donnelly Dies Honolulu Star-Bulletin Columnist Dave Donnelly died yesterday (January 24) at Queen's Medical Center. He was 66. Donnelly was very well known for his newspaper columns at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin where he was employed since 1968. Prior to that he spend many years in local television and radio. He was one of three actors who played the role of "Mr. Checkers" on KGMB TV's long running children's television show, "Checkers and Pogo." He was also one of the original "Poi Boys" being one of the original disc jockeys on the famed rock n roll station, KPOI 1380 many years ago. Donnelly's last column appeared in this past Friday's Star Bulletin where he wrote about Chinese New Year, a tribute to Wally and about Compadres Restaurant's "Real Deal" menu among other subjects. STAR BULLETIN STORY ON DONNELLY'S PASSING | MESSAGE BOARD TOPIC
KGMB TV's long running television magazine show, The Hawaiian Moving Company will end its run next month after 26 years on the air. Executive producer and program host Michael W. Perry stated that the program is not completely going away, but is instead being "scaled back." What is happening is that first run episodes will end in February while "best of" programs will continue to air during the 10:30 PM hour on Sundays. The program is also in syndication and sold to several markets. The Hawaiian Moving Company started out as a disco dance show in the late 1970s with radio personality Kamasami Kong before changing to a magazine format and current host Michael W. Perry. Over the years the Hawaiian Moving Company has won several Emmy Awards and has been a classy showcase highlighting various people and places not only in Hawaii but elsewhere in the world. (Anyone remember the segment on "bat soup"?) MORE DETAILS | HAWAIIAN MOVING COMPANY WEBSITE | DISCUSSION TOPIC
Hawaii Radio & Television Guide got an email notification that the Hawaiian music format known as "The Breeze" has been resurrected online by Mahlon Moore and is now known as "The Breeze of Hawaii". The online broadcast is programmed by \Moore and features a mix of contemporary and traditional Hawaiian music. The streaming content is provided by "Warp Radio" and requires the use of Windows Media Player 9 to access the streaming content. More information can be found at "The Breeze of Hawaii" website. SELECT THIS LINK FOR 'THE BREEZE OF HAWAII'
The familiar lineup of adult contemporary and island music stations once again ruled Honolulu's airwaves with the release of the Fall Arbitron ratings. KSSK FM, KINE and KCCN all experienced increases to their overall shares putting them solidly in the top 5. KRTR which recently hired former TV anchorman Dan Cooke for morning drive experienced a loss in their overall numbers but still managed to remain in the top 5. Somewhat surprising was sports-talk radio station KKEA beating out KHVH talk radio by a tenth of a point in the overall ratings for Honolulul's most popular talk station. More than likely this can be attributed to KKEA's coverage of University of Hawaii sports, most notably football during the fall season. The top CHR/urban station in Honolulu is New Wave's KDDB FM 102.7 popularly known as "Da Bomb". They came in 6th in the overall ratings. KQMQ FM and KGMZ FM are tied in a battle for most popular "oldies" formatted stations, with KQMQ specializing mainly in a mix of 80s favorites while KGMZ does 60s and 70s oldies. HONOLULU MARKET RADIO RATINGS | MORE INFORMATION
Maverick Media's KUMU FM & AM, KAHA FM Sold to Visionary Entertainment It was reported today that Maverick Media has sold Honolulu radio stations KUMU FM & AM as well as KAHA FM to Visionary Entertainment, owners of several radio stations on the islands of Maui, Kauai and Hawaii. The sale price was not disclosed and the deal is pending final approval from the FCC. Rumblings about the sale of KUMU and KAHA began to show up on the Hawaii Radio & Television Guide Message Board before it was announced to the public today. Visionary will retain the management team and employees of KUMU/KAHA. KUMU FM's format is light rock, while the AM plays mostly adult-standards fare. KAHA FM is well known as "The Big Kahuna" airing a classic rock format. Visionary Entertainment has been a longtime owner of Maui Radio stations KAOI FM & AM as well as KDLX FM, the only FM station in Hawaii playing country music.
KHVH radio will be broadcasting live tomorrow morning from 6 to 10 AM from the rotunda of the Hawaii State Capitol in conjunction with the opening of the State Legislature. Morning show host Rick Hamada will bring his talk show live to the capitol featuring guests Governor Linda Lingle and several legislators. The opening day sessions will be aired live on Olelo cable TV from 10 a.m. to 12 noon from both the House and Senate chambers on Channels 53 and 54. Opening day is typically filled with pomp and circumstance as well as entertainment and speeches by legislative leaders.
PRESS RELEASE -- 'Olelo Community Television's President/CEO Lurline McGregor will resign effective Feb 27, after successfully leading 'Olelo to become one of the flagship public access centers in the country, announced Rochelle Lee Gregson, Chair of Board of Directors. The Board intends to begin a national search for a new executive director. "We have been extremely fortunate to have Lurline as our CEO for the past six and a half years," said Gregson. "Under her leadership 'Olelo has flourished. While we are saddened by her decision and will miss her, we respect her desire to pursue her personal interests." "I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to serve the Hawai'i community through my work at 'Olelo. After more than two decades of public and community service, I'm ready to pursue some of my own film and television productions," said Lurline McGregor. She adds, "I will miss 'Olelo but we have a strong management team in place and I am confident they will continue the mission of public access." ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: OLELO COMMUNITY TV | HPAM
There hasn't been many updates to the guide in recent weeks due to my hectic schedule dealing with my day job and other websites I manage. That said, the following news items were recently reported from various sources regarding the state of Hawaii radio and television in recent weeks: The biggest news of the past 2 weeks was the end of Frank B. Shaner's run on morning radio at KINE FM. News reports state that Shaner is not on the air but still employed at Cox radio, while others have stated otherwise. Shaner has been a longtime fixture on Hawaii radio and has been known more recently for holding an annual falsetto Hawaiian music festival, which he plans to continue. The FCC has received several applications from various Hawaii based AM radio stations to change frequencies. It started late last year with Salem's application to move KAIM 870 AM to 880 AM. Salem also wants to move KHCM Country radio from 940 to 960 on the AM dial. It was later reported that radio stations KZOO AM wants to move from 1210 to 1230 AM and the yet to air KENT moving from 1170 to 1180 AM. Discuss these in the ongoing thread at the Hawaii Radio & Television Guide Message Board. A former California TV weatherman named Jeff Chang has started a unique television station on Kauai that formats itself more like a radio station and broadcasts a low power signal on TV channel 6 as well as on 87.7 on the FM dial there. The new station's call sign is K06NC and goes by the monicker of "Coast FM." Chang is owner of Chang Media Group. More details at this link. -- mel
KORL Radio Changes Program Format As previously mentioned, KORL Radio at 690 on the AM dial changed its format today. Gone is the Radio Disney format that was implemented under the former owners, New Wave Broadcasting. New is a time brokeraged talk format of various ethnic programs. A Japanese program made its debut this morning. The station is owned by Hochman-McCann Hawaii, Inc. with studios at 900 Fort Street Mall, Suite 450, according to the station's website. KORL Radio Public Profile Page
Hawaii Public Radio's Hilo operation, KANO FM at 91.1 is temporarily off the air due to a transmitter failure. The station is expected to return to the Hilo airwaves sometime next week.
Select this link to go to story highlights of 2003.
Selected message threads from the Hawaii Radio & Television Guide Message Board are being filed to the Archive Pages hosted on this site. The message board re-opened late last night for reading and posting by our visitors. Select the message board from the various links provided on this page.
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