October 21st, 2008
The summer Arbitron ratings for the Honolulu market released yesterday show that Clear Channel’s KSSK AM & FM have the #1 morning radio show in town with Michael W. Perry & Larry Price. The program is the dominant market leader in the early AM time slot as it has been for years. Coming in second for morning drive is Billy V. at Cox Radio’s KINE 105.1 FM. Third place in the morning race is Frank B. Shaner and Mandy Suganuma at Visionary’s KUMU 94. 7 FM.
Radio stations programming various music formats dominate the overall top 10. They are:
1. KSSK 92.3 FM (Adult Contemporary Music)
2. KINE 105.1 FM (Contemporary Hawaiian Music)
3. KGMZ 107.9 FM (Oldies) +
3. KRTR 96.3 FM (Adult Contemporary Music) +
5. KCCN 100.3 FM (Island Music)
6. KDDB 102.7 FM (Urban)
7. KHUI 99.5 FM (Adult Standards)
8. KUMU 94.7 FM (Adult Contemporary Music)
9. KDNN 98.5 FM (Island Music)
10. KUCD 101.9 FM (Modern Rock)
+ = indicates tie in market share.
More information on the summer Arbitrons:
Discussion topics hosted at HawaiiThreads.com Media Forum.
October 17th, 2008
FCC Fines Oceanic Cable
It is good to hear that Oceanic Cable, a division of Time Warner Cable is being fined by the Federal Communicaitons Bureau (FCC) for implementing something called “Switched Digital Video Service” which essentially cut many programs from subscribers paying to get their content using devices such as cable cards (for new digital TVs), cable-ready TVs and TIVO recording devices. The fine amounts to $40,000, $20,000 for each island (Oahu and Kauai) that was affected by the action.
Oceanic would like nothing more than force people to use their digital set-top boxes and recorders instead of allowing customers to use the built in capabilities of their own TV sets, TIVO recorders, cable cards and other similar devices.
More information on this:
UH vs. Boise Football Game Live on Cable
For the first time this season, a University of Hawaii football game will be shown live to a national audience of free basic cable TV. Today starting at 2:00 p.m. the U.H. vs. Boise State football game being played in Idaho, will be broadcast live on Oceanic’s ESPN sports channel. It is the first non-pay-per-view game of th season. Most of the UH football games are aired on a pay-per-view basis.
KZOO Radio Celebrates its 45th Anniversary
This weekend KZOO radio and 1210 on the AM dial will be celebrating its 45th year of broadcasting an all Japanese language programming format. An extensive write-up on the station by StarBulletin.com’s Erika Engle appeared this past Sunday. KZOO is one of a handful of stations that is still owned by a local firm.
AM 1130 Gets New Call Letters
Radio station KRUD at 1130 AM owned and operated by H.Hawaii Media changed its call letters to KPHI. The change was filed with the FCC on September 25. KPHI now broadcasts H.Hawaii Media’s “Multicultural Radio” format of ethnic programs. KPHI just started broadcasting the format last month after the owners moved it from its previous location at 1180 on the dial (KORL AM). That station is currently “silent”.
PSA Will Notify Hawaii TV Viewers of Digital Deadline
A new public service announcement featuring a number of local TV news anchors was shot at KGMB TV this week. The PSA has been created to notify those TV viewers who get over the air reception of the new January 15 deadline that analog TV service will be turned off and exclusive digital broadcasting begins.
October 15th, 2008
Hawaii will convert all of its full power over the air TV stations from analog to digital broadcasts on January 15, 2009. The new deadline will put the state one month ahead of the rest of the nation which is mandated to make the switch by February 17, 2009.
The digital switchover will affect all full power broadcast TV stations and those viewers who get their TV reception over the air through a rooftop or “rabbit ear” antenna. The changeover for cable TV and satellite TV subscribers will be transparent and unnoticeable. There will be no need for cable or satellite TV customers to buy a digital converter box. Cable TV and satellite TV subscribers already have digital boxes supplied by their service providers.
For antenna users with standard analog TV sets, a converter box will be required to accommodate the change. The federal government is subsidizing converter box purchases with a coupon program. Digital converter boxes are available at most major electronics retailers.
Antenna users can also buy a new TV set. All new TV sets ranging from low end CRT models to high end flat screen HDTV sets now come with built in digital tuners. Antenna using consumers who already have a TV with digital tuning or who are going to buy one by January 15 will not have to get the converter box.
Hawaii’s local TV stations will be launching a public information campaign over the next 120 or so days to inform the public about the switch. The P-R campaign for the February 17 deadline is now a moot point in Hawaii.
The switchover from analog to digital is being hastened in Hawaii mainly in an effort to move Maui’s TV transmitters from the top of Haleakala to a new location a few miles downslope from the present place near the mountain’s summit. This is being done to accommodate the nesting habits of some rare birds on Haleakala.
Over the air consumers will be impacted by this switchover for all islands except Kauai, who get their analog signal from low power (LP) transmitters not currently mandated by the digital change.
Some Maui and neighbor island antenna viewers who will get their over the air signal from the new digital transmitters at the new Maui location may get a weaker signal or no signal at all since some of the digital channels on Maui were relocated from the VHF portion to the UHF portion of the dial.
Hawaii Radio & Television Guide will be updating its TV channel grid in the next few weeks to accommodate the change.
Links to more information
September 20th, 2008
Hawaii Public Radio’s KIPO FM at 89.3 on the dial will increase their power output from 3,000 watts to 26,000 watts today when their new transmitter is turned on. The power boost will increase the reach of KIPO’s signal to cover most if not all of Oahu. Details at this link:
KIPO Powers Up on Saturday
KIPO programs a mix of talk shows, news and some world music. For the longest time KIPO’s weak signal could not be reached in outlying areas of Oahu and even within certain areas of Honolulu.
More tech info: http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?sr=Y&call=KIPO
September 18th, 2008
This off the Twitter feed line: Andy Bumatai is putting his “NightTime” talk show on hiatus until January. Says Access Hollywood will fill the time slot.
@ TalkShowHost_HI: “Twitter exclusive: I’ve decided to put my show, NightTime, on hold until January. Access Hollywood will take my slot until I come back.“
Details will of course be coming in other media.
Meanwhile speculation is on as to what is to become of KITV 4’s 10 o’clock news now that Shawn Ching has announced his plans to exit the broadcast after November. Ching will use his law degree and join the firm of Kobayashi Sugita & Goda.
The changes on the local TV news front has been the subject of speculative discussion at our Hawaii Media Forum topics:
September 13th, 2008
The syndicated “Wheel of Fortune” TV game show starring Pat Sajak and Vanna White is taping 20 episodes on the Big Island this week. The 20 episodes will feature local contestants who will spin the world famous wheel vying for cash and prizes on the daily game show that airs on KHON TV. The taped episodes will be aired during the November and February sweeps.
More details at the following links:
