Radio-TV Broadcast History
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KITV
Honolulu, Hawaii
Branding KITV 4 (general)

KITV 4 News (newscasts)

Slogan Always Local, Always KITV
Channels Digital: 40 (UHF)
Subchannels 4.1 ABC

4.2 The AccuWeather Channel

Affiliations ABC

The AccuWeather Channel (DT2)

Owner Hearst Television, Inc.

(Hearst Stations, Inc.)

First air date April 16, 1954
Call letters' meaning Island TeleVision
Former callsigns KULA-TV (1954-1959)

KHVH-TV (1959-1973)

Former channel number(s) Analog:

4 (VHF, 1954-2009)

Transmitter power 85 kW
Height 1 m
Facility ID 64548
Transmitter coordinates 21°17′25.4″N 157°50′24″W / 21.290389°N 157.84°W / 21.290389; -157.84
Website www.kitv.com

Contents[]

[hide]*1 History

  • 2 Weather Now
  • 3 Programming
  • 4 News operation
    • 4.1 News/station presentation
      • 4.1.1 Newscast titles
      • 4.1.2 Station slogans
    • 4.2 News anchors & reporters
      • 4.2.1 News Anchors
      • 4.2.2 Weather
      • 4.2.3 Sports
      • 4.2.4 News reporters
    • 4.3 Former anchors and reporters
  • 5 Satellite stations
  • 6 Digital television
  • 7 References
  • 8 External links

[edit] History[]

The station signed on the air on April 16, 1954, as KULA-TV, launching at 10:30 a.m. with a test pattern, followed by its inaugural sign-on premiere party at 6 p.m., and two movies from 7 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. Prior to its launch, it had planned to use the call letters KABS-TV before settling on the KULA calls, which came from its then sister AM station under the ownership of Pacific Frontier Broadcasting Company, whose owner Jack A. Burnett had applied for a TV license to operate KULA on channel 2 as the channel 4 allocation was being sought after by rival radio stations KGU and KPOA, but after the application by the two stations fell through the FCC awarded the channel 4 allocation to Burnett instead. The station has been an ABC affiliate since its sign-on, making KITV one of the two major television stations in Honolulu that has never changed its network affiliation; local CBS outlet KGMB (originally on channel 9, now on channel 5) is the other. They are also the only station in Hawaii to broadcast in the same channel position since its sign-on. It also shared programming from Dumont with KONA (then at channel 11, now KHON-TV on channel 2), until its demise in 1955.[1][2]

Originally, the KHVH-TV calls belonged to a then-independent station that operated on VHF channel 13 in Honoulu when it began operations in May 5, 1957, but a year later on May 7, 1958, KHVH's parent company Kaiser Broadcasting would acquire KULA for $685,000. Since FCC rules prohibit a broadcaster from owning two TV stations in one market at the time, Kaiser returned the channel 13 license back to the FCC, allowing KHVH to merge with KULA on July 16, 1958 and change the channel 4 call letters to KHVH-TV in 1959.[3] Kaiser then later sold the station to Western Telestations in December 1964 to help fund its new chain of independent stations on the U.S. mainland. Western Telestations became a wholly owned subsidiary of Lexington, Kentucky-based Starr Broadcasting Company in 1973 for $4 million. Around that time, the station adopted its present-day KITV call letters (standing for "Island TeleVision) to reflect its service of broadcasting to the Hawaiian Islands.

Shamrock Broadcasting, a new company founded by Roy E. Disney, bought out Starr Broadcasting (including KITV) in 1979. Eight years later, Shamrock sold KITV to Tak Communications (owned by Sharad Tak) in 1987. Tak would declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1991 and was later taken over by a group of creditors. During Tak's bankruptcy, Freedom Communications made an offer to purchase KITV, but later withdrew its bid. In 1995, rumors circulated that it would join NBC when KHON – which had been Hawaii's NBC affiliate for 43 years (from its sign-on in 1952 until 1996) – decided to join Fox as part of an groupwide affiliation deal with SF Broadcasting (which acquired the station and three others from Burnham Broadcasting). However, later in 1995, Argyle Television Holdings II bought KITV and then-sister station WGRZ-TV inBuffalo, New York from Tak's creditors. KITV ultimately remained with ABC, and NBC instead signed an affiliation deal with existing Fox affiliate KHNL (channel 13), later switching to the network in January 1996.

When Argyle Television Holdings II merged with the Hearst Corporation's broadcasting unit in 1997, KITV and its satellites became part of the newly formed television station group then known as Hearst-Argyle Television. In 1998, the station moved its operations from its longtime studios on Ala Moana Boulevard/Route 92 to their current location on South King Street. Hearst bought out the remainder of the company in mid-2009, dropping the word "Argyle" from the company's name.

On May 13, 2015, Hearst announced that it would sell KITV and its satellites to SJL Broadcasting; the deal marks the return of the company to Hawaii, as SJL (then known as Montecito Broadcast Group) formerly owned KHON-TV from 2006 until 2007.[4] The sale was approved by the Federal Communications Commission on July 10, 2015[5] and completed on September 1, 2015.[6]

[edit] Weather Now[]

The station also carries a weather information channel called Weather Now on its DT-2 digital subchannel, which carries programming from The AccuWeather Channel with local cut-ins by KITV weather anchors. The channel features local weather, a news ticker, and live traffic cameras in addition to national programming provided by AccuWeather. It is available statewide on Oceanic Time Warner Cable, on digital channel 126. KITV's competitor, KHNL, carries NBC Weather Plus on a digital subchannel, but they are not currently personalizing the feed for Hawaiʻi.

In order to comply with FCC rules that all television stations (including digital subchannels) must broadcast three hours of E/I programming per week, KITV-DT2 airs a three hour block of Gina D's Kids Club every Saturday from noon-3 pm.

[edit] Programming[]

In its early days, KITV and its predecessors aired most of the ABC offerings on weekly delays due to Hawaii's geographical location and at times would received most of the network shows via air mail. However that would change on November 19, 1966, as a pioneering piece of history would take place when channel 4 (when it was KHVH) began broadcasting the first live network satellite telecast from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii as ABC feeds the Notre Dame-Michigan State football game via the Lani Bird satellite to the station[1]. Today KITV receives ABC shows on the same day as the rest of the United States, including live news, sports coverage and special events.

KITV clears all ABC programming except for Power Rangers, which would otherwise air as part of the ABC Kids block. Most (if not all) ABC affiliates owned by Hearst Television refuse to clear the show due to its lack of educational and informational content.

Early on, prior to being owned by Hearst, it did air the ABC Saturday morning cartoon lineup on Saturdays, usually starting at 5 or 6 am. But today, unlike most ABC affiliates, KITV does not air the ABC Kids block on Saturdays. The station airs live ESPN coverage or infomercials in its place, due to the five-hour time difference between Hawaii-Aleutian Time and Eastern. Instead, KITV airs three hours of the ABC Kids programming block over three weekdays (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday). On each of the three days, one hour (two shows) of the block is aired from 11 am-12 Noon local time, leading into ABC's daytime soap opera lineup. Starting in 2010, the ABC Kids lineup will be replaced by "The Nate Berkus Show".

When compared to other major network affiliates in Honolulu (KHON, KFVE, KGMB and KHNL), KITV airs a relatively small amount of syndicated programming outside of network hours. The only first-run syndicated shows currently aired on KITV include The Dr. Oz Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Judge Judy. The station also airs syndicated reruns of Seinfeld, Will & Grace, TMZ, How I Met Your Mother and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Various other syndicated shows are aired on weekends, usually during late nights.

On the weekends, KITV airs the locally-produced program "Ohana Road", which features info and reviews on the latest automobiles as well as coverage of local car enthusiast events.

KITV was also well known among Hawaii residents as the year-after-year presenter of the Merrie Monarch Festival, which was broadcast on the station live every April from Hilo until 2009. During this time, KITV usually pre-empted ABC primetime programs until the weekend. On October 1, 2009 it was announced that the Merrie Monarch Festival would be broadcast on KFVE beginning in 2010. [2].

[edit] News operation[]

KITV airs 22.5 hours of news programming a week. It has also won a Emmy Award for its newscasts. On November 16, 2009, KITV expanded its 10 pm newscast from 35 minutes to a hour, ending at 11 pm. It is the first station in the state with an hour-long late night newscast[3].

  • Weekdays
    • KITV4 News This Morning (5-7 am)
    • KITV4 News at 5 (5-5:30 pm)
    • KITV4 News at 6 (6-6:30 pm)
    • KITV4 News at 10 (10-11 pm)
  • Weekends
    • KITV4 News at 5 (5-5:30 pm Saturday and Sunday)
    • KITV4 News at 6 (6-6:30 pm Saturday)
    • KITV4 News at 10 (10-10:30 pm Saturday and Sunday)


[edit] News/station presentation[]

[edit] Newscast titles[]

  • Hawaii Newsreel (1954-1961)
  • The Six O'Clock Report/The Eleven O'Clock Report (1961-1965)
  • The Nightly News (1965-1975; 6 pm newscast)
  • 24 Hours (1965-1975; 10 p.m newscast)
  • NewsCenter Four (1975-1983)
  • Live at Five (1980-1986; 5 pm newscast)
  • KITV 4 News (1983-1986 and 1995-2005)
  • News 4 (1986-1995)
  • KITV 4 Island Television News (2005-2010)
  • KITV4 News (2010-present)

[edit] Station slogans[]

  • Hawaii's Channel 4, in Color (1966-1970)
  • NewsCenter Four, Hawaii's Most Respected Television News Organization (1975-1978)
  • We're Still the One, on Channel 4 (1977-1978 and 1979-1980; local version of ABC campaign)
  • Turn to NewsCenter Four (1978-1983)
  • We're the One you can turn to, Channel 4 (1978-1979; local version of ABC campaign)
  • You and Me and Channel 4 (1980-1981; local version of ABC campaign)
  • Now is the Time, Channel 4 is the Place (1981-1982; local version of ABC campaign)
  • We're With You on Channel 4 (1984-1985; local version of ABC campaign)
  • KITV 4 News: Hawaii's First News (1983-1986)
  • News 4: We're the Team (1986-1987)
  • We're 4 Hawaii (1988-1990)
  • KITV 4, Your Island Television Station (1991-1995)
  • KITV 4, Your 24 Hour News Source (1995-2001)
  • Get the Whole Story (2002-2005)
  • The Team You Know. The Team You Trust. (2005-2009)
  • Always Local, Always KITV (2009-present)
This film, television or video-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it with reliably sourced additions.===[edit] News anchors & reporters===

[edit] News Anchors[]

  • Mahealani Richardson - KITV4 News This Morning at 5-7 am (weekday reporter)
  • Kenny Choi - KITV4 News This Morning at 5-7 am (beginning Sept. 7th)
  • Paula Akana - KITV4 News at 5, 6, & 10-11 pm
  • Lara Yamada - KITV4 News at 6 & 10-11 pm
  • Pamela Young - KITV4 News weekends at 5 & 10 pm, Saturdays at 6 pm (also reporter, "Mixed Plate" segments)

[edit] Weather[]

  • Justin Fujioka - Chief Meteorologist (AMS and NWA Seal of Approval) - KITV4 News at 5, 6 & 10-11 pm
  • Amber-Lynn Hyden - KITV4 News This Morning at 5-7 am
  • Moanike`ala Nabarro - KITV4 News weekends at 5 & 10pm, Saturdays at 6 pm

[edit] Sports[]

  • Robert Kekaula - Sports Director - KITV4 News at 5, 6 & 10-11 pm, UH Football Color Commentator (1420 ESPN)
  • Jahmai Webster - Weekend Sports Anchor - KITV4 News weekends at 5 & 10pm, Saturdays at 6pm (also sports reporter)

[edit] News reporters[]

  • Dick Allgire - Reporter/Health Reporter
  • Catherine Cruz
  • Yasmin Dar - Morning Traffic Reporter
  • Paul Drewes (also fill-in meteorologist/weather anchor - AMS Seal of Approval)
  • Shayne Enright
  • Denby Fawcett
  • Daryl Huff
  • Keoki Kerr
  • Jill Kuramoto
  • Jodi Leong

[edit] Former anchors and reporters[]

  • Shawn Ching (Weeknight Anchor; Weekend Anchor; Sports Anchor/Reporter)
  • Dan Cooke (Weeknight Anchor; Weather Anchor; Reporter) - Currently with Hawaii News Now
  • Howard Dashefsky (Weeknight Anchor)
  • Tina Shelton (Anchor; Reporter)
  • Gary Sprinkle (Weeknight 5PM Anchor; Reporter; "Pacific Adventures" segments)
  • Tim Tindall (Anchor; Reporter)
  • Paul Udell (Anchor; Reporter; News Director)
  • Sharie Shima (Weather Anchor)
  • Kathy Muneno (Morning Anchor; Reporter; Weather Anchor) - Currently with KHON-TV
  • Ben Gutierrez (Morning Weather Anchor; Weekend Weather Anchor; Reporter) - Currently with Hawaii News Now
  • Ann Botticelli (Weekend Anchor; General Assignment Reporter; Business/Financial Reporter)
  • Tasha Kobashigawa (Weekend Anchor; Reporter)
  • Rob DeMello (Weekend Sports Anchor; Sports Reporter) - Currently with KHON-TV
  • Neil Everett (Weekend Sports Anchor; Sports Reporter) - Currently with ESPN's Sportscenter
  • Rob Fukuzaki (Weekend Sports Anchor; Sports Reporter) - Currently with KABC-TV, Los Angeles, CA
  • Kanoa Leahey (Weekend Sports Anchor; Sports Reporter) - Currently with KHON-TV
  • Tiny Tadani (Weekend Sports Anchor; Morning Weather Anchor)
  • Chuck Henry (Reporter) - Now with KNBC in Los Angeles
  • Louise Kim McCoy (Morning Cut-Ins; Reporter)
  • Russell Shimooka (Sports Anchor)
  • Caroline Sluyter (Reporter)
  • Scott Swan (Sports Anchor) - Currently with WTHR-TV, Indianapolis, IN
  • Marisa Takahashi (Reporter)
  • Dalton Tanonaka (Weekend Anchor; Reporter)
  • Emme Tomingbang (Anchor; Reporter)
  • Cynthia Yip (Morning Anchor; Fill-in Anchor; Reporter)
  • Mary Zanakis (Reporter)

[edit] Satellite stations[]

These stations, and translator K51BB in Lihue, rebroadcast KITV's signal throughout Hawaii:

Station City of license Channels

(Analog/ Digital)

First air date Call letters’

meaning

ERP

(Analog/ Digital)

HAAT

(Analog/ Digital)

Facility ID Transmitter Coordinates
KHVO Hilo 13 (VHF)

18 (UHF)

May 15, 1960 Kaiser Hawaiian Village HilO

(disambiguation of former sister station KHVH Radio)

30.9 kW

50 kW

-180 m

-187 m

64544 19°43′46.4″N 155°3′53.9″W / 19.729556°N 155.064972°W / 19.729556; -155.064972 (KHVO)
KMAU

1

Wailuku 12 (VHF)

29 (UHF)

19551 MAUi 37.2 kW

51.2 kW

1759 m

1770 m

64551 20°42′30″N 156°15′17″W / 20.70833°N 156.25472°W / 20.70833; -156.25472 (KMAU)

Notes:

  • 1. KMAU used the callsign KMVI-TV from its 1955 sign-on until 1978.
  • 2. The Broadcasting and Cable Yearbook says KMAU (then KMVI-TV) signed on November 28, while the Television and Cable Factbook says it signed on December 4.

[edit] Digital television[]

The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Digital channels

Channel Video Aspect Programming
xx.1 720p 16:9 Main KITV programming / ABC HD
xx.2 480i 4:3 The AccuWeather Channel

In January 2009, KITV left channel 4 and moved to channel 40, while KHVO and KMAU remained on channel 13 and 12 when the analog to digital conversion has completed.[4][5] It is also one of the first Hearst-Argyle stations to terminate analog over-the-air programming.

[edit] References[]

  1. ^ From Radio-Info.com
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ "News Release - KITV 4 Expands To 1-Hour 10 pm Newscast" from KITV (November 16, 2009)
  4. ^ http://www.hawaiigoesdigital.com
  5. ^ http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf

[edit] External links[]

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