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KIKU
KIKU (channel 20) is an independent television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, which primarily airs Japanese and Filipino programming. It is owned by Allen Media Group alongside ABC affiliate KITV (channel 4). The two stations share studios on South King Street in downtown Honolulu; KIKU's transmitter is located in Nānākuli.
Channel 20 in Honolulu went on air in December 1983 as KHAI-TV. Though built and originally owned by Tennessee-based Media Central, it has specialized in Asian programming for nearly its entire history. International Channel Network acquired KHAI-TV in 1989 as part of Media Central's bankruptcy. JN Productions took over operations in 1993 and changed the station's call sign to KIKU; its owner, Joanne Ninomiya, had been the general manager of channel 13 when that station was Japanese-language KIKU-TV. JN continued to supply Japanese-language programming for KIKU until 2004. UPN programming aired on channel 20 from 2004 to the network's closure in 2006. In addition, the station produced local programming, some of which was aimed at the Vietnamese and Filipino communities in Hawaii.
After passing through a number of owners including AsianMedia Group and NRJ TV, WRNN-TV Associates acquired the station in 2019. As part of a group affiliation agreement, KIKU converted to the home shopping network ShopHQ in June 2021, a switch met with outcry and dismay by Hawaii viewers. Allen Media Group acquired KIKU in 2022 and immediately restored its prior program format, augmented by English-language syndicated programs and local newscasts from KITV.
The call sign KIKU first was associated with Japanese-language television in Honolulu in 1967, when Richard Eaton bought KTRG-TV (channel 13) from David Watumull and renamed it KIKU-TV (kiku (キク(菊)) being the Japanese word for the chrysanthemum flower). His announced plans to make channel 13 a primarily Japanese-language station had led to scrutiny of the transaction by the Federal Communications Commission; during this time, the station's intended general manager programmed two hours a week of Japanese-language shows. By 1967, the station programmed entirely in Japanese.
In 1968, it began nightly telecasts of sumo wrestling. The station introduced English-language subtitles on its Japanese-language programs in 1970, which proved popular and expanded to having half of all programs subtitled by 1975. Another channel 13 specialty was children's programming; it aired such tokusatsu programs as Kamen Rider, Rainbowman, and Android Kikaider (known in Hawaii as Kikaida). The success of the latter was particularly noteworthy; the show beat Sesame Street in the ratings, and it was noted in an article in Time magazine. A station employee, Hideo Fujii, recalled that "older people in the Nikkei community would sit up straight in bed and weep" watching KIKU's programs.
In 1979, KIKU-TV was sold by Eaton to Mid-Pacific Television Associates. The new ownership proposed to reduce the proportion of Japanese-language programming at the station. This prompted general manager Joanne Ninomiya, who had run channel 13 since 1969, to depart in January 1981; she then started her own company, JN Productions, to broadcast Japanese-language shows on cable. The new KIKU-TV ownership instituted a mostly English-language program lineup in June 1981.
Under new general manager Rick Blangiardi, in 1984, KIKU-TV changed its call sign to KHNL. Ninomiya renewed her association with KHNL beginning in 1986, providing six hours of Japanese programs on Sundays as well as a daily newscast from Japan and subtitled sumo broadcasts.
In late 1978, a group of investors known as Sunset Communications Corporation was formed to file for channel 20. Sunset shared investors with Delta Television, a subsidiary of advertising firm Petry Television that had put WPTY-TV in Memphis, Tennessee, on air earlier that year. For one of the principals, John A. Serrao, it was a return to Hawaii, as he had been general manager of KHVH-TV (channel 4) in the early 1960s when it was owned by Kaiser Broadcasting. The channel 20 construction permit was granted on August 12, 1980.
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KIKU
KIKU (channel 20) is an independent television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, which primarily airs Japanese and Filipino programming. It is owned by Allen Media Group alongside ABC affiliate KITV (channel 4). The two stations share studios on South King Street in downtown Honolulu; KIKU's transmitter is located in Nānākuli.
Channel 20 in Honolulu went on air in December 1983 as KHAI-TV. Though built and originally owned by Tennessee-based Media Central, it has specialized in Asian programming for nearly its entire history. International Channel Network acquired KHAI-TV in 1989 as part of Media Central's bankruptcy. JN Productions took over operations in 1993 and changed the station's call sign to KIKU; its owner, Joanne Ninomiya, had been the general manager of channel 13 when that station was Japanese-language KIKU-TV. JN continued to supply Japanese-language programming for KIKU until 2004. UPN programming aired on channel 20 from 2004 to the network's closure in 2006. In addition, the station produced local programming, some of which was aimed at the Vietnamese and Filipino communities in Hawaii.
After passing through a number of owners including AsianMedia Group and NRJ TV, WRNN-TV Associates acquired the station in 2019. As part of a group affiliation agreement, KIKU converted to the home shopping network ShopHQ in June 2021, a switch met with outcry and dismay by Hawaii viewers. Allen Media Group acquired KIKU in 2022 and immediately restored its prior program format, augmented by English-language syndicated programs and local newscasts from KITV.
The call sign KIKU first was associated with Japanese-language television in Honolulu in 1967, when Richard Eaton bought KTRG-TV (channel 13) from David Watumull and renamed it KIKU-TV (kiku (キク(菊)) being the Japanese word for the chrysanthemum flower). His announced plans to make channel 13 a primarily Japanese-language station had led to scrutiny of the transaction by the Federal Communications Commission; during this time, the station's intended general manager programmed two hours a week of Japanese-language shows. By 1967, the station programmed entirely in Japanese.
In 1968, it began nightly telecasts of sumo wrestling. The station introduced English-language subtitles on its Japanese-language programs in 1970, which proved popular and expanded to having half of all programs subtitled by 1975. Another channel 13 specialty was children's programming; it aired such tokusatsu programs as Kamen Rider, Rainbowman, and Android Kikaider (known in Hawaii as Kikaida). The success of the latter was particularly noteworthy; the show beat Sesame Street in the ratings, and it was noted in an article in Time magazine. A station employee, Hideo Fujii, recalled that "older people in the Nikkei community would sit up straight in bed and weep" watching KIKU's programs.
In 1979, KIKU-TV was sold by Eaton to Mid-Pacific Television Associates. The new ownership proposed to reduce the proportion of Japanese-language programming at the station. This prompted general manager Joanne Ninomiya, who had run channel 13 since 1969, to depart in January 1981; she then started her own company, JN Productions, to broadcast Japanese-language shows on cable. The new KIKU-TV ownership instituted a mostly English-language program lineup in June 1981.
Under new general manager Rick Blangiardi, in 1984, KIKU-TV changed its call sign to KHNL. Ninomiya renewed her association with KHNL beginning in 1986, providing six hours of Japanese programs on Sundays as well as a daily newscast from Japan and subtitled sumo broadcasts.
In late 1978, a group of investors known as Sunset Communications Corporation was formed to file for channel 20. Sunset shared investors with Delta Television, a subsidiary of advertising firm Petry Television that had put WPTY-TV in Memphis, Tennessee, on air earlier that year. For one of the principals, John A. Serrao, it was a return to Hawaii, as he had been general manager of KHVH-TV (channel 4) in the early 1960s when it was owned by Kaiser Broadcasting. The channel 20 construction permit was granted on August 12, 1980.