Rainbow Sports Radio
struggles to stay
in the game

Its parent company is behind
on its payments to UH
and must cut costs

By Cindy Luis
Star-Bulletin

It made sense in 1993. It is not making cents -- or dollars -- in 1997.

Broadcast Ink Sports Productions Inc., which bought the radio rights to University of Hawaii sports for an unprecedented $1.6 million four years ago, is struggling to make ends meet.

And struggling to make payments. The company lost an estimated $150,000 this past contract year.

"We're operating at a loss right now," said Dave Iverson, president of the Seattle-based Broadcast Ink and its local subsidiary Rainbow Sports Radio Network. "We have not turned a profit the last two years. What's disappointing is when we bid on this (UH sports rights) initially, the economy was good and UH football and baseball were doing well.

"But things have changed considerably. It's no secret that business in Hawaii is bad. And the bookends of the UH athletic department -- football and baseball -- are at the worst level they've been. And, yes, the economy is affecting how we pay and what we pay."

As well as when they pay. The contract calls for Broadcast Ink to make equal quarterly payments of $100,000 during the final two years.

The company has made a partial payment for the last quarter of 1996-97 with the balance due by Friday. It is looking at another $100,000 coming due on Sept. 15, the first of its 1997-98 payments.

Longtime Rainbow baseball broadcaster Don Robbs also apparently is owed money from this past season.

"We have an understanding with Don," Iverson said. "Do we still owe him money? You'll have to ask him that question."

Robbs just completed his 21st season as the Rainbows' baseball announcer. He declined to comment about a lack of payment but did say that Iverson was "one of the most honorable men I know, a man of integrity who is true to his word."

"I know personally how tough times are," said Robbs, the director of nonprofit Hawaii Public Television. "I know how hard it is to solicit money. This market is just about bone dry. There isn't a lot of money out there and the same people are hit up all the time.

"It used to be when corporations gave to nonprofit organizations like ours, they did it to be good neighbors. They can't afford to do that anymore. They want some value back."

To that end, Iverson has some creative marketing in the works, including live broadcasts of UH football games in Las Vegas. The hope is to capitalize on the link between Hawaii and the thousands of former residents now residing in Las Vegas, as well as the thousands of islanders who vacation there.

Despite the monetary problems, Iverson turned down a proposal from KGU-AM (760) to buy out this, the final year of his five-year contract. KGU had controlled the broadcast rights for UH sports for the three years prior to Iverson's securing the rights and moving the broadcasts to KCCN-AM (1420).

Iverson also intends to submit a bid to extend his contract, which expires May 30. The process will differ from that of five years ago; it will not automatically go to the highest bidder but by UH's choice through what is called a "Request For Proposal."

Proposals will be solicited beginning in late September or early October. There's been interest shown already from at least four parties, including KGU and KUMU, both of which lost out to Broadcast Ink five years ago.

"We intend to bid and be competitive with our bid," said Iverson, who also is involved with Washington State athletics and Washington high school broadcasts. "We intend to be a player in the game. But we do not intend to commit financial suicide to do business with the University of Hawaii. We enjoy our relationship with the university and want to be involved in the next contract process, but only if we can make a profit."

There will be cutbacks this season, most notably with Wahine volleyball home games. It is expected that Iverson will retain the California-based Jeff Ruffolo as the "Voice of Wahine Volleyball" for mainland matches, probably limited to games in California and Las Vegas.

"We're going to do as many Wahine home games as it makes sense," Iverson said. "If the game is being offered on KFVE, I don't feel as compelled to broadcast it as I do away games. We do away games because it is a product that the public can't get anywhere else."

In a mix of business and pleasure, Iverson will handle the play-by-play duties for the majority of men's basketball road games.

"I do radio (broadcasts) not because it's a money-saving vehicle," he said. "My time is more valuable than spending it on broadcast. But I love basketball and I love doing basketball.

"I will do some of the road games and that is a cost factor. It's a lot cheaper for me to fly from Seattle to Fresno than it is for Bobby (Curran) to fly over from Hawaii."

Curran is the lead broadcaster and will handle home and away football games, and home games of other Rainbow teams. In hiring Curran, Iverson has a broadcaster with a solid background in football, basketball and volleyball.

It's doubtful anyone will be hired to replace home volleyball broadcaster Brooks Baehr, who has been hired by KHNL.

"We've minimized our cost for talent," Iverson said. "When you have a shrinking economy, you have to shrink your costs.

"The bottom line is, we're a business, too. Some of our customers have gone out of business and some of those owed us money.

"One of our problems is so many sponsors are tied in with a package that starts with football. Football sets the table for the rest of the year. The fortunes of what we do rise and fall with what happens at Aloha Stadium.

"There's nothing that eight or nine football wins wouldn't fix. Those 40,000 people who used to go to the stadium would start showing up again, in spite of the economy."