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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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PBS Hawaii to produce local TV show in HD
PBS Hawaii will debut its first locally produced, all-high-definition show on Tuesday. "Long Story Short with Leslie Wilcox" will be produced using only HD technology, thanks to a partnership with
Sony.
A station news release described the show as "Hawaii's first locally produced weekly program to be shot, edited and aired exclusively with high-definition technology."
However, other local high-def programs have aired previously, such as "In Tune," a 10-week show that aired on KHON last year; a couple episodes of "Let's Go Fishing," and a special, produced by New Hope Christian Fellowship, which also aired on KHON.
"We were putting those out in standard (definition), digital and then HD," said Joe McNamara, president and general manager of KHON.
The differentiation appears to be that the PBS Hawaii show is a 52-week program, versus the shorter-duration runs on KHON.
It is a good differentiation, said Robert Pennybacker, PBS Hawaii vice president of creative services.
There may be another difference.
"A lot of shows shoot in HD, but what they call 'down-convert' during the editing process or somewhere along the line. We've made a conscious decision to keep it in the HD realm all the way ... from the camera to the living room," Pennybacker said.
Sometimes an entire product is created in HD but doesn't get distributed to viewers that way.
Dean Sensui, vice president of production for "Hawaii Goes Fishing," on OC16, also produces TV commercials.
"I shoot and edit it in HD, but it gets delivered in standard def," he said.
Sensui is the former chief photographer for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
Tuesday's show -- the first of a two-part interview with business icon Walter Dods -- is a first step, said Pennybacker.
"Obviously this is where we want to go eventually with all of our local programming."
Charly's early wake-ups
Charly Espina Takahama has been wooed back to morning drive on the radio.
The long-time morning radio stalwart left Oahu in 2002 to sell air time for Pacific Radio Group Inc. on Maui, but it wasn't president and CEO Chuck Bergson's plan to get her on the air in the mornings, he said.
She was not looking to get back on the air either.
"She's actually done a heck of a job in sales ... but the opportunity came up and we wanted to basically refresh the station," he said.
Charly and former mid-day dude Dan Rivers are the new morning team on KJKS-FM 99.9, monikered "Kiss-FM."
They replaced satellite programming on Feb. 4.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com