Hawaii to get ‘Hello
Kitty’ show, plus other
Japanese programs

Pacific TV, a new local provider of television programming, will air its shows, including "Hello Kitty's Paradise," from 7 to 10 p.m. on Oceanic Time Warner Cable Channel 77.

The company's Japan-based parent, Pacific Television Inc., plans to spread Japanese programming around the world to Japanese nationals who live or travel abroad. Hawaii is the first step on a path to Los Angeles, New York City, Australia and Brazil.

Pacific TV's local rollout will be a three-month test to gauge demand and sign up subscribers before the end of June, when it will leave Channel 77 and become a paid premium service on Oceanic, Nishiyama said.

The company plans to advertise, align with other local businesses for cross-promotion and stage events at local shopping centers to encourage subscribers to sign up for the premium service. The rate will be determined through market research, said spokeswoman Reiko Ibano.

Pacific TV's shows will air primarily in Japanese, but there are plans for a bilingual channel for English-speaking viewers.

KIKU-TV, Hawaii's best-known provider of Japanese programming, doesn't view Pacific TV as direct competition, since KIKU provides subtitled shows for those not fluent in Japanese and has a primarily local audience. "We're not really targeted to the same people," said General Manager Phyllis Kihara.

"But I do believe (Pacific TV's launch) shows there is an interest in quality Japanese programming," she said.

In addition to "Hello Kitty's Paradise," Pacific TV will air animated Japanese shows "Captain Tsubasa," about a boy who loves soccer, and "Ultraman Kids," about the space travel adventures of children. Pacific TV also will produce a show with coverage of local goings-on, to be hosted by Kei Segawa, a former radio personality in Hawaii and Japan.