UH open for
TV bids

KHNL/KFVE's exclusive window
for negotiation is over; other
stations may jump in

The University of Hawaii announced yesterday it will accept bids for the rights to televise its athletic events. The announcement came after a final meeting earlier in the day with the incumbent rights-holder, KHNL/KFVE, did not result in an extension of the current 3-year contract that ends May 31.

KHNL/KFVE general manager and vice president John Fink said his station, which has broadcast UH events the past 22 years, might continue to pursue a new deal.

"We'll see," he said. "We'll see what the RFP (request for proposal) looks like and go from there."

Executives from two other entities, Oceanic Time Warner and Emmis Communications, also said they are interested in seeing what UH is looking for in rights fees and expectations. The RFP goes out tomorrow and the deadline for proposals to be sent to UH is May 6.

The current contract pays UH $700,000 a year plus pay-per-view dividends.

Emmis' Rick Blangiardi, general manager of KHON (Channel 2) and KGMB (Channel 9), said he is interested, but will have to work fast.

"It's a very, very tight time frame. My concern is that it took so long in coming. I thought it would happen at the end of February," he said.

That's when the exclusive negotiating period between UH and KHNL/KFVE was scheduled to end. It was extended to yesterday.

"Other than that, I guess all things are doable if you want it bad enough," said Blangiardi, who was the first to broadcast UH sports regularly, in 1984, when he was general manager of KHNL's forerunner KIKU. "The first step is reading the RFP. We want to see what they're putting out."

Oceanic Time Warner has been involved in the current deal as a partner with pay-per-view football telecasts. It is no secret that the cable outlet has bigger aspirations and financial resources UH might find attractive.

Oceanic has a new multi-million-dollar production truck waiting in the wings should it secure at least a share of the rights, president Nate Smith said last month. Smith was out of town and unavailable for comment yesterday.

"It's premature to say very much other than we are pursuing it and hopefully we can be successful," vice president of programming Mitzi Lehano said. "There are a lot of requirements, a lot of research and number crunching to do."

UH athletic director Herman Frazier has said repeatedly that a partnership with more than one TV entity might be best for the school and state.

"It's important that we test the marketplace and evaluate what other opportunities might be available to us," Frazier said. "We truly value our current relationship with KHNL/KFVE and look forward to receiving its proposal, along with those of other television properties."