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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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A plague of painful paperwork for Hawaii TV stations
Paperwork is the bane of a plethora of professions, and headaches can increase exponentially once that paperwork becomes public record.
DTV, or television's upcoming analog to digital transition, is becoming better known as broadcasters get the word out. What most people don't see is the paperwork stations must file with the Federal Communications Commission relating to DTV, or just about anytime anybody sneezes.
Three small Honolulu TV licensees filed reports this week to show what they are doing to educate viewers about DTV -- and were not thrilled to have TheBuzz ask questions about them.
Some FCC forms bear scary words, warning any who sign on the dotted line that "willful false statements on this form are punishable by fine and/or imprisonment ... and/or revocation of any station license or construction permit ... and/or forfeiture."
""Don't get us fined, Erika, we're Christian nonprofits," chuckled Chris Racine. He is president of Mokupuni Television Co. Inc., a partner in Kailua Television LLC, licensee of KKAI-TV Channel 50.
The filings by KKAI, KUPU-TV Channel 56 and KALO-TV Channel 38, said the station Web sites mention the February 2009 transition and dtvanswers.com, established by the broadcast industry to prepare viewers for DTV.
None of the sites bore references to either on Wednesday or before TheBuzz's calls yesterday.
Diane Sandlin, who filed the KALO and KUPU reports, said she would make sure the information got posted right away.
KALO is licensed to Pacifica Broadcasting Co., in which Racine also has an interest. Sandlin is an officer and director of Oceania Christian Church, licensee of KUPU.
The DTV information was there at the time of the filing, so "we're not out of compliance," said Racine.
The sites were created by the same designer and shared a server host in California, but the sites were being rebuilt after a server crash, he said.
The DTV information popped up on the KALO and KKAI sites before 3 p.m. and on the KUPU site by about 3:30.
The licensees also had to report on the number of DTV-related messages they aired.
Numbers for KKAI and KUPU were identical, which Racine said might relate to FCC minimum requirements.
"The station manager prepares the information," said Sandlin, of KALO and KUPU. Station manager Donald Laidlaw could not be reached.
The stations are at 875 Waimanu St. KKAI and KALO are in Suite 110, while KUPU is in Suite 638. The stations share some employees, Racine said.
DTV will not affect cable or satellite subscribers, but of the three stations, only KALO is over the air and on cable. KKAI and KUPU are over-the-air only.
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