UH, KFVE looking to extend their local television contract
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
KFVE and the University of Hawai'i athletic department are informally negotiating an extension for a television contract that is entering its final year.
KFVE, which pays $1.2 million annually for the local television rights to UH sports, has the first negotiating rights under terms of a contract signed in 1998. That amount is the athletic department's greatest source of income from a single entity.
YOSHIDA: “Whatever help we can provide, we’ll provide.”
Once KFVE makes a formal offer, UH has 30 days to accept, reject or extend negotiations. If UH rejects the offer, it can open the bidding to others.
"We're going through the process right now of determining where we want to be five to eight years down the road," UH athletic director Hugh Yoshida said.
One change KFVE would like to rectify is the devaluation of the product. In the past two years, KFVE lost several football and basketball telecasts to Fox Sports, which owned the regional television rights to Western Athletic Conference sporting events.
This week, ESPN announced it would televise up to two UH football games this year, and possibly the UH-hosted Rainbow Classic men's basketball tournament.
Even though KFVE owns the delayed television rights to UH sports, the replays would have less value to KFVE advertisers if events are shown live on ESPN, said John Fink, KFVE's president and general manager. Many companies buy advertising packages, instead of single-event commercials from KFVE, Fink said.
FINK:
“We’ll look into asking for reparations.”
"As more games potentially get swallowed (by ESPN), we'll look into asking (UH) for reparations," Fink said.
But he said that would not be a deal-breaking point, and he is hopeful a five-year extension can be reached.
"We need to make sure (KFVE is) successful, too," Yoshida said. "Whatever help we can provide, we'll provide."
KFVE started televising UH sporting events in 1984, when the station was known as KIKU. KFVE won the current UH contract when it bid against itself after Oceanic Cable withdrew and KGMB submitted an empty envelope.
Fink said KFVE aired 130 UH events in the last academic year.
