Posted on: Monday, April 8, 2002

KHNL news 'on demand' via Oceanic digital cable

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser staff writer

Beginning today, news junkies can access the 6 p.m. KHNL News8 broadcast "on demand" through Oceanic digital cable.

The NBC affiliate, which won a No. 1 ranking at 10 p.m. in the February ratings, has entered into a partnership with Oceanic Cable, a division of Time Warner, which enables Oceanic's 75,000 digital subscribers to access the 6 o'clock newscast anytime after 7 p.m. daily on Oceanic's channel 110. Each evening's news show will be available for a week after its broadcast.

"We are excited to be able to re-purpose our news to make it convenient to those viewers who do not get home in time for the (normal) 6 to 6:30 p.m. viewing," said John Fink, News8's president and general manager.

The positioning on cable channel 110 is deliberate, said Fink, since the national Fox News is on 109, CNN Headline News is on 111, and CNN is on 113.

Nate Smith, Oceanic president, said news availability on a 24-hour basis is "just the tip of the iceberg," considering the potential for growth offered by digital broadcast.

News8's sister station, KFVE-TV (K5 The Home Team), offers Oceanic digital subscribers access to University of Hawai'i sports ev vents initially televised on K5 via digital channel 221. Other partnerships are under consideration, said Fink. Also, the on-demand feature may be extended in the future to include the 10 p.m. newscast, he hinted.