Posted on: Sunday, June 2, 2002

Hawai'i TV station to air Island-themed programs in China

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Hawai'i Pacific Channel, a family-oriented cable and broadcast station originating in Hawai'i but looking for a global reach, will make its debut in July in China, where viewership may exceed 15 million.

The channel, solely financed by CEO Bryan Lukas, has signed a five-year agreement with Shaanix TV in China, to initially broadcast several hours a day, gradually expanding on-air time over the next few months.

For now, programs will be delivered to stations via tape. Lukas said he hopes to eventually have a satellite hookup capability.

The channel has big dreams. Its debut, in the largest consumer market in the world, is the first of a series of launches in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and South and Central America, said Lukas.

"It's a unique kind of operation," Lukas said of the channel, which now operates from a rented home at Wai'alae Nui Ridge. "We won't be visible in Hawai'i, but we'll initially program a mix of Hawai'i and Pacific shows, aiming at all demographics, trying to offer a little bit of everything to a very diverse world audience."

Lukas is not attempting to be competitive in the Island marketplace. But he is eager to get the Hawai'i branding out to the masses, to ultimately project "the sizzle, the romance, the painted picture of the Islands the viewers anticipate."

He's in the midst of contracting available product for showcasing on the new channel.

Much of the initial shows will come from PBS sources but Lukas said that he hopes to seal deals with everything from University of Hawai'i sports on KFVE-5 to "Sam Choy's Kitchen" on KHNL-8, from Emmy Award-winning "Pacific Adventures" installments by Gary Sprinkle of KITV-4, to the popular "Wailana Yoga" show seen here on KHET-13.

Programs with a Pacific basin link with Asia would be the fodder, so even Hawai'i International Film Festival selections could fit into the entertainment mix.

"We're working with local affiliates here, getting programming," Lukas said. "We want to have shows on nature, travel, sports and films — anything that has something to do with Hawai'i and the Pacific."

He hopes, too, that the Hawai'i Pacific Channel will emerge as a conduit for advertisers of Hawai'i exports and tourism, as well as Pacific and Asian tourism sources.

"Advertising is what will drive our engine," he said. "At this time, we have compiled 10,000 hours of program that is all family-oriented; there's no sex, no violence, no politics."

A key goal, he said, is to reflect and promote the multicultural diversity of the Islands.