Posted on: Sunday, August 22, 2004
Just what the doctor ordered
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist
For a sports fan in Honolulu, there have been few things more frustrating than turning on the radio expecting the latest scores and news and instead getting a dentist in the midst of a half-hour discussion of implants.
Such have long been among the hazards of living in one of the few metropolitan markets where there has been little true all-sports-all-the-time radio.
Beginning next month, KKEA (1420 AM) is vowing to serve up a lineup of all sports — local and national — and nothing but as Hono-lulu's only all-sports station. It promises no financial planners, podiatrists or proctologists, just sports, and is in the process of shedding its non-sports programming.
Long-suffering sports fans will be hoping that KKEA has both the formula and enduring commitment to fill a niche that others have been unable — or unwilling — to make work.
For KKEA is stepping to bat against the conventional wisdom that Honolulu, which has been the 72nd largest market, cannot support all-sports radio on a consistent basis. To the persistent queries from media or pleadings from listeners, a long line of station managers and owners have maintained that there was neither the audience nor the sponsorship for 24-hour sports here and it was necessary to take on a variety of so-called "vanity clients" and tout services just to pay the bills for the sports they did offer.
One of the few stations that tried the all-sports format in recent years was KGU, which billed itself as "The Ball" for three years until 2000 when a new owner changed formats. But despite a strong national network lineup, KGU didn't have the most important element for local success, University of Hawai'i radio rights, and the feeling at the end was that all-sports worked during football season but struggled during other seasons.
"Whatever other stations have tried to do in the past, we don't feel (their) approach was quite right," said Don Robbs, KKEA general manager. "We have the 1,000-pound gorilla, UH sports, and now we're taking the rest of the schedule and building upon that."
KKEA, which has had UH sports as its pillar since the 1990s, has been edging toward an all-sports format under current owner, Duane Kurisu, who has shown deep pockets and a willingness to underwrite several sports ventures. KKEA, which pays $285,000 a year for the UH rights, is also betting that it will retain them in renegotiations next year.
Led by its weekday 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. "Bobby Curran Show," which has placed in the top 10 of Arbitron's morning drive-time survey, and its ESPN lineup, KKEA has found a following.
"We feel that we brand the station very strongly as sports and we're ready to make the move," Robbs said.
Sports fans, for whom a return to dentistry would be like, well, pulling teeth, can only hope he's right.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
