Posted on: Thursday, January 1, 2004

BUSINESS BRIEFS
Matson board official retiring

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Matson Navigation Co.'s board vice chairman, C. Bradley Mulholland, is retiring after 38 years at the company.

Mulholland is also retiring from his position as executive vice president of Matson's parent company, Alexander & Baldwin Inc.

He began his career as an assistant booking clerk in Southern California.

Hotels 69% full in November

Hotels in Hawai'i were 68.55 percent full on average in November, according to PKF Hawaii's survey of 127 properties.

That is a 0.16 percent drop from last year. Occupancy increased on Maui, Kaua'i and Moloka'i, and fell on O'ahu and the Big Island.

The average daily rate for a hotel room was $138.07, up from $131.90 a year ago.

Big Island paper has new boss

The Big Island's Hawaii Tribune-Herald has a new publisher. Ted Dixon succeeds Jim Wilson, 70, who retired yesterday after 30 years as publisher.

Dixon will continue as general manager, a post he assumed a few months ago.

Wilson became publisher in 1973, six years after taking over as advertising manager. He has been named publisher emeritus of the Tribune-Herald by the Stephens Media Group, which owns the newspaper and 25 others.

Dixon, 55, was publisher of the Daily World in Aberdeen, Wash.

ReplayTV deal gets complaints

An untold number of customers took advantage of ReplayTV's price drop to $149 for its lowest-end 40-hour model, thinking the deal included three years of service.

Now, some are furious after their service was disconnected and they were told they must pay additional fees to reactivate their devices.

"It's almost like buying a car and having the car later stop working, saying you can't drive it anymore unless you give us more money," said Eric Maur, 26, of Kane'ohe.

Officials with Santa Clara, Calif.-based ReplayTV could not be reached for comment, but they issued a statement saying they are assessing the situation "to find the best possible solution."