Plan in works for all-UH TV sports channel

By Fred Guzman

You may have heard the old saying about when one door closes, another opens. Such could be the case regarding televised sports at the University of Hawaii.

The status of its lucrative pay-per-view package is in jeopardy as Hawaii transitions out of the Western Athletic Conference and into the Mountain West for football and the Big West for most other sports.

UH athletic administrators are working on a plan that could complement or replace its current TV arrangements.

The Star-Advertiser is reporting that Oceanic Time Warner Cable is moving toward the creation of all-University of Hawaii channel on its statewide system that could be operational as soon as this fall.

Oceanic’s current contract with UH runs through 2014 and guarantees UH a minimum of $2.3 million per year plus a share of revenues past certain thresholds. The contract calls for UH to receive $500,000 from KFVE and the balance from Oceanic.

But the future role — if any — of KFVE, which has been part of UH sports for nearly 30 years, is said to be undecided, according to the Star-Bulletin. KFVE has partnered with Oceanic on pay-per-view since 2002. That arrangement is under negotiation.

While things would likely be little changed in the Big West, both UH and Oceanic are awaiting word from the Mountain West whether pay-per-view, as we currently know it, will continue.