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State of Radio In Hawaii

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  • #31
    Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

    I remember the first time I had to turn the lights off at KHNR on Richards street. It felt a bit strange to leave the board knowing I won't be back for 8-hours. Last to leave, first to arrive (the next morning). I slept with one ear listening to that station and as soon as I heard dead air, I started counting up to ten seconds. After that time elapsed, I knew the Audio Vault program had crashed and I had to rush over to the station 20-minutes away to restart the computer. That would happen several times until the bugs were worked out.

    My last stint in radio was programming the weekend blocks for KHVH and (then) KHBZ. No fun staring at the Prophet screen looking at programming irregularities when the Traffic Dept inserted spots that didn't work with programming. This wasn't radio, heck I may have been setting up a playlist for an iPod for all that mattered.

    Radio was when you got butterflies in your tummy seconds before adjusting those headphones, hitting that mic 1 into program and moving that slider up to a comfortable level.

    Pretty soon that "On Air" light outside the studio won't even be necessary and the need to quiet the studio monitors won't be needed as we go further into the realm of Voice Tracking.

    Radio ain't radio anymore and it's getting worse
    Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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    • #32
      Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

      yep,they've taken the fun away and the survivors are getting burned out. All live in fear of the absentee bean-counters who fire people randomly. But I do miss it
      When you get released with the quote:" it's nothing you did or didn't do", it leaves a foul taste

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      • #33
        Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

        ahh, synchronicity: FM by Steely Dan just popped up on the iPod...13,000 songs to choose and that came up...pretty funny,in it's own weird way

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        • #34
          Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

          Originally posted by Palolo lolo View Post
          yep,they've taken the fun away and the survivors are getting burned out. All live in fear of the absentee bean-counters who fire people randomly. But I do miss it
          When you get released with the quote:" it's nothing you did or didn't do", it leaves a foul taste
          totally totally sucks. Been there and have gone thru that revolving door. As we say in the radio biz, "If you haven't been fired in Radio, you haven't been in it long enough".
          Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

          Comment


          • #35
            Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

            Okay, I have few questions that maybe one of you can answer. I listen to KAPA, KWXX, KPOA, Hawaiian 105 and a couple other Hawaiian stations, and boy I love them most of the time. But they could be a lot better. I am in a time zone far far away and maybe it is the time I am listening, but I hear the same songs over and over every day. I own so much Hawaiian music that is not played on these stations for some reason. So:

            1. Are these stations directed at Locals or Tourists to Hawaii?
            2. Do they play different stuff at different times of the day?
            3. Do all radio stations in America only play 40 songs and repeat them to death until you get the urge to leap at the radio device and change the station?

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            • #36
              Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

              1. Are these stations directed at Locals or Tourists to Hawaii?

              Most of the radio stations you mentioned are guided by locals.

              2. Do they play different stuff at different times of the day?

              No pretty much the same stuff all the time.

              3. Do all radio stations in America only play 40 songs and repeat them to death until you get the urge to leap at the radio device and change the station?

              If it's Clear Channel, then it's pretty much the same 40-songs played repeatedly to death. On the Big Island there is no CC presence so you are spared that slow death.

              I remember a time when you could pull your selection of music based on a color wheel. Red for the top of the hour (so any of the Top 5) followed by Yellow, Green, Blue and more Red mixed throughout the hour. You could play what you wanted based on the color dot on the cart and the color wheel for that time slot.

              That was radio when the DJ could set up each hour based on what he or she wanted and what was requested. Nowdays requested music only happens when that request mimicks what is already on the playlist generated one week in advance by the program director on their automated radio station.

              That's not radio, that's an iPod hooked up to an FM transmitter. No joy anymore in this industry.
              Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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              • #37
                Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

                A very sad thread indeed.
                My ipod touch, ipad2 and android phone all have apps that play radio of all types from all over the world. Music, talk, niche formats, from any country at any time. At this moment I am listening to Coast To Coast on a Taos New Mexico station. Favorite music radio stations include Village900 in Victoria BC, Radio1190 in Boulder, RadioK in the Twin Cities, TripleJ in Australia, and KCRW in LA. Notice that none are commercial stations. The only commercial stations I listen to are Progressive Talk Stations as I have an aversion to fascism.
                Sorry, but heavily formatted conglomerate radio stinks.
                FolkAlley is a great feed, not broadcast but fantastic American Music.

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                • #38
                  Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

                  Originally posted by craigwatanabe View Post
                  That's not radio, that's an iPod hooked up to an FM transmitter.
                  That's what gets me about radio. It's trying to be my iPod. Sorry, but that's a loser's game. It can never be as good as my iPod - tailored exactly to MY tastes and changeable to fit MY mood.

                  Radio really needs to look at what it is and what it does best. It allows you to feel a connection to another person. It can interrupt with breaking news. Yes, it can play the favorites, but it can also introduce something new to you. I think radio's fault is that it's been listening to what people say they want in the telephone polls instead of giving them what they really want.

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                  • #39
                    Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

                    I didn’t want to start a new thread over this question but I noticed a few of you out there are from Hilo and Walter Pacheco was mentioned in a few posts from years back.

                    Is Waltah still alive and/or on radio in Hilo? Or even just still alive? I tried to look him up on the net but couldn’t find any information on that classic hysterically funny “I going broke dees racket" character. Any help on this would be appreciated.
                    A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.

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                    • #40
                      Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

                      This is interesting to read about. When I went back to college in LA from 2003-2005, I snuck in a show on KOXY's student-run radio station. I am pretty sure more people listened to us streaming than over the air. Pretty small operation by any standard. But it was such a thrill to chat into the microphone and play whatever I felt like and take requests and give out info via IM. Maybe that's what we need...more small-timer operations. Community radio.

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                      • #41
                        Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

                        Perhaps I can shed a little light on what happended to Walter (Waltah) Pacheco, a dominant and often controversial radio personality in the Hilo radio market in the years between 1976 to 2004. I was intrigued by the comments submitted by Shredded Mango, who asked about this interesting radio guy. Walter retired from the County of Hawaii's Park and Recreation Department in either 2004 or 2005 after he was asked to leave KHLO-AM's morning show back in 2003 (I believe that was the year--details are a bit foggy after almost a decade of not working with him). I was ( and still am) the news director for KHLO-AM and KKBG-FM when Walter was asked to leave following a heated on-air discussion concerning a certain police officer. Station management was threatened with a lawsuit if Walter didn't retract comments he made over the air. Since KHLO-AM had a similar event with Walter back in the mid-70s, the general manager decided to avoid another costly trial and opted to relieve Walter of his duties. In 1975, KHLO-AM, under different management, lost a defamation case in court and had to pay a judgment that eventually bankrupted the station and forced the sale of the station to new company. Waltah's checkered career can be traced by going to the archieves of the "Hawaii Tribune-Herald". I was in an adjoining studio when the flare-up occurred--it wasn't pretty. The irony of the entire mess was that Waltah was often right in many of his on-air rants, but he tended to go overboard and beat the topic to death. People who felt offended by his remarks pressured sponsors to drop his show and that had a negative effect on sales--the lifeblood of commercial radio. Shortly after the incident, KHLO-AM shifted full-time to ESPN programming. Waltah's direct competition was Mel "Mynah Bird" Medeiros, who patterned his delivery and on-air personality after the late Honolulu radio legend, Hal "Aku" Lewis. Mel kept his spirited show at KIPA-AM/KHBC-FM until those stations went dark in October 2010 and collapsed into Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. As for Walter Pacheco, I see him every now and then in the local supermarkets...he looks good and seems to be enjoying life as a retireee. He always treated me well. I guess the old style of confrontation radio that was so popular on Hawaii Island for several decades has worn out its welcome. Most of the talk shows running in town are syndicated programs aired on KPUA-AM. Our ESPN station has a live mid-morning show with Sports Director Josh Pacheco from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Josh is heard over KKEA-AM (1420 in Honolulu) from 12 noon to 1 p.m. He occasionally fills in for Bobby Curran. Josh is a competent young announcer who really knows his stuff and always backs up everything he says with data, wire copy, interviews, and research. Unlike Waltah, Josh is extremely careful and measured in what he says. Josh spends a lot of time researching and doing pre-show prep. It was fun working with Waltah, but it was also nerve wracking, especially when I had to work the "cough" switch to intercept some of his more colorful comments. Free speech is a flexible concept, depending on the depth of your legal pockets. I did not enjoy being a "gate keeper". All that said, I bear no ill-feelings for my former colleague. Radio has just changed and much of what we used to call programming has gone by the wayside. Despite the problems of live programming, it had a gritty sense of life and reflected the pulse of our community. Nowadays, broadcast technology is truly fascinating and I have plenty of toys to play with. Yet, I miss some of the old days--local radio seemed a bit warmer and relevant a few years ago. Aloha, Russell

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                        • #42
                          Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

                          Thanks Russell for the insight on Waltah Pacheco. For some reason I always remember him playing Marie Osmond's "Paper Roses" on KHLO when they used to play music a long time ago.

                          Did anyone buy the KIPA 1060/ KHBC 92.7 FM stations yet?
                          I'm still here. Are you?

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                          • #43
                            Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

                            Thanks for the note, Mel. I remember "Paper Roses", too. Waltah played that tune a lot. The KIPA/KHBC combo hasn't been sold yet. The station's FM station in Kailua-Kona (I don't recall the call letters) was dismantled in late October 2010. KIPA-AM/KHBC-FM still occupies a studio at the old B J Furniture Building near Borthwick Mortuary (688 Kilauea Avenue). All of the equipment is still in the locked studio, and, from what the bankruptcy attorney tells the "Hawaii Tribune-Herald", all the new owner would have to do is "hook it up." As far as I know, the bankruptcy court is proceeding with the Chapter 7 process (liquidation). It appears as if owner Parrott Broadcasting of Idaho is just about out of the picture. Mel "Mynah Bird" Medeiros has retired. Brad Freeman, who ran just about everything else at the station, has been hired by B-97 and works with my former partner DC Carlson. Time to crawl back to the newsroom...only a few hours to go....Russell

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                            • #44
                              Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

                              I think it is kind of difficult to succeed in localized radio in the Hilo/Big Island market. The dial seems to be saturated with a lot of duplicated formats already (ie: too much reggae/island music programming)... don't know what any buyers would do with a Hilo only area station(s).

                              As for Mynah Bird I think his glory days were over a long time ago, probably after he switched to KHBC when it was on the AM. A lot of older folks out in the country missed him after he left KIPA 620 (when that station had signals all over the island). I hope he's enjoying retirement.
                              I'm still here. Are you?

                              Comment


                              • #45
                                Re: State of Radio In Hawaii

                                You make an excellent point, Mel. Even with the loss of three radio stations, the Hilo market is filled with similar formats competing for the same diminishing dollar. That's why my employeer and our competitiors have a signal in Kailua-Kona and Waimea. One must be island-wide to generate sufficient revenue to keep the transmitters lit. I agree that Mynah Bird hit his stride several years ago, when KIPA-AM had island-wide coverage (with transmitters at Hilo, Naalehu, and at the old Kona Airport). Those days are gone. The last time I saw Mynah Bird he seemed happy that the stress of the daily broadcast routine was over. The rest of us radio types are still hanging on--a disappearing breed, to be sure. Have a good holiday....Russell

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