The first images seen on Honolulu television were scenes from a movie newsreel series, “March of Time,” on Nov. 17, 1952. The station was Channel 11 and the call letters were KONA.
This year marked two significant anniversaries in the history of what is now known as KHON. This month we look back at the history of the station.
KONA began originally as Honolulu’s only DuMont network affiliate. KGMB at the time of its launch in December 1952 carried ABC, CBS and NBC network programming.
The first significant news program to air on KONA was on Dec. 11, 1952, when President-elect Dwight Eisenhower arrived in Honolulu via ship. Regular programming began just a few days later, on Dec. 15, 1952.
KONA in its early days operated out of the KPOA radio studios. The KPOA tower was at Ala Moana Boulevard and Piikoi Street, near the current KHON studio location. Though viewers in Manoa and Kahala called in to say they could see the images from “March of Time,” KPOA’s radio waves interfered with the TV broadcasts, so the station was forced to relocate.
Equipment delays as well as a delay in the construction of a new antenna and KONA studios forced the station to shut down operations temporarily in March 1953.
On June 3, 1953, the FCC approved the sale of KONA to the Honolulu Advertiser and Island Broadcasting Corp. for $60,488.
A few weeks later, on June 24, 1953, KONA had a festive relaunch, showcasing brand-new 5,500-square-foot studios at 206 Koula St. in Kakaako.
A test pattern would run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, and programming would run from 4 until about 10:30 p.m. The station was the NBC affiliate for the islands.
Fifty hours of weekly programming aired on KONA and 15 hours of additional live local programming including “At Home With Lee Carroll,” “Cherry Blossom Time,” “Barbara Bishop Show,” “Lucky Luck Show,” “Western Theater” (with the KONA Kid, Monty Martin), “Meet the Wrestlers” with Al Karasick, “Chubby’s Kitchen” with Chubby Roland and “The Maligayang Araw Show” with Tommy Tomimbang.
The news anchor was Webley Edwards, and sports was handled by Carlos Rivas.
KONA received approval by the FCC to switch on the dial from channel 11 down to channel 2, but the change didn’t take effect until Oct. 22, 1955.
During this time popular programs on KONA were “Filipino Fiesta,” hosted by Faustino Respicio, and“Televi Digest,” with original host Violet Niimi and later with longtime host Barbara Kim. It was a Sunday night fixture for a decade.
After Edwards left KONA to concentrate on his “Hawaii Calls” radio program, the news department was run by Joe Rose, who handled both news and sports.
The station doubled its studio size when it relocated to its new building on Auahi Street in December 1957.
The Honolulu Advertiser and John D. Keating sold KONA to Communications Honolulu for $2.35 million in 1964.
Veteran Honolulu newsmen Wayne Collins and Bob Miller were brought in to co-anchor.
During the summer of 1965, the station changed its call letters to KHON.
KHON was the fourth radio station to be launched in the islands in 1946, the “HON” being an abbreviation of Honolulu.
Popular programs during this time were “Romper Room” (hosted by Robin Mann), “Let’s Go Fishing” (with Bruce Carter and later with Hari Kojima), “Kiddie Korral” (with Sheriff Ken) and “Today in Hawaii” (hosted by Ron Cooper and later with Linda Ryan). KPOI’s Bob Lowrie hosted “Weird Beard’s Movie Theater,” which aired science fiction.
Collins and Miller left the station in 1966.
In the late 1960s Marsha Fried became one of the first weather forecasters locally.
In 1971 Les Keiter returned to the islands to handle sports for the station.
During the 1970s on KHON, local celebrities Danny Kaleikini, Lippy Espinda, Loyal Garner, Zulu and others would host weekend afternoon movies.
In 1979 Paul Udell took over as anchor, and KHON became a news ratings leader in the 1980s.
Starting in 1981 the popular Keiter and longtime former sports anchor Joe Moore, now doing news, would spend a decade together as a team.
On Jan. 1, 1996, KHON became a Fox network affiliate, as it remains today.
A.J. McWhorter, a collector of film and videotape cataloging Hawaii’s TV history, has worked as a producer, writer and researcher for both local and national media. Email him at flashback@hawaii.rr.com.
