Media: The UnKINEdest Cut

The weekly traditional Hawaiian music radio show Territorial Airwaves has been banished from the FM dial. On Jan. 15th, local radio station Hawaiian 105 KINE FM replaced the 27-year-old program with a high-rotation mix of popular Island hits.

Harry B. Soria Jr.

Harry B. Soria Jr., the show’s host, says, "KINE, in a sentence, is going to a younger demographic, and the best way to do that is to remove block programming. Territorial Airwaves is block programming—an hour of themed Hawaiian music—and it’s no longer hitting the target given by corporate."

The show isn’t dead. Territorial Airwaves will air on KINE’s sister station AM940, and as a Web cast on KINE’s website. There is also some prospect of the program returning to FM when Cox Radio converts its stations to digital sometime in 2007.

Soria says he’s optimistic about the show’s future. "Initially [the cancellation] was kind of a shock, but I think there are some real opportunities here, and I think Territorial Airwaves is eventually going to be bigger than ever."