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| Ownership | |
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| KGMB, KFVE | |
| History | |
First air date | July 4, 1962 |
Former call signs |
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Former channel number(s) | Analog: 13 (VHF, 1962–2009) |
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Call sign meaning | Honolulu; "HNL" is also the IATA code for Daniel K. Inouye International Airport |
| Technical information[1] | |
Licensing authority | FCC |
| Facility ID | 34867 |
| ERP | 25 kW |
| HAAT | 629 m (2,064 ft) |
| Transmitter coordinates | 21°23′52″N 158°6′0″W / 21.39778°N 158.10000°W |
| Links | |
Public license information | |
| Website | |
KHNL (channel 13) is a television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an affiliate of NBC and Telemundo. It is owned by Gray Television alongside CBS affiliate KGMB (channel 5). The two stations share studios on Waiakamilo Road in downtown Honolulu; KHNL's transmitter is located in Akupu, Hawaii. KHNL is also rebroadcast on the island of Hawaiʻi, Maui, and Kauaʻi.
The present station on channel 13 began broadcasting July 4, 1962, as KTRG-TV, an independent station owned by the Watumull family. In 1967, Richard Eaton's United Broadcasting Company purchased the station. The call letters were changed to KIKU-TV and the format to primarily Japanese-language shows. In addition to serving Hawaii's Japanese-language community, the station gained notice in the wider market for its telecast of sumo wrestling as well as tokusatsu series, particularly Android Kikaider (better known in Hawaii as Kikaida).
A general partnership of investors from California and Hawaii, as well as Japan's TV Asahi, acquired KIKU-TV in 1979. In 1981, channel 13 significantly reduced its Japanese-language broadcasting, though it continued to air programs in the language into the 1990s, and became a general-entertainment independent. Under the management of future Honolulu mayor Rick Blangiardi, in 1984 the station renamed itself KHNL; it then added coverage of University of Hawaiʻi athletics as well as an affiliation with Fox in 1986. A limited amount of Japanese-language programming continued to air into the early 1990s, shortly after the Providence Journal Company acquired the station.
In 1994, the acquisition of KHON-TV, Honolulu's number-one station and an NBC affiliate, by Fox-linked SF Broadcasting portended an affiliation switch, which ultimately took place on January 1, 1996, with KHNL changing from Fox to NBC. As a result, in April 1995, KHNL began airing nightly newscasts. Despite luring several high-profile names in local TV news, the station struggled to gain ratings. Providence Journal merged with Belo Corporation in 1997; Belo then divested KHNL to Raycom Media in 1999. Raycom led the consolidation of KHNL and KGMB's news into Hawaii News Now in 2009; the combination became a serious challenger to KHON-TV, primarily on the strength of KGMB's existing news viewership. Gray acquired Raycom in 2019.
KHNL's second and sixth subchannels are relayed on Kailua-Kona–licensed KFVE (channel 6) and Wailuku-based KLEI (channel 21).
- ^ "Facility Technical Data for KHNL". Licensing and Management System. Federal Communications Commission.
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