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The California-based company that owns KIKU-TV (Channel 19) has won approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to sell the station and its mainland sister stations as part of a Chapter 11 restructuring case filed in January.
The total purchase price for all three stations is $45 million, according to court documents. Neither officials with the station ownership, International Media Group Inc., nor its law firm could be reached for comment.
The buyer is identified as NRJ TV, a mainland company that previously has purchased foreign-language television stations in San Francisco and Boston, paying $20 million for the pair, according to industry publications.
Pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission, NRJ-related entities will be assuming the licenses of KIKU and stations KSCI-TV (Channel 18) in Long Beach, Calif., and KUAN-LP (Channel 48), a low-power TV station in Poway, Calif.
The stations broadcast programming primarily in Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Tagalog, along with English-language syndicated programs and infomercials.
KIKU General Manager Phyllis Kihara said Friday that the station’s programming would remain the same.
AD CLUB JUMPS OVER OWN HIGH BAR
Ad 2 Honolulu has again won Club of the Year honors in a national competition that will ratchet up in June.
Based on a series of books compiled to track the club and its activities over the past year, the group of Honolulu advertising industry professionals age 32 and younger also won first-place awards for club operations and for its public service campaign prepared for the Hawaii Heart Foundation — the recipient of its 2011-2012 pro bono advertising campaign.
Ad 2 Honolulu also won second place in the membership category and third place in government relations.
The club has an illustrious history of beating its mainland counterparts.
Without trying to "bachi" anything, the big prize, the award for best public service campaign of all Ad 2 chapters in the United States, will be awarded in June after each club makes its presentation as part of the annual American Advertising Federation conference, which this year is in Austin, Texas.
Ad 2 Honolulu has won eight such first-place wins since its 2001-2002 campaign for Hale Kipa.
Half of the club’s score in the public service category "is based on the book, half is on the presentation," said Maile Alsup, Ad 2 Honolulu president.
The previous wins are more inspiration than pressure to current Ad 2 public service committee members, Alsup said.
"It’s an inspiration to us to continue on this trend, and really to ensure that we’re putting our best stuff out there," she said. "I’m just really proud of our club, our board members, (for) what they’ve been able to accomplish through the years. It really shows the benefit (of Ad 2 membership) to young advertising and marketing professionals out there."
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
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