‘Off the Map’ finishes third in ratings

"Off the Map," the ABC medical drama shot in Hawaii, posted strong viewer numbers in its target audience Wednesday night even though it finished behind the major network offerings in the hour, according to Nielsen ratings information released by ABC yesterday.

In its third episode, "Off the Map" drew 5.1 million viewers. The midseason replacement airs at 9 p.m. Wednesdays on KITV.

The CBS drama "Blue Bloods" won the hour by attracting 12.1 million viewers. NBC’s "Law & Order SVU" finished second, but its 5.5 million viewers gave it only a slim lead over "Off the Map."

But among adults 18-49, the ABC show finished second by attracting 1.8 percent of the total TV viewing audience and 5 percent of those who were watching TV at the time.

Online condo site opens Oahu office

An online marketplace for selling condominiums called Condo.com has established a physical brokerage office in Honolulu, and plans to open neighbor island offices starting on Maui later this year.

Local real estate agent Duke Kimhan opened the Honolulu office earlier this month in the Waikiki Landmark building. The office becomes the 19th opened nationally, according to the website of the Miami-based company, established in 2005 as U.S. Condo Exchange, or USCondex.

Condo.com has multifamily home listings in all 50 states and more than 70 foreign countries. There were 5,780 listings for Hawaii yesterday with information similar to some other online listing sites.

Big Island wind farm deal awarded

The Hawaii Natural Energy Institute has awarded a $1.8 million contract to a Nevada company to install a battery backup system at a wind farm in Hawi on the Big Island.

Altair Nanotechnologies will install the 1-megawatt energy storage system at the 10.5-megawatt wind farm operated by Hawi Renewable Development. Hawaii Electric Light Co. buys the electricity generated by the wind farm.

The project, which is funded by a grant from the Office of Naval Research, is designed to test the performance characteristics of the battery system and to demonstrate the effectiveness of battery storage technology to integrate wind energy into an electrical grid. The project is expected to be operational by the third quarter of this year.

LinkedIn plans public stock offering

SAN FRANCISCO » LinkedIn Corp., the company behind the largest website for professional networking, plans to raise at least $175 million in an initial public offering of stock that could open the IPO floodgates for other widely used online services that connect people with common interests.

The IPO papers filed yesterday by LinkedIn puts the 8-year-old company on a path to make its stock market debut in the next three to four months, barring any major stumbling blocks.

It might be the most highly anticipated IPO in the technology industry since software maker VMware Inc. went public in 2007, said Scott Sweet, senior managing partner of IPOBoutique. After VMware raised about $900 million in its IPO, the Silicon Valley company’s stock soared by more than 70 percent in its first day of trading.

LinkedIn’s filing could encourage other rapidly growing Internet services to finally test the public markets after amassing zealous followings among millions of users. Other likely candidates include online coupon service Groupon, online game maker Zynga, online messaging service Twitter and Facebook.

On the Move

Carlsmith Ball has announced Justin M. Goldstein as partner of its Los Angeles office. He was previously at O’Melveny & Myers litigating several high-tech, entertainment and licensing disputes in the past several years.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa William S. Richardson School of Law has selected Danielle Conway as the inaugural recipient of the Michael J. Marks Distinguished Professorship in Business Law. Conway is director of the University of Hawaii Procurement Institute and also a professor who teaches Internet law and policy, intellectual property law, government contract law and licensing intellectual property.

Poncho’s Solar Service, a native Hawaiian-owned small business, has donated a check for $10,000 to Hawaiian Way Fund. The organization unifies gifts and donations by companies and individuals to support community-based and cultural programs.

The American Institute of Architects, Honolulu Chapter, has announced the following to its 2011 board of directors: Spencer Leineweber, president; Philip K. White, vice president/president elect; Sandi Quildon, secretary; and Terry McFarland, treasurer. At-large directors for 2011 are Scott Wilson, Reid Mizue, Eric Nelson, Kelly Irvine, Mayumi Hara, Katherine MacNeil and Tonia Moy. Zon Sullenberger serves as Hawaii Island section director, and Kris Palagi was elected as associate, representing AIA Honolulu’s design and architect professionals.