What if, instead of sportscasters high up in the Aloha Stadium press box, the people who delivered the descriptions and analysis on University of Hawaii football for TV did it in a free-flowing, conversation style as if from a table or couch sitting among us?

It is an interesting concept and a decided break from tradition that Robert Kekaula and Darren Hernandez will attempt when Oceanic Time Warner debuts its much-awaited pay-per-view football coverage with Saturday’s UH-UC Davis game.

Oceanic took over the contract from KFVE, which did the games for 28 years and set the standard. Kekaula, as is his character, seeks to depart from convention and insert a talk-story element while retaining the passion and professionalism that his predecessor, Jim Leahey, brought to the broadcasts.

“Robert’s idea is that he wants it to be like we are watching the game with a lot of people and commenting on the game from an insider’s point of view,” said Hernandez, who will be the colorman for the six broadcasts on OC Sports.

The aim is to rely less on statistics and the obvious and go heavier into analysis but in a conversational exchange that draws in viewers. It is an approach that will rely on Kekaula, KITV’s sports director, and Hernandez, Kapolei High’s head football coach, being able to quickly develop the kind of at-ease flow and chemistry they’ve shared for years off the air.

So it was fitting that Kekaula and Hernandez went to the kitchen of Kekaula’s home, turning the sound down on the broadcasts of the UH-Washington and UH-Nevada-Las Vegas games for 6 or 7 hours at a time to work on getting the approach down.

“The first thing that I said when we sat down at the table was, ‘OK, imagine this is where we’re doing the game from. Now, talk to me like you would your friends sitting at your dinner table … minus the f-bombs,’ ” Kekaula said.

With general manager/executive producer Dan Schmidt’s emphasis on analysis, the new format will combine Kekaula’s strengths as a storyteller and analyst.

In his previous role as analyst on KKEA radio, Kekaula’s ability to dissect and interpret teamed well with Bobby Curran’s play-by-play for 12 years. The difference this time is that Kekaula is the play-by-play voice and will be responsible for conveying the basics before dispensing analysis, a role that some in the industry say will force Kekaula to step out of his comfort zone. “I want to make sure I give them the meat and potatoes,” Kekaula said. “You don’t shortchange the viewers on that, but you also give them the dessert and then let them decide how they want to eat it.”

He will also have to draw out Hernandez’s intellectual and quick-quipping sides. “I told him that I don’t want him to turn into Ted Baxter,” Kekaula said. “Whether it is radio or television, there is a tendency when that red light comes on for people to become Mr. Announcer Guy. And, I don’t want that. I told him, ‘That’s not who you are. I want Darren, not Ted.’ ”

Above all, Kekaula said, “It has to be fun. If it is fun for us, it will be fun for the people who watch.”

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.