If you’re a golf fan and an Oceanic Time Warner Cable customer, you might be in a rough spot this weekend.
The final two days of the British Open will be televised on KITV on Saturday and Sunday, but because of parent company Hearst Television’s contract impasse with Time Warner Cable, the ABC affiliate’s programming remains blacked out on Oceanic — and could cost the bulk of Hawaii households the chance to see golf’s oldest major.
BRITISH OPEN TV SCHEDULE
The tournament runs Thursday-Sunday
Thursday
» 11 p.m. (Wed.) to noon (ESPN)
Saturday
» 1 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. (ESPN)
» 9 a.m. to noon (KITV)*
Friday
» 11 p.m. (Wed.) to noon (ESPN)
Sunday
» midnight to 7:30 a.m. (ESPN)
» 9 a.m. to noon (KITV)*
* — except on Oceanic, unless a contract agreement is reached this week between Hearst and Time Warner Cable
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The first two days (Thursday and Friday) of the Open Championship will be televised exclusively on ESPN.
But on Saturday and Sunday, ESPN will telecast early coverage, with ABC picking up coverage of the leaders, making it difficult for many Hawaii fans to watch the conclusion of each day’s round.
Barring a contract resolution this week, the alternatives for Oceanic customers to view the conclusion of the tournament would be to find TVs with a Hawaiian Telcom subscription or satellite coverage (DirecTV, DISH Network).
KITV sports director Robert Kekaula had not heard of any imminent resolution to the contract dispute on Monday.
The previous carriage agreement between Time Warner and Hearst expired at midnight on July 9.
KITV and about a dozen mainland sister stations, owned by New York-based Hearst Television Inc., were blacked out on the cable system due to a contract dispute with New York-based Time Warner Cable Inc.
Time Warner has said Hearst wanted a "nearly 300 percent increase" on a new contract. Hearst has disputed that figure.
Kekaula empathized with local golf fans caught in the middle. The dispute — and subsequent blacking out of KITV on Oceanic — is a week old today.
"I’m hoping it’s settled by (this weekend)," he said. "But we have no clue.
"Unfortunately, the situation is completely out of our hands," he continued. "I feel for the huge number of golf fans in Hawaii. … I hope this situation is over by then. I really do."
A resolution is still possible; negotiations between Hearst and Time Warner are said to be ongoing.
Oceanic spokesperson Nan Shimomura said she had no knowledge of an imminent agreement.
Shimomura laid out the situation plainly.
"If KITV is airing it and we don’t have retransmission rights, then you won’t see it on Oceanic Cable," Shimomura said. "At this point, we do not have any retransmission rights for KITV."
In other words, Saturday and Sunday morning might be a good time to hit the links — the British Open might be nowhere in sight.
