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Question: Why do Hawaiian Telcom subscribers not get the Wahine volleyball games on TV? They do show the men’s volleyball games, but not the women’s.
Answer: Because Spectrum, which owns the television rights to University of Hawaii athletics through June 30, moved Wahine volleyball from the Spectrum Sports channel to the Spectrum OC16 channel.
Hawaiian Telcom carries the Spectrum Sports channel, which airs men’s volleyball, women’s beach volleyball, women’s soccer, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball and softball — that’s why you can see the men’s volleyball games. By contrast, Spectrum OC16 is available only to Spectrum customers.
The change occurred two years ago. Hawaiian Telcom objected at the time and said it has been trying ever since to resolve the problem.
“In August 2017, Spectrum abruptly pulled University of Hawaii (UH) Wahine volleyball games from Hawaiian Telcom TV without notifying us about this change. We fought hard to stop it, but Spectrum continues to refuse our repeated requests to purchase this content, which effectively denies Hawaiian Telcom’s more than 46,900 local subscribers access to these games,” Ann Nishida Fry, a spokeswoman for the company, said last week.
With the Wahine off to a 6-0 start this season and rising to No. 18 in the national rankings, you are among numerous people calling Kokua Line, dismayed about being unable to watch Hawaii’s team on TV.
Some callers knew the background and asked whether Spectrum might relent, by airing the Wahine on Spectrum Sports with other UH sports or by making OC16 available elsewhere.
Neither seems likely. A spokeswoman for Charter Communications, which owns Spectrum, said Spectrum holds the television rights for University of Hawaii athletics, that UH women’s volleyball airs exclusively on OC16 and that there “are no plans at this time” to air OC16 on Hawaiian Telcom. She said Spectrum moved the Wahine to OC16 to enhance sports programming on that channel.
The channel change came about a year after Charter Communications bought Time Warner Cable, including its Hawaii affiliate, Oceanic Time Warner Cable. Hawaiian Telcom had a longtime working relationship with Oceanic.
When Spectrum first moved the Wahine to OC16, Hawaiian Telcom encouraged its customers to complain to federal agencies about what it described as anti-competitive behavior. Consumers still have that option, and can do so at 808ne.ws/ftccom. The Federal Trade Commission doesn’t resolve individual complaints, but multiple complaints about the same issue could lead to an investigation.
Other readers have asked whether there is anything the UH Athletic Department can do about the situation. Not now, apparently, while the current contract is in force. But fans could seek to influence the UH administration before the next contract is issued, insisting that it stipulate maximum access for fans who want to watch UH sports on TV — regardless of which company or companies win the television rights the next time around.
Auwe
Can we all agree that no matter what we think about TMT, we value living in Hawaii and appreciate the aloha spirit, handed down by the Hawaiians? Can we agree on at least that? It pains me to see the divide that is being caused. We cannot let this tear us apart. — Lifelong Hawaii resident
Mahalo
Mahalo to the man who took care of my father at the mall when my father became disoriented. I had asked him to sit down and rest while I stood in line at the register, and when I turned around he was gone. I am so thankful that someone noticed and led him back to me. — Dazed daughter
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
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