Oceanic locks in UH TV contract

Pay-per-view football figures to remain a staple of University of Hawaii sports through the 2019 season under an extension of the school's TV rights agreement with Oceanic Time Warner Cable announced Friday.

Rival KHNL/KFVE would have ended pay-per-view and aired away football games free of charge had it been awarded the contract, general manager Rick Blan­giardi said Friday.

The six-year extension with Oceanic calls for UH to receive a minimum payment of $2.3 million this year, escalating to $2,539,386 at the contract's conclusion June 30, 2020, as long as at least seven football games are made available to Oceanic each year, according to the agreement. UH can earn a higher fee if specified net revenue targets are reached.

UH had been receiving a minimum $2.3 million per year for live TV and PPV rights and received as much as $2.6 million in 2008. Oceanic is mandated to broadcast at least 60 events a year, the same threshold as in previous contracts.

KHNL/KGMB, which has a "shared services agreement" with KFVE, had sought an opportunity to make a proposal. "We are extremely disappointed and saddened to hear this news as Hawaii News Now and KFVE would have been proud and honored to have submitted an alternative proposal for the University of Hawaii to consider," Blan­giardi said in a statement.

"We believe we could have provided a meaningful alternative to Oceanic Cable, which unfortunately only reaches paid subscribers, as opposed to the entire state," Blan­giardi said. "We were prepared to make the University of Hawaii an unprecedented bid for the broadcast rights, and were looking forward to the elimination of the pay-per-view concept and providing all of UH sports, including both home and away games, free of additional charges to the people of Hawaii."

*** [3/6/14]

HNN didn't show them the money

*** [3/8/14]

Blangiardi says UH cost themselves millions