OHA revisits possible purchase of KITV and KIKU

News admin June 10, 2026 0 Comments

OHA revisits possible purchase of KITV and KIKU

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) — The Office of Hawaiian Affairs will once again consider the possibility of owning KITV and KIKU.

The proposal is back on the board agenda after a majority of trustees rejected it last month in a 5–4 vote. Now it’s back on the agenda with slightly different wording.

Two decades ago, OHA rejected a proposal to buy KGMB. OHA’s latest agenda item would authorize spending up to $172,500 for due diligence activities associated with OHA’s potential acquisition of KITV, Inc. and KIKU, LLC from Allen Media Group.

“It’s unorthodox for a Hawaiian organization, especially OHA, to move into an area like media,” said Kūhiō Lewis, Hawaiian Council CEO.

Lewis said he’s intrigued.

“When it got voted down, I was kind of disappointed, but now we’re seeing it revived,” Lewis said. “I’m excited again. I think, for me, it’s about the idea of Hawaiians having a stake in mainstream media— more toward education and revitalization — which is extremely powerful.”

Trustees who voted no said OHA had other priorities, like development at Kakaʻako and ʻIwilei. OHA Chair Kaialiʻi Kahele said he’s had discussions with KITV’s owner, Allen Media Group, and would look for partners down the road.

OHA Vice Chair Keoni Souza is chairperson of the Investment and Land Management Committee, which will take up the agenda item. He said the issue needed to be kept alive and deserved more discussion.

“After much deliberation, I felt that there was an appetite to take it to the next level. There are some really great questions that the trustees had asked, and at that time we couldn’t provide them with the answers,” he said.

Could OHA afford the millions needed to purchase a TV station? Souza said that’s something the agency would figure out through the process.

It’s another signal that Native Hawaiians are moving into areas where they have a seat at the table, and hospitality consultant Keith Vieira said media can reach a broad audience.

“I think it’s certainly worth it for them to look at. This is a viable way to get out their message over time,” Vieira said. “Something like this is significant — a significant financial investment — and it has huge potential benefits down the road, as well as risk.”

OHA’s Investment and Land Management Committee will take up the issue on June 24 at 9 a.m.