Full OHA board approves $172K for KITV, KIKU due diligence

News admin June 26, 2026 0 Comments

Full OHA board approves $172K for KITV, KIKU due diligence

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) — After rejecting the proposal last month, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs full board of trustees approved in a 5-4 vote Thursday $172,500 for due diligence on the potential acquisition of KITV and KIKU from Allen Media Group.

OHA chair Kaialiʻi Kahele said studying the stations’ assets, licenses and infrastructure could take about 90 days.

What trustees say the purchase could do

In a news release, trustees said a media acquisition could result in:

The board emphasized that the decision “does not represent the conclusion of a process, but rather the continuation of a thoughtful and deliberate evaluation of whether this opportunity can responsibly strengthen OHA’s trust assets while expanding Native Hawaiian presence, influence, and ownership in media and communications.”

Board pledges transparency throughout process

OHA did not provide information regarding next steps on the due diligence process and stakeholder engagement opportunities. But the board said any proposal involving significant trust assets must be subjected to rigorous financial, operational, legal, and governance review and reaffirmed a commitment to transparency, accountability, and data-informed decision-making.

“OHA’s responsibility is not simply to manage present-day challenges, but to help create future opportunities,” said OHA Investment and Land Management Committee Chair Keoni Souza. “Thoughtful exploration of transformative opportunities is entirely consistent with our kuleana as fiduciaries.”

“This moment reflects a larger question about who we aspire to become as a lāhui,” Kahele said. “The willingness to thoughtfully evaluate bold opportunities is not recklessness — it is leadership grounded in vision, responsibility, and intergenerational stewardship.”

5-4 vote draws support, concerns

A modified version of the proposal advanced to the full board following approval by OHA’s Investment and Land Management Committee in a 5-4 vote Wednesday.

All trustees who voted Thursday also sit on the committee, and no trustee changed their vote from Wednesday’s committee decision.

Wednesday’s discussion generated both support and concerns about a potential purchase.

“We would get it at a really good cost and we would be negligent if we didn’t enter into due diligence,” said OHA trustee Brickwood Galuteria.

“It would mean narrative sovereignty on a scale we have never held before. It would allow Hawaiian stories, language, and perspectives to appear in mainstream news every day,” he added.

“We could probably flip it in five or six years and make a pretty good profit,” said OHA trustee John Waiheʻe IV.

Allen Media Group acquired KITV in 2020 for $30 million and later bought KIKU for $2 million.

Trustees who opposed the measure had multiple concerns.

“One of my top concerns is how this could put OHA as a whole, as an entity, at risk,” said OHA trustee Kalei Akaka.

“There are many areas in which OHA needs to learn to walk well before we begin to run. First, in terms of competence, we have no competency in the industry of broadcast,” said OHA trustee Keliʻi Akina.

Akina also lamented about years and money spent on development plans in Kakaʻako Makai and high-profile litigation.

“We are in the midst of a publicly known lawsuit with our CEO. The implications of that for the cohesiveness of our organization and the morale of OHA are far reaching,” Akina said.

Native Hawaiian beneficiary Germaine Meyers expressed concern about the process.

“Trustees, if a proposal that has already been considered and rejected by a majority of the board, can simply be bought back through a different committee process a few months late, a few weeks later, beneficiaries may reasonably question whether board decisions have any finality at all,” she said.