KUPU

Infobox_Broadcast
call_letters = KUPU
city = Waimānalo, Hawai'i
station_
station_slogan =
station_branding =
analog = 56 (UHF)
digital =
other_chs =
affiliations = independent
network =
founded =
airdate = October 1, 2003
location = Honolulu, Hawaii
callsign_meaning = Hawaiian for "to sprout"
former_callsigns = KMGT (2003-2006)
former_channel_numbers =
owner = Oceania Christian Church
licensee =
sister_stations =
former_affiliations =
effective_radiated_power = 19 kW
HAAT = 340 m
class =
facility_id = 89714
coordinates = coord|21|19|12|N|157|40|43|W|type:landmark_scale:2000
homepage =

KUPU is a full-service, independent television station licensed to Waimanalo, Hawaii, and serving the Honolulu, Hawaii, television market. It broadcasts in analog on UHF channel 56 and is owned and operated by the Oceania Christian Church.

As of August 2007, KUPU programming is not available outside of the Honolulu area over-the-air or on cable.

History

The station began with a construction permit issued October 17, 2000 to Waimanalo Television Partners to build a full-service television station operating on UHF channel 56. In the Honolulu market, channel 56 was previously assigned to low-powered Network One affiliate K56EX, which has since shut down. The new station was given the call letters KMGT, which had been previously used in Honolulu by the TBN affiliate on channel 26, now KAAH. The station was built and began operating in October 2003 under Program Test Authority and was licensed on June 18, 2004. In September 2006, Oceania Christian Church bought the station from Waimanalo Television Partners and the following month, changed the station's call letters from KMGT to KUPU, which is Hawaiian for "to sprout".

Programming

The station airs a mix of local and Christian fare with unique programs added from Pacific Island nations (i.e. Fiji, Tonga, Cook Islands and Samoa).

Digital television

Because it was granted an original construction permit after the FCC finalized the DTV allotment plan on April 21, 1997 [http://www.transmitter.com/FCC97115/chanplan.html] , the station did not receive a companion channel for a digital television station. Instead, on or before February 17, 2009, which is the end of the digital TV conversion period for full-service stations, KUPU will be required to turn off its analog signal and turn on its digital signal (called a "flash-cut").

However, since its analog channel position is outside the FCC's core channels, 2 - 51, KUPU was allowed to select a different channel to use after the conversion. KUPU selected UHF channel 38, to be vacated by KALO, as their first choice, with UHF channel 44, to be vacated by KWBN, as a contingent channel election.

External links

*TVQ|KUPU
*BIA|KUPU|TV|TV