License Cancelled: SummitMedia Surrenders Two In O’ahu

There are two less stations serving the Honolulu radio market.

That’s because SummitMedia has voluntarily surrendered the licenses of its pair of AM radio stations covering the Hawaiian island of O’ahu.

A facilities search query in the FCC’s Licensing and Managing System confirms that the licenses of KPRP-AM and KKNE-AM in Honolulu have been cancelled.

Each of the station’s call letters have been deleted.

Submitting the paperwork on behalf of Birmingham-based SummitMedia — Frank Montero, of Fletcher Heald & Hildreth.

A “Letter of Surrender” was submitted to the Commission on December 5. No explanation of the decision was stated in the brief letter, which notes that each station has “permanently discontinued operation.”

However, KPRP has been beset with broadcasting challenges since January 2021, when the first of two silent STAs was submitted with the Commission. Broadcasting on KPRP resumed in February 2022, but at reduced power because of a transmitter issue.

KKNE offered Traditional Hawaiian Music, much of which is today the foundation of “Hawaiian 105,” SummitMedia’s KINE-FM. KPRP was operated by Pinoy Power Media via an LMA and aired a Filipino programming mix.

KKNE was licensed for 10kw as a Class B facility and had been at 940 kHz for 60 years. For many years, it was Country KDEO-AM.

KPRP was at 650 kHz and also licensed for 10kw as a Class B facility. For longtime residents of O’ahu, the dial position is recalled as the home of former Top 40 KORL, which operated as “Channel 65” in the mid-1960s and as “KORL 65” in the late 1970s through the 1980s, when FM proliferation led to format changes.

Reporting by Adam R Jacobson in Boca Raton, Fla. Research by Amber Hunt in Paia, Hawaii.