Now playing on ESPN Radio: static.
Stations KHLO AM (850) and KKON AM (790) in Kailua-Kona abruptly went off the air Saturday, taking the Big Island’s only radio source for local sports with them.
An announcement wasn’t made until Friday, when Josh Pacheco told listeners on his daily show that he was conducting his last broadcast on the Big Island airwaves. On Saturday, he tweeted: “The company I work for, Pacific Media Group, decided to shut down. … It was purely a business/budgetary decision.”
An email sent Friday to Pacific Media Group management by the Tribune-Herald seeking clarification on Pacheco’s announcement went unanswered.
While Pacheco is slated to remain in Hilo as Pacific Media Group news director with a show from noon-1 p.m. daily on ESPN 1420 in Honolulu, future radio coverage of UH-Hilo and Big Island Interscholastic Federation athletics are in limbo.
The former Big Island ESPN Radio broadcast most if not all of the Vulcans’ men’s and women’s home basketball games, and it also aired sports such as volleyball and baseball.
“We, of course, were very disappointed to learn of the Pacific Media Group decision to shut down ESPN Radio on the Big Island. At UH-Hilo, we had a unique and excellent situation, to have many of our contests broadcast live, along with coverage on Josh’s show,” UHH sports information director Russ Blunck emailed the Tribune-Herald.
“We are extremely grateful to Josh for all of his hard work and commitment to local sports on the Big Island for over a decade. Regarding Vulcan athletics and radio moving forward, we will assess all of our options and determine our next steps.”
During the BIIF football season, Pacheco routinely called play-by-play for one game each week as well as picking up basketball and baseball games. The station also was the broadcast home of UH-Manoa athletics, the NFL, St. Louis Cardinals baseball – second baseman Kolten Wong is the island’s only major leaguer – and in 2017 it acquired the rights to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
KPUA AM (670) in Hilo airs San Francisco Giants baseball games as well as select NFL games.
According to its website, Pacific Media Group owns more than a dozen radio stations in the state, including KBIG FM (97.9 in Hilo/106.1 in Kona) Kapa Radio (100.3 FM Hilo/99.1 FM in Kona) and The Beat (95.9 in Hilo/93.9 in Kona).