DTV Leaves Some Hawaiians in the Dark

With most of its population scattered across eight volcanic islands, Hawaii — the Honolulu TV market (DMA 72) — is not an easy place to provide over-the-air TV service. For decades, many residents had to make do with one or two grainy stations. Now, in the wake of the market's Jan. 15 switch to digital broadcasting, perhaps 1,000 homes are getting no signal at all. Hawaii's TV stations have their main transmitters in Honolulu on the island of Oahu, but they also have secondary transmitters on the islands of Maui, Hawaii and Kauai. Broadcasters say changes in the Maui signals are causing most of the trouble. There, the broadcasters moved from multiple towers at the 11,000-foot summit of the Haleakala volcano to a common tower at elevation of just 4,500 feet. The new 191-foot mast has six antennas on it.