A J McWhorter

Honolulu Television A J McWhorter

Honolulu Television celebrates 65 years of local broadcasting in the islands. Test patterns first appeared on local station KONA, and soon after, KGMB broadcast Carl "Kini Popo" Hebenstreit's first words on air on December 1, 1952. Honolulu has had a wealth of colorful personalities grace its airwaves. Sheriff Ken, Lucky Luck, Chubby Roland, Captain Honolulu, and Checkers & Pogo are just some of the names and shows that entertained island viewers back in the day, when there were few choices on the dial. Some Honolulu television personalities would get their start here and move on to national and network television stardom, like famed sports broadcaster Al Michaels; Ken Kashiwahara, the last journalist remaining on scene at the Fall of Saigon; and Doug Bruckner, a longtime correspondent for Hard Copy, A Current Affair, and Extra syndicated entertainment and television news magazine shows.