About OC16
OC16 prides itself on being the only cable station in the country to have all of its programming done by independent producers with roots in Hawaii.
Our mission is to have an avenue available for local producers to showcase their work and their Hawaiian pride. Additionally, the programs are specifically made to appeal to the whole family so everyone can watch as one big ohana.
Reaching out to the rest of the world via the internet is what we are doing to give local transplants around the world, our troops in the military, and college students, a little taste of home. And if we touch the hearts and minds of others along the way, we have done what we have set out to do… make the world our ohana.
The origination of local programming on Oceanic Cable began on September 13, 1989 with a live football double-header from the Oahu Interscholastic Association between Aiea and Leilehua, followed by Kahuku vs. Roosevelt on the local origination cable network, KBLE Ch. 17. Until then, KBLE was mish-mash of infomercials and other part-time cable networks like Lifetime, Financial News Network and CNBC. As the years went by, the channel moved around the lineup a couple of times, eventually dropping the call letters KBLE and being called L.O. or whatever cable network was on at the time.
Then on September 8, 1997, it was moved to channel 16. The evening hours in which local programming aired, was branded OC16. The first locally-produced half-hour series that premiered on OC16 in December 1997 was “Fishing Tales with Mike Sakamoto”, followed a couple of months later by “Hawaiian Diving Adventures”, now called “Outside Hawaii ”.
Over the next few years, OC16 would be added to the list of TV stations that small-budget, local independent producers came to call on. As the lineup on OC16 grew, the more OC16 started making a name for itself. We’ve added other live broadcasts such as the Hurricane Iniki Telethon, Kokua For Katrina, University of Hawaii Wahine Volleyball , and Kiddieoke and Road To Fame talent contests.
In August 2003, OC16 did something no other locally-originated television station had ever done – we went full-time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with 100% of our programs original and created in Hawaii . We are proud to have helped make bigger stars out of Da Braddahs, Tiny Tadani, Tony Solis and more.
OC16 has come a long way since our first OIA Football game. We now carry over 80 live events a year from the OIA, HHSAA and NCAA Division II, feature concert performances from Hawaii ’s hottest entertainers, and have over 30 locally-produced shows. And throughout the history of OC16, we have always stood firm on keeping all of our programs family-friendly. Because after all, we are all ohana. We are OC16.
