The Office of Hawaiian Affairs on Thursday revived a proposal to explore buying Honolulu television stations KITV and KIKU, approving up to $172,500 for due diligence after Trustee John D. Waihe‘e IV reversed his earlier vote and shifted the board’s majority.

Read more Hilo Pride parade and festival on Saturday

The 5-4 decision mirrors a committee vote a day earlier and marks a turnaround from May 28, when trustees narrowly rejected the same spending request. Waihe‘e said the new version draws funding from OHA’s investment due-diligence — a change Waihe‘e said addressed his earlier concerns.

The vote launches an estimated 90-day review of whether OHA should pursue ownership of the two television stations — a move supporters frame as a chance to expand Native Hawaiian representation in media, and critics warn could strain resources and raise questions about editorial independence.

Waihe‘e said he opposed the first proposal because it tapped money he believed should be preserved for other priorities. With the revised funding source, he said, “the worst-case scenario … is that we have less money to do due diligence studies on other investments.”

The motion authorizes OHA to hire third-party professionals to examine the financials, assets, real property interests, broadcast licenses and transaction terms for KITV Inc. and KIKU LLC, both owned by Allen Media Group. The review would cost $45,000 initially, with an additional $127,500 only if trustees choose to continue.

KITV, also known on air as KITV4 Island News, is one of the top three major broadcast television news companies in Hawaii, along with Hawaii News Now, or KGMB-KHNL, the CBS and NBC affiliates, respectively, and Fox affiliate KHON2, but has experienced financial and operational instability in recent years.

KITV, the local ABC affiliate, was purchased by Allen Media Group in 2020 for $30 million and includes satellite stations KHVO in Hilo and KMAU in Wailuku, plus four digital networks. AMG acquired KIKU in a separate 2022 deal. The company announced in June 2025 that it hired Moelis &Co. to advise on selling stations in 21 markets, including Honolulu.

Supporters of exploring the deal — including OHA board Chair Kaiali‘i Kahele and Trustee Brickwood Galuteria — argue that Native Hawaiian ownership of a major media outlet could strengthen cultural representation, expand ‘Olelo Hawai‘i programming, diversify OHA’s investment portfolio and create job opportunities. Galuteria pointed to Indigenous media models such as New Zealand’s Whakaata Maori and Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

Kahele said the debate reflects a broader question about Native Hawaiian leadership in shaping public discourse.

“You know, for generations, Native Hawaiians have too often been the subjects of stories rather than the authors of them,” he said. “And while many journalists strive for fairness, ownership still matters because ownership influences priorities, investment, and which voices are consistently elevated.”

Read more Former Kona man sentenced for slaying, dismembering girlfriend in Arkansas

OHA trustees Dan Ahuna and Keoni Souza also voted in favor of performing the due diligence along with Waihe‘e, Kahele and Galuteria.

OHA trustees Carmen Hulu Lindsey, Keli‘i Akina, Kalei Akaka and Luana Alapa voted against the measure noting objections ranging from whether the state-­created agency should own a news outlet to whether OHA has the capacity to take on another major initiative.

Akina, who voted no in both May and June, said OHA lacks media experience and already has major projects underway, including Kaka‘ako Makai, which he said “sits fallow” after 10 years of master-planning.

“Development is an industry in which we have very little competence, and now we want to go after another industry in which we have no competence at all,” he said. “Beyond this, also learning to walk before we run entails taking care of our own house.”

Souza, vice chair of the OHA Board of Trustees and chair of the OHA Committee on Investment and Land Management, pushed back Thursday. “OHA was established in 1978. I’m not here to learn how to walk,” he said. “There’s a new generation here at OHA who’s willing to sprint.”

Souza previously told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that if OHA decided to pursue the acquisition it might seek to partner with another Native Hawaiian organization like the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Kamehameha Schools or the Hawaiian Council.

Public testimony on Wednesday and Thursday reflected similar divisions. Germaine Myers, a Nanakuli homesteader and member of the Nanakuli-Maili Neighborhood Board, urged trustees on Wednesday to reject the proposal, citing “public trust concerns raised by the reconsideration of a proposal that was rejected by a majority of the board less than one month ago.”

“Beneficiaries should not have to wonder whether a failed proposal is truly rejected or merely delayed until another path can be found to advance it,” she said, adding that in her community she hears priorities such as housing, education, economic self-­sufficiency, healthcare, cultural preservation and beneficiary services.

“I do not hear beneficiaries asking OHA to purchase television stations,” she said.

Read more Hawaii AG to review Supreme Court’s ruling on gun law