KHBC-TV
Upon acquiring KOHA-TV, Chupack announced his intention to change the call letters to KHBC-TV, which had previously been used on the first TV station in Hilo, which is now KGMD-TV.[8] Channel 2 returned to air on April 14, 1986, airing syndicated fare.[9] The first major local production on the new KHBC-TV was BingoMania, a local bingo show, which debuted on June 2.[10] Channel 2 also produced coverage of election returns[11] and specials on teen pregnancy and Christmas.[12]
After having revived channel 2, Chupack sold KHBC-TV in 1987 to Clio Enterprises, owners of KKON and KOAS radio as well as the Clio Awards.[13] KHBC-TV continued as an independent station, though it revamped its lineup with Filipino programming,[14] a slate of original shows and a full local news service, including local news at 6 a.m., 5 and 10 p.m. and a morning show Good Morning Hawaii.[15] By 1988, KHBC-TV's local programming output had reached 40 hours per week.
In March 1988, workers at the station filed a petition to unionize under the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).[16] The IBEW then filed a complaint with the NLRB in May, saying that the recent layoffs of seven station employees were connected to the unionization drive and that owner Bill Evans had threatened to shutter KHBC-TV if workers voted to join a union; Evans said the layoffs were justified by the operating losses of channel 2, running into tens of thousands of dollars per month, and compared the unionization push to "socialism"[17] and "Gestapoism". No winner was named in the May 17 vote because nearly half the ballots were challenged.[18]
The continuing financial troubles of KHBC-TV, however, finally became too much for Evans. On June 30, 1988, he announced that channel 2 would cease operations that day, stating that he was losing $57,000 a month running the business.[19] Evans agreed to a settlement with the NLRB in early August in order to prevent issues at his radio stations;[20] IBEW supported the move, although the new owners were not expected to continue making programs.[21] KHBC-TV was sold to the King Broadcasting Company, the Seattle-based owners of Honolulu's KHNL,[22] which at the time did not have over-the-air coverage on the Big Island.
