KUPU (channel 56) is a television station licensed to Waimanalo, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands. It is owned by Bridge Media Networks alongside KKAI (channel 50). KUPU broadcasts from a two-site distributed transmission system, with transmitters near Waimanalo Beach and at Mauna Kapu at the top of the Waianae mountain range.
History
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a construction permit to Waimanalo Television Partners on October 17, 2000, to build a full-service television station on UHF channel 56. The new station was given the call letters KMGT. The KMGT call letters were previously used on the TBN owned-and-operated station on channel 26. The station began operating on October 1, 2003, under a Program Test Authority and was officially licensed on June 18, 2004. In September 2006, Oceania Christian Church bought the station from Waimanalo Television Partners and the following month, changed the station's call letters from KMGT to KUPU, derived from the Hawaiian word for "to sprout".
On October 5, 2023, it was announced that Bridge Media Networks would purchase this station along with KKAI for $3 million ($1.5 million for both stations).[1]