Spectrum has ‘right’ to exclude Hawaiian Tel from Wahine telecasts

In no longer making telecasts of Rainbow Wahine volleyball available to rival cable operator Hawaiian Telcom, Spectrum maintained it has “every right to differentiate its products and services from its competitors.”

A spokesperson for Spectrum, which was formerly operated as Oceanic Time Warner and owns exclusive TV rights to UH sports in this market into 2020, said in a statement, “There is nothing anti-competitive about that. In fact, it spurs investment in programming.”

Hawaiian Telcom, which had shown Rainbow Wahine volleyball since 2011 under a purchasing arrangement with Oceanic, said Spectrum pulled the plug “at the last minute” on its plans to show the opening matches of the season Friday through Sunday.

Hawaiian Telcom, which has 43,000 subscribers, has suggested its viewers contact the Federal Communications Commission.

Spectrum said, “Netflix doesn’t make ‘House of Cards’ or ‘Orange is the New Black’ available to Hulu or Amazon subscribers (and) NFL Sunday Ticket is only available on DirecTV.”

In its statement, Spectrum said, “We are proud to offer the very best in local sports, which we know Hawaii is passionate about. We invest a great deal to ensure that these games are well produced and reflect the dedication and effort invested by the athletes. We proudly offer UH women’s volleyball on Spectrum OC 16, bringing these games to all Spectrum TV customers in Hawaii. By carrying UH women’s volleyball on OC 16, we’ve made it available to tens of thousands more Spectrum subscribers. Ultimately, increasing the total potential viewership of UH sports across the state, not just Oahu.”

Spectrum said it will air eight UH sports: men’s volleyball, beach volleyball, football, women’s soccer, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball and softball.

Both Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom will continue to offer UH football on a pay-per-view basis.