October 5, 2010 – Hilo, Hawaii
by Stephanie Salazar
Several long time Big Island radio announcers got their pink slips yesterday, as Idaho based Parrott Broadcasting shut down its KONA FM, KHBC FM and KIPA AM.
The company was apparently unable to make ends meet as it reached the nine month mark of bankruptcy. According to former employees, Parrott Broadcasting’s Scott Parker may have a buyer for its Kona station, 92.1. That means silent – at least for now – are 50-year veteran Mel the Mynah Bird Medeiros, along with Brad Freeman, Randy Parker, the island’s longest runing Japanese Radio show with hostess Taka Niimi and a recently added Filipino radio show with former Manila radio announcer Manny Pascua.
Parrott purchased the three stations in 2007 and tried a variety of formats, but fell on hard times with the downspiral of the economy. Parrott filed for bankruptcy protection in Idaho in December 2009.
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We miss our KIPA! Too bad they didn’t get a chance to say good-bye to the listeners. I thought the tower went down. Mynah Bird’s trade radio was such a service to the community. So many of us loved the Sunday morning jazz show, as well as Randy Parker’s kolohe weekend time; not to mention Brad and all kinds of good programming. We hope to hear them all again soon. much aloha to all!