[honolulu] -- For the last 30 years, Hawaiians have been hard-pressed to figure out when their favorite TV shows are on. TV stations, getting their videotaped network programming by boat, plane and now satellite, took advantage of the tape-delayed fare to add as many as eight extra minutes of local spots into their prime-time programming.

The result: Scheduling chaos and viewer frustration.

Gigi Valley, a Lanai resident, says she's annoyed with what's come to be known as Hawaii time and finds herself "a little less tolerant of accepting the advertising because of all the added commercials."

Adds Lee Takata, a Honolulu area resident, "It's a little frustrating when you have to choose between the end of one program and the beginning of another."

Then in 1999, two stations decided to take matters into their own hands and began the push to return to prime-time integrity.

IT WAS TIME

Bill Spellman, VP-general manager of KHON-TV, the local Fox affiliate, says his station decided to act after executives realized "we're never going to get market revenue healthy if there's a never-ending supply of avails, nothing starts on time and this is not a viewer-friendly environment."

Mr. Spellman says some advertisers supported the move because they want to be in a commercial...