Domesticating the U.S. Communications Satellite System: Hawai’i and Television Synchronicity

The arrival of the ‘satellite age’ in the 1960s revolutionised television by enabling signal transmission over vast distances in seconds. Yet, Hawai’i—one of the U.S.’s most remote TV markets—remained disconnected from full network interconnection until the late 1970s. This article explores the reasons behind this delay, focusing on Hawai’i’s unique ‘foreign domestic’ status shaped by settler colonialism and U.S. imperialism. Prior to satellites, the Islands were physically and televisually isolated, relying on delayed film (kinescope) shipments for content from the mainland. The emergence of domestic satellite systems proposed by ABC and NBC, and later Western Union and RCA, disrupted traditional distribution network topologies and sparked debates over national inclusion and service equity. State advocacy and shifting federal policies gradually paved the way for Hawai’i’s integration, though it eventually required creative business strategies that navigated and exploited regulatory loopholes. Ultimately, this article demonstrates how the pursuit of a unified national television community exposed the infrastructural and regulatory barriers that marginalised Hawai’i, revealing the intricate relationship between geography, technology, policy, and national identity.