KKEA (1420 AM) is a radio station in the United States. Licensed to Honolulu, Hawaii, the station broadcasts a news/talk/sports format with the brand The New 1420. It is owned by Blow Up LLC.
The station originally broadcast as KCCN from 1966 to 2002 with a Hawaiian music format. Beginning in 2002, the station took on call sign KKEA and a sports format, with a focus on University of Hawaii sports.
History As KCCN (1966–2002) Founded by the Diamond Head Broadcasting Company, the station first signed on September 1, 1966, with call sign KCCN. KCCN was first licensed by the Federal Communications Commission on January 16, 1967, following nearly four years of construction permits. Diamond Head Broadcasting sold KCCN to Texas-based Grayson Enterprises in 1970.
With the slogan "All Hawaiian, all the time," KCCN originally had a Hawaiian music format. Its call sign reflected the last names of founders Perry W. Carle, Ralph Bingham Cloward, and Jerry Neville. The station's first studios were located on a small, concrete building at Nimitz Highway and Waiakamilo, in the Kalihi section of Honolulu, and programming was automated. By around 1977, KCCN's studios were on Kalākaua Avenue in Waikiki.
In its early years, KCCN struggled financially. Advertising was sold in exchange for goods instead of money, such as a station wagon offered by a local dealership. However, KCCN became more popular in Honolulu in the 1970s and 1980s and was said to have helped Hawaiian musicians earn concert opportunities. KCCN had been the only Hawaiian music station in the Honolulu area in 1985, but four stations took on that format by 2002.
KCCN added a sister FM station in 1990 with a Hawaiian reggae format.
Cox Radio purchased KCCN and two other stations from KHWY Inc. in 2000.
As KKEA (2002–present)
After 36 years, KCCN changed its call sign to the modern KKEA on June 30, 2002. This followed the station being purchased by Hawaii-based Blow Up LLC from Cox Radio for $750,000. KKEA also changed its format to sports, with extensive coverage of University of Hawaii sports. KKEA signed contract extensions with University of Hawaii athletics in 2005 and 2008.
Beginning around June 2006, KKEA changed its brand to ESPN 1420, emphasizing its affiliation with ESPN Radio.
On March 2, 2026, KKEA swapped formats with 1500 KHKA. KKEA's old ESPN brand and local programming moved to KHKA, while KKEA took on KHKA's news/talk/sports format rebranded as "The New 1420".
Programming KKEA broadcasts a variety of news and sports programming. It simulcasts local news shows with KHON-TV and has live coverage of Hawaii high school sports, Hawaii Rainbow Warriors baseball, and Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball. National programs on KKEA include ABC News Radio hourly updates, ABC News' political talk show This Week, Westwood One talk show America at Night, and Westwood One Sports shows.
References
External links KKEA official website FCC History Cards for KKEA