The Super Bowl will be available in HDTV after all.

KGMB 9 and Time Warner Oceanic Cable set aside their differences Thursday so they can carry the most popular U.S. sporting event of the year in high definition.

"We did this for the people of Hawai'i," said Norman Santos, Oceanic vice president for operations. "It's a one-shot deal," but "we're just happy our customers will get it."

Earlier this week, KGMB, the local CBS affiliate that will be broadcasting the Super Bowl, and Oceanic said they couldn't reach an agreement on showing the game in high definition via cable. It was a decision made at the corporate level, according to Oceanic.

"Quite honestly, when we took the corporate egos out of it and were able to talk locally, we were able to do a deal," Santos said Thursday.

"Fantastic," said cable HDTV customer and Salt Lake resident Bill Peterson, after hearing that the game will be available in high definition. "I'm glad they came together on it. It shows they're thinking about their customers."

Under terms of the deal, KGMB's HD broadcast will be available on Oceanic channel 937 from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Sunday.

"Both of us understood that this was right," said Rick Blangiardi, general manager for KGMB. "We're very pleased that we were able to do this."

Viewers will need an Oceanic HD set-top box to watch the game in high definition. Oceanic has about 1,500 HDTV set-top boxes in stock and is considering expanding office hours in case there's a surge of HD subscribers heading into Sunday's game.

KGMB is the last major local network affiliate whose signal is not regularly available in HD on cable. That's because Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corp., KGMB's owner, wants to be compensated for providing Time Warner Inc. with added HD programming. But Time Warner doesn't want to pay for HD programming.

Those financial issues have yet to be resolved. However, Blangiardi hoped the temporary deal to put KGMB on cable for one day could ultimately lead to a permanent agreement. The two sides did not disclose the financial details of the one-day Super Bowl agreement.

Ownership of HDTV sets is rising as prices fall, though the number of high-definition subscribers in Hawai'i remains small. About 25,000, or roughly 6 percent, of Oceanic Cable's 400,000 Hawai'i customers get HDTV services, the company said.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.