Within days of launching its first newscast in 1995, KHNL's fledgling news team found themselves doing live local news broadcasts on the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.

Although the station never made it to the top of the news ratings heap, innovations such as KHNL's emphasis on live coverage and the broadcast industry's first all-digital format broke new ground in the way news is delivered in the Islands.

"We were trying to do something different. We were trying to do something new, and not everything worked, trust me," said KITV Sports Director Robert Kekaula, who was KHNL's first sports anchor.

"But it was a lot of fun."

On Monday, the KHNL news era comes to an end.

KHNL, K5 and and KGMB9 will merge their newsrooms, simulcast some news programs and cut about one-third of their staff.

Under the shared services agreement, all but four of KHNL's on-air people are being laid off, including anchors Howard Dashefsky and Diane Ako.

Raycom Media of Alabama, which owns KHNL and K5, said the deal is necessary to prevent one or two of the three stations from going under.

During the past three years, advertising revenues from local business have declined by about $20 million, or about 30 percent, Raycom has said.

The merger of news operations will allow the stations to field the largest local television news operation to cover local, national and international stories, the company said.

The merged newsroom will operate under the brand name Hawaii Now and promises to provide "more news," "more options" and "more voices."

For most of KHNL's news staff, yesterday was the last day of work.

A farewell party was held last night at Dave & Buster's restaurant at Ward Entertainment Center.

"It's sad," said Dashefsky, who joined KHNL in 2000 and whose last broadcast was Wednesday. "There's a ton of really good and talented people who no longer have a job."

Marvin Buenconsejo, a former KHNL anchor, sports anchor and reporter, said he feels the pain many of his former colleagues are going through.

"We heard the rumblings months in advance ... but now that it's here, there's a real hollow feeling," said Buenconsejo, who is now spokesman for U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono.

The newsroom merger has sparked criticism from community groups such as Media Council Hawaii, which is asking the Federal Communications Commission to overturn the deal.

The media council is also asking the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division to investigate.

Several KHNL employees said it was difficult to watch incoming KGMB workers take down KHNL news sets to make way for a new newsroom.

Ako, who joined the station in 1996, said the newsroom merger has been "crushing" her co-workers' morale.

"I've covered layoffs before, but I've never been through one," said Ako, who has been offered several freelance journalism projects in recent weeks. "I feel I will be far more sympathetic to people who get laid off because now I know what it feels like."

Gerald Kato, a University of Hawaii-Mänoa journalism professor and board member of Media Council Hawaii, said KHNL's legacy on the local news business is its emphasis on live news.

When the station launched its news team in 1995, it imported that live, local, late-breaking format that became popular in some Mainland markets. The format was quickly latched onto by KHNL's local competitors, Kato said.

"Competition makes everybody better from top to bottom," he said.

To be sure, KHNL's news operations has some rough edges, especially during 1995 launch.

The station had not yet bought its vehicles when KHNL began its news operations and camera operators had to use their own cars, Kekaula said.

The emphasis on live shots was sometimes overdone, he added.

"Sometimes it went too far and became the 'Blair Witch Project,' " Kekaula said. "But what the heck, we were swinging for the fences."

Added Alex McGehee, KHNL's first executive producer: "We were trying a new paradigm, and we were going to throw out the old rules. We didn't want to be like the other guys."