The local television station that has brought the Rainbows into most island homes over the last decade is the only company that meets the minimum specifications set down last October by the UH Board of Regents.

Oceanic Cable withdrew yesterday a reported $6 million proposal spread over five years it made last March to Rainbows athletic director Hugh Yoshida. Officials were apparently frustrated with several delays in a bidding process that has yet to come to fruition.

KFVE's five-year contract runs out this summer. General manager John Fink and Co. could afford to wait because it already had the production end of the operation in place.

Oceanic officials felt they needed at least six months to meet those heavy demands that will begin with Hawaii's first football game on Aug. 31. The self-imposed deadline forced the cable company to withdraw a bid it was never allowed to propose formally in the first place.

''We're aware of Oceanic's position,'' UH associate athletic director Jim Donovan said yesterday. ''We're looking at all of our options. This is a significant development which may alter the process.''

That process changed so many times over the last year that Oceanic flat ran out of time. Officials had hoped a decision would be reached by the summer, but when that didn't happen, the cable operator became concerned.

The UH Board of Regents finally set down specifications last October that altered the original proposal written a year ago by department officials. In effect, whoever won the contract had to make sure that nearly 90 percent of the homes could watch the events. It also set the minimum bid at $750,000 a year.

Shortly thereafter, possible litigation by both parties forced the specifications to be reviewed by the Hawaii Attorney General's office to make sure the language kept the university out of court.

In the end, no bid process was forthcoming. And now the only party left for Hawaii to deal with is KFVE. Late last year, Fink hinted that his station was willing to up the ante to $1 million a year.

Although UH officials were mum on any pending developments, it's likely KFVE will keep that offer on the table. Fink has said he wants to meet the athletic department's needs.

In an extreme development, UH could turn down KFVE's offer, go without television and raise ticket prices $2 across the board to make up the difference. But that's not something either side would welcome.

''I can't comment on how the process will be altered or where we stand with any of the parties involved,'' Donovan said.

Other specifications set down by the Board of Regents included that at least one million people on the mainland had access to UH football. Earlier this decade, Hawaii was often shown on Prime Ticket in the Southern California area, but that changed when the Western Athletic Conference reached a multi-year deal with ESPN-TV.

Both parties claimed they could meet that specification.