HONOLULU: Raycom Media, owner of KHNL-TV and KFVE-TV, and MCG Capital Corp., owner of KGMB-TV, have hammered out a shared services agreement among the three stations. The primary purpose of the SSA is to keep the stations going in the face of economic tough times, without having to make further cuts that would diminish service. The Pacific Business Journal reports that 68 people were laid off in wake of the SSA.
“We realize there may be other financial and business options available, and while we are certainly open to discussing these with any interested party, the economic reality is that this market cannot support five traditionally separated television stations, all with duplicated costs,” Paul McTear, president and CEO of Raycom, said. “Rather than experiencing the loss of one, or possibly two stations in Hawaii, we intend to preserve three stations that provide important and valuable local, national and international programming to viewers in Hawaii.”
Raycom will provide operational services to all three stations. The SSA effectively creates the state’s largest news operation, Raycom said. The three newsrooms will produce more than 40 hours of local news each week, for TV and for the stations’ respective Web sites. National network programming will remain the same. KFVE is a MyNetworkTV affiliate. KHNL is NBC. KGMB is the CBS.
Raycom owns and operates 46 television stations in 36 markets and 18 states. MCG Capital Corp. is an investment firm that also lists Sagamore Hill Broadcasting as a non-affiliate investment. MCG’s portfolio list is available here.)
-- Deborah D. McAdams
CATEGORIES
LATEST ARTICLES