An LMA-enabled television triple-header operating in the Honolulu DMA is about to celebrate its first birthday, according to a report in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Media Council Hawaii finds that fact to be distressing, since it has been trying all along to break the combination up.
The television deal involves Raycom as operator and MCG Capital as partner. Raycom owns and operates NBC KHNL and CBS KGMB, and operates MCG-owned KFVE.
Raycom and MCG have argued that there is nothing illegal about sharing certain resources, say that they are strictly following guidelines on participating in an LMA, and entered into the arrangement in the first place out of financial necessity.
MCH says the arrangement is simply a way to get around local ownership caps, that it diminished the diversity of news sources available and is not in the public interest. Star-Advertiser reporter Erika Engle reports that MCH has restated its request to the FCC to break the trio up, and has invited commissioners to visit the market and see the trio in action for themselves.
