KGMB and KHNL/KFVE to share services

The shared-services agreement between KGMB-TV and KHNL/KFVE-TV to keep all three stations operating in the throes of the revenue-crippling recession was met with fear and loathing yesterday.

Advertising revenue for Honolulu's five major TV stations, which is projected to plummet to $48 million this year from $68 million in 2006, prompted the stations to find a creative solution to keep operating, officials said at a news conference.

KGMB is owned by Virginia-based MCG Capital Corp. and is its only TV station, while KHNL/KFVE is owned by Alabama-based Raycom Media Inc., which owns or operates stations in 36 markets in 18 states.

KGMB is a CBS affiliate, while KHNL is an NBC affiliate and KFVE is an independent station that airs University of Hawaii sports. The programming arrangements will remain in place, though the KGMB and KFVE call letters will be swapped by MCG and Raycom in a pending filing with the Federal Communications Commission. KGMB and KHNL will be led by Rick Blangiardi, and John Fink will head KFVE, each as vice president and general manager.

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[8/26/09] KGMB joining with KHNL and K5 ... it sounded like a joke at first.

And not a very good one. But it’s no joke. The head honchos were very careful to explain that this is not a merger, per se, because the stations will retain their separate ownerships.

They have to, in order to abide by the rules. The Federal Communications Commission states that one company cannot own more than one television station in a single local market.

This new arrangement may stick (just barely) to the letter of the law, but in my very humble opinion it clearly violates its spirit and intent.

Each station will continue to broadcast its national network content - KGMB will air CBS programs and KHNL will still be NBC. But they will meld their newsrooms to create one huge news operation.

So much for competition and diversity of voices in the community.

And if you listen closely, you can hear it: the final gasping breaths of an icon. KGMB (thanks to the visionary guidance of Cec Heftel) was the station that first brought us television news way, way back in the dawn of the broadcast era.

KGMB News was always more than call letters on a screen to the people of Hawaii. It was a trusted part of our lives. One of the good things. Soon, for all intents and purposes, it will be gone.

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