FCC Wants More Info From Raycom On Honolulu Shared Service Agreement

The FCC has asked for more information from Raycom about its shared services agreement with MCG Capital for three TV stations in Honolulu.

In response to a complaint by Media Council Hawaii that the deal involved an unauthorized transfer of control of KGMB TV from MCG to Raycom, the FCC asked for copies of various agreements. But the redacted versions supplied by Raycom won't fill the bill, the commission said in a letter to Raycom's lawyer.

The FCC said it wanted unredacted versions of, among other things, the shared services agreement, studio lease and management services agreement.

The commission has some questions about why certain interests would not be attributable for purposes of ownership.

Raycom in September announced the shared services deal between KGMB and Raycom’s KHNL-KFVE duopoly. Raycom President/CEO Paul McTear said agreement was a way to keep the stations viable.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.