The FCC has granted the license renewals of Raycoms KHNL(TV) and KGMB (TV), both Honolulu, Hawaii, and HITVs KFVE (TV) Honolulu, denying a license challenge by Media Council Hawai'i and putting a final nail in the groups long-standing complaint that Raycom and KITV had run afoul of local ownership rules.
The issue had been that Raycom had traded affiliations with HITVs KFVE back in 2009 so that Raycom got the CBS affiliation for KGMB and KFVE became the MyNetWork TV affiliate.
That meant that after that affiliation switch, Raycom owned two of the top-four stations in a market, which violated the FCC duopoly rule prohibition on owning two of the top four stations at the time it has since been changed to a presumption that such combos are not in the public interest, but it is a rebuttable presumption.
Related: DOJ is OK With Raycom-Gray Deal with Spin-offs
Media Counsel also said that affiliation swap had been "tantamount to an outright purchase." Media Council also said Raycom controlled KFVE as well as via sharing arrangements and should have to divest one of its two owned stations in Honolulu.
The FCCs Media Bureau at the time, in initially denying the complaint, pointed out that the FCC rules did not prevent affiliation switches that resulted in owning two of the top four. The Media Bureau this week pointed out that though that changed in 2016 to counting such affiliation switches, existing ones like that in Hawaii was grandfathered. Thus, the earlier complaint was mooted by the fact that the rules at the time did not prevent it, and the more recent license challenge was denied in part because the combo was grandfathered and in part because other issues Media Council raised did not rise to the level of misrepresentation of lack of candor.
The FCC this week concluded in resolving Media Councils appeal of that earlier complaint and its newer challenge to the license renewals on the same grounds, that the Media Bureau had been right to deny the complaint in the first place and that there was also no reason to deny the license renewals.
"We affirm the Bureau's determination that the duopoly rule did not bar the affiliation swap at issue here," said the FCCs Media Bureau. It also said Raycoms shared services agreements with KFVE following the affiliation swap also does not constitute de facto control in violation of duopoly rules.
The Media Council, in contesting the renewals, said Raycom and HITV had lacked candor in asserting that there were no character issues in pending station license applications when there was an outstanding issue with KFVEs application, that Raycom had falsely stated that Common Cause Hawaiis executive director had expressed regret for supporting the Media Council petition, as well as an outstanding notice of apparent liability over public filing rule violations by HITV, and an HITV news sharing arrangement with Honolulus only daily newspaper.
The bureau said that there was no pattern of abuse in the public file violations, which it called "not serious," that calls into question the stations public service, that failing to note the character issues pending with KFVE and the characterization of the Common Cause execs comments was "simple miscommunication," rather than deceptive intent.
As to the news sharing agreement and the content of the news that Media Council criticized, the FCC could have been addressing the issues raised by Sinclair-Tribune deal critics about the conservative slant of Sinclair news.
"As for the Stations' choice of programming, the Commission is prohibited by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and Section 326 of the Act from censoring programs or from interfering with freedom of expression in broadcasting," the Bureau said. "The choice of what is or is not to be covered in the presentation of broadcast news is a matter committed to the licensee's good faith discretion, and it is well-settled law that the Commission does not substitute its own editorial judgment for that of a licensee. Those seeking to demonstrate that a licensee has abused its editorial discretion carry a heavy burden," it said, a burden not met in the case of Raycom and HITV.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
Genelec announces V2.1 for Aural ID binaural headphone monitoring application posted: 29/05/2026
Aural ID 2.1 enhances binaural monitoring for stereo and ...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
The FCC has granted the license renewals of Raycoms KHNL(TV) and KGMB (TV), both Honolulu, Hawaii, and HITVs KFVE (TV) Honolulu, denying a license challenge by Media Council Hawai'i and putting a final nail in the groups long-standing complaint that Raycom and KITV had run afoul of local ownership rules.
