A Washington, D.C., public-interest law firm that has opposed media consolidation on the Mainland will challenge the merger of news and business operations at KGMB9, KHNL and K5.

The Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown Law will represent Media Council Hawai'i in protesting the controversial transaction before the Federal Communications Commission.

Chris Conybeare, the media council's president, said the so-called shared services agreement between the stations will leave KHNL's owner, Raycom Media of Alabama, with 45 percent of the local television advertising market and places the control of editorial content and programming of three stations in the hands of a single entity.

"This arrangement will reduce diversity of opinion, create canned newscasts, increase advertising rates, strangle independent programming and raise barriers to any who wish to enter the market," Conybeare said.

"These effects are all contrary to public interest and the law."

Raycom has said the shared services agreement doesn't require FCC approval because there's no change of ownership and the licenses of the stations aren't being transferred.

Such mergers have been implemented in 20 other markets around the country with little controversy, Raycom has said.

KGMB9, KHNL and K5 announced last month that they plan to merge newsrooms, simulcast some news programs and cut about a third of their staff.

The move will result in the terminations of all but four of KHNL's on-air staff as well as a number of KGMB's technical and newsroom employees.

Founded in 1971 by Georgetown University Law Center, the Institute for Public Representation has opposed a number of media cross-ownership transactions, including billionaire Sam Zell's takeover of Tribune Co. in 2007.

The institute also has opposed the development of a massive reservoir on American Indian lands and has handled a number of high-profile civil rights cases.

Media Council Hawai'i, formerly known as the Honolulu Media Council, is the oldest of five volunteer media councils in the country. The group seeks to improve public access to information, strengthen public support for First Amendment rights, broaden public understanding of the media's role and promote accurate journalism in Hawai'i.

Founded in 1996, Raycom owns and operates 46 television stations in 18 states.

Paul McTear, Raycom's chief executive officer, said by phone yesterday that the transaction has been vetted by Raycom's regulatory attorneys as well as those of KGMB's owner, MCG Capital Corp. of Virginia.

McTear said the deal was born out of economic necessity and that without such an agreement, the state would probably see diminished services or "one or more of the stations going dark."

He said he thought the combined market shares of KGMB, KHNL and K5 is "just under 40 percent."

"We at Raycom Media are very confident that the form of transaction ... will stand up to the scrutiny of the council and the FCC," McTear said.