An investment group that includes former U.S. Commerce Secretary Peter Peterson has agreed to purchase local Fox affiliate KHON-TV.

Emmis Communications Corp., KHON's owner since 1998, said affiliates of New York-based Blackstone Group and SJL Broadcast Group of California are buying the Honolulu station and three Mainland stations for $259 million.

The sale is subject to approval by the Federal Communications Commission and is expected to close early next year.

The sale does not include KHON's sister station in Hawai'i, KGMB-TV, which is the local CBS affiliate. Emmis also wants to sell KGMB.

Rick Blangiardi, senior vice president and general manager for KHON and KGMB, said it's too early to tell if the new owner plans to make any changes, but he said that KHON's 100 employees should see no impact.

Blangiardi said that SJL, which owns 12 television stations on the Mainland, will operate KHON. He said he met with SJL representatives in early August.

"I would like to believe that our new owners will want to continue on the road that we have begun," said Blangiardi. KHON's evening news program, anchored by Joe Moore, is the state's top-rated news broadcast.

John Ford, a Blackstone spokesman, said it's premature to comment on the company's plans for KHON.

Indianapolis-based Emmis said in May that it was leaving the television business to concentrate on its core radio business. Last month, Emmis said it will sell nine of its Mainland television stations for $681 million.

Emmis still is looking for buyers for its three remaining stations, including KGMB.

Emmis acquired KHON along with three stations on the Mainland from SF Broadcasting in 1998. In 2000, the company acquired KGMB, which also employs 100 workers.

Both stations are profitable, Blangiardi said.

Bev Keever, chairwoman of the University of Hawai'i's journalism program, hopes that the sale of KHON will benefit local news consumers since it essentially breaks up Emmis' local duopoly. Emmis has run both companies under a temporary FCC exemption to rules that bar one company from owning two major stations in the same market.

Keever said the duopoly has been controversial in Hawai'i because there was a tendency to reduce costs and place "limits on content," she said.

"The theory is the more competition the better," Keever said.

Blangiardi said Keever's criticism ignores that both stations during the past several years have added programming and staffing. He added that the quality of the stations' programs have dramatically improved during the same period.

"We've improved the business models at both TV stations," he said.

The Blackstone Group is a private investment and advisory group co-founded in 1985 by Peterson, who served as Commerce Secretary under President Richard Nixon.

The company has a minority stake in Irvine, Calif.-based Freedom Communications, which owns the Orange County Register newspaper and eight television stations in Florida, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas.

In Hawai'i, the Blackstone Group's real estate arm owned the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa before selling the hotel to Host Marriott Corp in 2003.

Founded in 1983, Montecito, Calif.-based SJL owns television stations in San Luis Obispo, Calif., Erie, Pa., and Binghamton, N.Y.

Reach Rick Daysog at rdaysog@honoluluadvertiser.com.