Hawaii News Now soon will become part of one of the largest television conglomerates in the country.

Gray Television Inc. is buying HNN parent company Raycom Media Inc. in a $3.65 billion transaction that will create the “single largest owner of top-rated local television stations and digital assets in the country,” the companies announced Monday.

The merger comes as the media industry struggles to make up for shrinking ad revenue with strategies to generate more income from cable and satellite providers that pay fees to carry their signals.

The combined company will be the nation’s third-largest TV group with 142 television stations in 92 markets, reaching 24 percent of the nation’s TV households. Gray will divest television stations in nine overlapping markets on the mainland. The sale, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to close by year’s end.

Hawaii News Now General Manager Rick Blan­giardi said the acquisition will strengthen local community news and be a “great fit for us.”

“All indications are very favorable. They (Gray Television) really believe their stations are about quality and serving the local community,” he said. “They’re very strong local broadcasters. Sometimes in bigger groups they don’t talk about those things. Historically their track record matches great with everything that we are.”

Hawaii News Now was created when TV stations KHNL, KFVE and KGMB were consolidated under a shared services agreement in August 2009. There was significant concern at the time by the Media Council Hawaii that the consolidation would reduce competition among news outlets. The media watchdog group implored the Federal Communications Commission at the time to stop the merger of the state’s largest television stations.

“All we’ve done since our inception is build a better and better newsroom,” Blangiardi said of HNN’s 152 employees. He said he doesn’t expect any reduction in staff after the sale.

“It’s not just what we do on air, but what we’ve done in building a multimedia platform,” Blangiardi said. “Hawaii News Now has very much become a 21st-century multimedia company. We’ve invested in people and technology. I don’t see any shrinkage of that. If anything, there will be greater support for that ongoing effort.”

KFVE, the third station of Hawaii News Now, is owned by MCG Capital and is not part of the Raycom deal.

In addition to the stations, Gray will purchase Raycom Sports, a marketing, production and events management company; Tupelo Raycom, a sports and entertainment production firm; RTM Productions, which provides automotive programming and marketing; and Broadview Media, a postproduction and digital signage company.

The Gray-Raycom merger follows Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.’s deal to buy Tribune Media Co. for $3.9 billion — the second television consolidation in a year. That transaction also is pending regulatory approval.

Raycom, based in Montgomery, Ala., intends to sell or spin off Community Newspaper Holdings Inc., owner of newspapers in 23 states, and PureCars, a digital ad business for the automotive industry.

“(HNN) is a consolidation of several television stations. We’ve built a lean organization given the scope of our enterprise,” Blangiardi said. “If anything, we intend to grow and improve upon serving the people of Hawaii.”

Bloomberg News contributed to this report.