had had/had problem

[pradeepkaushal9518]

Though he had had success broadcasting his controversial radio program on highly regulated terrestrial airwaves, Howard Stern opted out of terrestrial broadcasting in favor of the less regulated satellite radio medium.
a) Though he had had
b)Though he has had
c) Even though he had
d) Having had
e) Having achieved

[adi_800]

When you have two actions happening in the past and one action preceding another...You are supposed to use past perfect for the later action and simple past for the later past action...
Past perfect follows this construction..
Had + Past Participle...
Now, when your verb indicating the preceding action is has...You should be using the past perfect of this verb...that is had....
So, had had construction is perfectly fine, a point given in the manhattan SC guide, 2003 version...
A-> Perfectly fine..
B-> You cant use present perfect here, a tense indicated by has had construction..
C-> This option uses simple past for the preceding past action when sequence of actions demands past perfect for preceding action.
D-> Avoid Having + past participle construction on GMAT... Simple past is used when you must past perfect..
E-> Same as D...