Sinclair kills plan to divest stations in hopes of closing Tribune deal

Sinclair Broadcast Group said on Wednesday it will reverse course and not divest three stations in hopes of winning approval for its $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media after the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said he had “serious concerns” about the deal.

Sinclair said it would drop plans to divest stations in Dallas and Houston after the FCC suggested the agreement to do so would still allow the company to control the stations.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, whom Democrats have accused of making a string of decisions benefiting Sinclair, said Monday that evidence suggested “certain station divestitures that have been proposed to the FCC would allow Sinclair to control those stations in practice, even if not in name, in violation of the law.”

Sinclair, the top US television broadcast group, is withdrawing applications to divest stations in Dallas, Houston and Chicago.

A majority of the FCC voted Monday to approve a draft order circulated by Pai’s office to refer the deal to an administrative judge for a hearing, Tribune said.

Sinclair said it was “shocked and disappointed” by the FCC’s order and denied it was not in compliance with FCC rules or that it had engaged in misleading conduct.

The company said it believed it can now win quick approval. “We call upon the FCC to approve the modified Tribune acquisition in order to bring closure to this extraordinarily drawn-out process,” Sinclair said in a statement.

The FCC declined to comment on the Sinclair statement.