Sinclair's $3.9B Tribune Media acquisition collapses after FCC finds Sinclair misrepresented station divestitures

Sinclair Broadcast Group announced in May 2017 it would acquire Tribune Media's 42 TV stations for $3.9 billion. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai had repealed the newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership ban in November 2017 to ease the path, but Sinclair's proposed station divestitures — to companies it effectively controlled — prompted Pai to refer the deal to an administrative law judge in July 2018. Tribune terminated the merger agreement on August 9, 2018, and sued Sinclair for $1 billion in damages; the FCC later fined Sinclair a record $48 million for deceptive conduct.