Pai, With 'Serious Concerns' on Sinclair/Tribune, Proposes to Refer Issues on Divestitures to ALJ

With "serious concerns" on Sinclair buying Tribune, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is asking commissioners to OK a draft order to designate, for an administrative law judge hearing, issues involving some proposed divestitures. “Based on a thorough review of the record," Pai said Monday morning, "the evidence we’ve received suggests that 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."

Under the Communications Act, with "issues like these," the agency must put the transaction to a hearing "to get to the bottom of those disputed issues," Pai said.

Sinclair stock dropped after the announcement, down 4 percent to $31.65 in mid-morning trading. Tribune dropped 11 percent to $34.39.

The owners of the combining TV stations didn't comment right away. Commissioners' offices also didn't comment right away.