FCC will take public comments on Sinclair-Tribune merger until at least July 12

The Federal Communications Commission will be restarting the informal 180-day shot clock on its review of the proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger after it reviews the latest and information from the most recent filing. It signaled it had been waiting to consolidate Sinclair's various re-filings and tweaks to the deal, and is doing that, but is also going to seek even more info on top-four market station ownership requests. That public notice signals the commission has what is expected to be essentially the final version of the deal, though still with questions about this latest iteration. 

The FCC released a public notice putting the deal out for more comment and setting a July 12 deadline for reply comments, meaning it will not render a decision before that date, and likely not for a few days after that since it is expected to be taking those comments into consideration, including the ones that come in a midnight on July 12, before making that decision. The pleading cycle is June 20 for initial comments, July 5 for opposing comments, and then July 12 for replies to those comments.